How to Make Instagram Posts Fit

We've all been there: you take the perfect photo, craft a killer caption, go to hit Share on Instagram, and suddenly, your friend's head is cut out of the shot or your beautiful landscape is awkwardly cropped. It’s one of the most common frustrations on the platform, but it’s also one of the easiest to fix once you understand what's happening. This guide will walk you through exactly how to make any photo or video fit perfectly on Instagram, covering every post type from feed posts to Reels and Stories.

Why Does Instagram Crop My Photos Anyway?

The short answer is: aspect ratios. An aspect ratio is simply the proportional relationship between the width and height of an image or screen. Instagram's app interface is designed around very specific shapes, and if your photo or video doesn't match those shapes, the app automatically crops it to make it fit.

Think of it like trying to fit a rectangular peg into a square hole. Instagram has a few specific "holes" - a square (1:1 ratio), a vertical rectangle (4:5 or 9:16), and a horizontal rectangle (16:9). If your image is a different shape - say, a wider rectangle from your DSLR camera or a very tall panorama from your phone - Instagram has to chop off the edges to make it conform.

The secret isn’t fighting the crop, but preparing your content for it ahead of time. Once you know the correct dimensions, you control how your content looks, not the algorithm.

The Official Instagram Aspect Ratios & Dimensions

Before you can resize your content, you need to know what size you're aiming for. Committing these to memory or saving this page will save you tons of time. For the best quality, always aim to use a width of at least 1080 pixels.

For Regular Feed Posts

There are three options for standard posts that show up in the main feed (single images, carousels, and videos).

• Square (1:1): This is the classic Instagram format.
  • Optimal Dimensions: 1080px by 1080px
  • When to use it: Great for simple portraits, product shots, or any image where the subject is centered. It creates a very clean, uniform look on your profile grid.
• Portrait (4:5): This is arguably the best format for feed posts.
  • Optimal Dimensions: 1080px by 1350px
  • When to use it: Almost always! The vertical 4:5 format takes up the most screen real estate on a mobile phone as someone scrolls through their feed, making your content more prominent and engaging. This is the tallest your image can be without getting cut off.
• Landscape (1.91:1): The widest you can go on the feed.
  • Optimal Dimensions: 1080px by 566px
  • When to use it: Best for wide scenery shots or group photos where a vertical crop would be impossible. Keep in mind that this format takes up the least amount of vertical space in the feed.

For Instagram Stories and Reels

Both Stories and Reels are full-screen, vertical experiences. They share the same dimensions.

• Full-Screen Vertical (9:16): This format is designed to fill an entire smartphone screen.
  • Optimal Dimensions: 1080px by 1920px
  • When to use it: This is the standard for both Stories and Reels. Any photo or video you create for these placements should be in this format for a seamless, native look. Trying to post a square or landscape photo here will result in unattractive empty space around your content.

How to Resize Photos and Videos to Fit Instagram Perfectly

Now that you know the target sizes, here’s how to adjust your content. You have two main options: resizing inside the Instagram app (the fast but limited way) or using an external app (the recommended, professional way).

Method 1: Resizing Within the Instagram App (The Quick Fix)

Instagram gives you a very basic tool for a quick size adjustment. It’s not a true resizer, but it helps you avoid the dreaded automatic square crop.

1. Open Instagram and tap the "+" icon to create a new post.
2. Select the photo or video you want to upload from your gallery. By default, Instagram will show it as a cropped square (1:1).
3. In the bottom left corner of the preview image, you'll see a small icon with two corner brackets (it looks like this: <, >,).
4. Tap that icon! This will automatically zoom the picture out to its original aspect ratio - either portrait or landscape.

The limitations: This tool only toggles between the square crop (1:1) and your media’s original format. It does not let you magically resize a wide photo into a perfect 4:5 portrait post. If your original photo is too tall (taller than 4:5 ratio) or not quite the right kind of wide, part of it will still get cropped. It's a quick fix, not a complete solution.

Method 2: Using Apps to Resize Before Posting (The Best Way)

For total control, spend 30 seconds preparing your image in a dedicated app *before* you even open Instagram. This guarantees your post will look exactly as you intend.

Using Canva (Great for Everything)

Canva is a free and incredibly powerful design tool that makes resizing easy.

1. Open the Canva app or website.
2. Tap "Create a design" or the "+" button. Choose "Custom Size."
3. Enter the dimensions you need. For a vertical post, type in 1080 for width and 1350 for height. Click "Create new design."
4. Now you have a perfect 4:5 blank canvas. Tap to upload your photo or video.
5. Once uploaded, drag your media onto the canvas. You can now resize and reposition it within the 4:5 frame until the composition is just right. You may have to zoom in slightly, cropping it precisely how you want.
6. When you're happy, download the file to your phone and upload it to Instagram. It will fit perfectly without any unexpected cropping.

Using Your Phone's Built-in Photo Editor

Most modern phones have excellent built-in editing tools that include aspect ratio presets.

1. Open your phone's photo gallery and select your image.
2. Tap "Edit."
3. Look for the "Crop" or "Resize" tool (it's often an icon with a square and rotating arrows).
4. Inside the crop tool, look for a button that represents aspect ratios (it might be a series of different shaped rectangles).
5. Tap it and you should see a list of presets. Look for 4:5 for a portrait post, 1:1 for a square post, or 9:16 for Stories. Select the one you want.
6. Your phone will overlay a guide on your photo. You can move the photo around within this guide until the crop is exactly where you want it.
7. Save the edited version as a new photo. Now it’s ready for Instagram.

What To Do With Awkwardly Sized Photos

Sometimes you have a photo that just won't fit a standard ratio without sacrificing a key part of the image. For example, a wide group photo or a tall shot of a skyscraper. In these cases, the solution is to add borders to fill in the extra space.

Handling Wide, Landscape Photos for the Feed

If you have a horizontal photo but you really want it to take up a 4:5 space, you can add bars to the top and bottom. This "letterbox" effect lets you keep the entire wide view while formatting it for a taller frame.

Here’s how to do it in Canva (the same steps apply in most photo editing apps):

1. Create a new canvas with the Instagram Portrait dimensions (1080 x 1350 px).
2. Upload your landscape photo and place it on the canvas.
3. Center the photo vertically. You'll see blank space appear above and below your image.
4. You can either leave this blank space white (a common, clean aesthetic) or you can change the color of the background to match your brand colors. Some people even put a blurred version of the same photo in the background.
5. Download and post! Your full wide shot is now perfectly contained within an Instagram-friendly 4:5 post.

A Quick Word on Carousels

Carousels are a fantastic way to post content that doesn't fit standard dimensions, like wide panoramas. You can post multiple photos or videos in a single post that viewers swipe through.

One important thing to remember: Instagram locks the aspect ratio of a carousel to the very first image you select. If your first image is a 1:1 square, every other photo in that carousel will be forced into a 1:1 square crop. If your first image is a 4:5 portrait, all subsequent slides will be cropped to 4:5.

So, always choose your first image wisely. If you want a vertical-looking carousel, make sure the first piece of media you select is in the 4:5 format.

Final Thoughts

Getting your Instagram posts to fit doesn’t have to be a guessing game. It all comes down to choosing the right aspect ratio for the job - usually the vertical 4:5 for feed posts and 9:16 for Stories and Reels - and then using a simple app like Canva or your phone's editor to size your content before uploading.

Once you’ve perfected your content creation, streamlining your workflow comes next. For our team, getting the sizing right is step one, but being able to visually plan our grid in a scheduler like Postbase is what ties it all together. Seeing the posts arranged in our calendar ahead of time lets us catch awkward crops or color clashes before they ever go live, ensuring a professional, cohesive look for every piece of content we publish.