Instagram Video Dimensions

Instagram supports a few different video shapes depending on where the video appears, and posting the wrong ratio usually means it gets cropped or letterboxed. Here's what actually fits where.

Reels — 9:16 (1080 × 1920px)

Reels are full-screen vertical video, the same shape as TikTok and YouTube Shorts. This is the format most likely to get pushed by the algorithm right now, so if you're only making one version of a spinning record video, make it this one. In Waxify, pick the portrait/9:16 export preset.

Feed posts — 1:1 or 4:5

Square (1:1) is the safest bet for a regular feed post since it displays fully without cropping in the grid view. 4:5 (slightly taller than wide) is also supported and uses a bit more vertical screen space in the feed itself. A square export from Waxify works cleanly for both.

Stories — 9:16 (1080 × 1920px)

Same ratio as Reels, full vertical screen. If you've already exported a 9:16 video for Reels, it'll work for Stories without any changes.

What happens if you post the wrong ratio

Instagram doesn't reject the wrong shape — it just crops or pads it to fit the container. A square video posted to Reels gets pillarboxed with black bars on the sides; a vertical video posted to the feed either gets cropped top and bottom or shown smaller with bars. Neither looks great, and cropping in particular can cut off part of your disc or label art if it's near the edge of the frame.

Picking the right export in Waxify

• Posting to Reels or Stories: choose the portrait (9:16) preset
• Posting to your main feed: choose the square (1:1) preset
• Cross-posting to YouTube: the landscape (16:9) preset matches standard YouTube video

Because the disc sits centered in the frame regardless of aspect ratio, you can set up your art and audio once and just switch the export preset for each platform — no need to reposition anything.

See the full process in our step-by-step guide, or open the editor to start exporting.