Instagram released videos back in 2013. They wanted their videos to be as easy to make and share as possible. Although the Instagram video length limit was just 15 seconds at the time, it quickly became a sensation among users.
Today, Instagram video formats are very different and the requirements are more advanced than before. As a result, there are some required Instagram video resolutions that need to be met before posting.
Below you’ll find all the Instagram video specs that apply today. Grab our cheat sheet and start creating!
Requirements for Instagram videos
Instagram Organic Videos Requirements
Vertical video
- Minimum Instagram vertical video dimensions are 600 x 750.
- Instagram vertical aspect ratio is 4:5.
- Supported video codecs: H.264, VP8
- Supported audio codecs: AAC, Vorbis
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram video formats are .MP4 and. MOV.
- Instagram video length limit 60 seconds.
- Instagram video minimum length: No minimum.
- Video max frames 30fps.
- Instagram caption max length: 2,200 characters.
You might want to know that vertical videos have been a hit lately. They dive more traffic than square videos and are more cost-effective. If you haven’t already, you can definitely give this format a try.
Video Stories
- Minimum Instagram Stories video dimensions are 600 x 1067.
- Recommended Instagram Stories video dimensions are 1080 x 1920.
- Instagram Stories aspect ratio is 9:16.
- Max Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram Stories video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
- Instagram Stories video length limit is 15 seconds.
Square video
- Minimum Instagram square video dimensions are 600 x 600.
- Instagram square aspect ratio is 1:1.
- Supported video codecs: H.264, VP8
- Supported audio codecs: AAC, Vorbis
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
- Instagram video length limit 60 seconds.
- Instagram video minimum length: No minimum
- Video max frames 30fps.
- Instagram caption max length: 2,200 characters.
Landscape video
- Minimum Instagram landscape video dimensions are 600 x 315.
- Instagram landscape aspect ratio is 1:91:1.
- Supported video codecs: H.264, VP8
- Supported audio codecs: AAC, Vorbis
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
- Instagram video length limit 60 seconds.
- Instagram video minimum length: No minimum
- Video max frames 30fps.
- Instagram caption max length: 2,200 characters.
Carousel Videos
- Minimum Instagram carousel video ads resolutions are 600 x 600.
- Maximum Instagram carousel video ads resolutions are 1080 x 1080.
- Instagram carousel video ads aspect ratio is 1:1.
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram video formats are .MP4 and. MOV.
- Instagram video length limit 60 seconds.
- Video max frames 30fps.
- Instagram caption max length: 2,200 characters.
- Recommended caption length: 125 characters.
Instagram Video Ads Requirements
Usually, the organic and ad video requirements are the same, but it’s always better to double-check that before posting. 😉
Vertical video
- Minimum Instagram vertical video dimensions are 600 x 750.
- Instagram vertical aspect ratio is 4:5.
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram video formats are .MP4 and. MOV.
- Instagram video length limit 60 seconds.
- Video max frames 30fps.
- Instagram caption max length: 2,200 characters.
Instagram Stories Video Ad Requirements
- Minimum Instagram Stories video dimensions are 600 x 1067.
- Recommended Instagram Stories video dimensions are 1080 x 1920.
- Instagram Stories aspect ratio is 9:16.
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram Stories video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
- Instagram Stories video length limit is 15 seconds.
Square video
- Minimum Instagram square video dimensions are 600 x 600.
- Instagram square aspect ratio is 1:1.
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
- Instagram video length limit 60 seconds.
- Video max frames 30fps.
- Instagram caption max length: 2,200 characters.
Landscape video
- Minimum Instagram landscape video dimensions are 600 x 315.
- Instagram landscape aspect ratio is 1:91:1.
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
- Instagram video length limit 60 seconds.
- Video max frames 30fps.
- Instagram caption max length: 2,200 characters.
Carousel Video Ads
- Minimum Instagram carousel video ads resolutions are 600 x 600.
- Maximum Instagram carousel video ads resolutions are 1080 x 1080.
- Instagram carousel video ads aspect ratio is 1:1.
- Maximum Instagram file size is 4GB.
- Recommended Instagram video formats are .MP4 and. MOV.
- Instagram video length limit 60 seconds.
- Video max frames 30fps.
- Instagram caption max length: 2,200 characters.
- Recommended caption length: 125 characters.
- Minimum number of cards: 2
- Maximum number of cards: 10
IGTV Videos Requirements
- Minimum IGTV video length: 1 minute (60 seconds).
- Maximum IGTV video length: 15 minutes when uploading from a mobile device or 60 minutes when uploading from a computer.
- Aspect ratio: 9:16 [vertical video] or 16:9 [horizontal video].
- Videos min frame rate: 30 FPS (frames per second), min resolution of 720 pixels.
- Maximum file size: 650MB (for 10 minutes videos or shorter) or 3.6GB (60 minutes videos).
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Recommended size for cover photos: 420 x 654 (or 1:1.55 ratio).
- Video format: .MP4.
Instagram Videos Extra Specifications
Here are some extra details for your Instagram videos:
- File type: Full list of supported file formats
- Bitrate: No limit to bitrate file if you’re using two-pass encoding, as long as your file doesn’t exceed 1 GB. Otherwise, 8 megabits per second for 1080p and 4 megabits per second for 720p.
- Thumbnail image ratio: Should match the aspect ratio of your video.
Meeting all the requirements from this post shouldn’t be a problem for most modern iOS and Android mobile devices. If you have an older or more obscure smartphone, consider changing to a newer model to take full advantage of Instagram videos.
Tools for creating Instagram videos
In case you are wondering which tools you could use when it comes to creating videos for Instagram, here is a short list of a few tools that we’ve tested and can truly recommend.
- InVideo – an online Instagram video editor with available templates, images, and music
- Clipchamp – a tool that helps to create awesome video content; we especially recommend it for creating Instagram video Story ads
- Hype Type – an app that you can use if you’d like to add moving or animated texts to your video Stories
- Mojo – another tool for creating animated Stories
- Biteable – an online video editing tool for creating any kind of videos that will be published on your feed or Stories
- Lumen5 – a tool giving similar possibilities to Biteable (available only from your browser)
Analyze Your Instagram Videos in Sotrender
Wouldn’t you like to know which of your Instagram videos were performing the best?
Now you can easily track the performance of your Instagram videos with Sotrender, which is a social media analytical app.
Some time ago, we’ve released the revamped Instagram Analytics for Business, so you can connect your Instagram business profile, streamline analyses and get insights that’ll help you see the bigger picture behind your profile and improve your engagement.
Let me show you the best way to analyze the performance of your videos.
What you can notice immediately is that you can filter all your posts by the post type, so you can focus purely on analyzing your video content.
Analyze video content with Sotrender
You can also evaluate the total share of impressions by media type.
The chart below shows you what media type attracts the most attention. This way you’ll learn what your audience enjoys the most and it clearly indicates what media types you should be sharing in the future to hit higher engagement.
Share of impressions by media type
What’s more, you can analyze the share of impressions day by day, in a selected time period.
Impressions by media type
Activities by media type, Sotrender
Last but not least, you should also analyze whether publishing video content had a significant impact on the number of followers or engagement rates. In case you’re wondering how to calculate the engagement rate, use an engagement rate calculator.
The charts we showed you above, inform about your organic video’s performance. But in Sotrender you can now analyze also your video ads results. By using Sotrender Ads you can compare, for example, a few video ads to each other to see which one was more successful. Monitoring which videos gathered the biggest number of impressions, views or conversions, will help you tweak your ad strategy accordingly.
See what’s there for you. 🙂
Instagram videos – stats & facts
Now you have all you need for the job. But for the full story, let us give you a little bit of background information about Instagram videos and why they matter.
Already in 2019, 54% of consumers were interested in watching more video content from businesses they support. That means that you definitely have an incentive to prepare more video content in general.
Moreover, Instagram is seeing a big-time rise in ad dollars coming to the platform lately. It seems brands have found greener pastures on Instagram over Facebook’s News Feed. Instagram states that 33% of the most-viewed Stories on Instagram are those that were posted by businesses.
This calls for changes in the way marketers capture leads. Instagram video campaigns are no longer a nice-to-have strategy; now it’s your necessary survival gear!
What’s more, experts say ‘Stories’ was Instagram’s smartest move yet. ‘Stories’ were released in August 2016 as a directly copied feature from Instagram’s competitor, Snapchat. In 2022, it hit 500 million users daily. That’s over twice the number of users Snapchat had for its entire app life!
Today, brands can use Stories to promote their products too! The platform lets you seamlessly integrate your video ads between organic releases so that they blend in. According to Instagram, 60% of users said they found out about a new product through Instagram.
For all these reasons, Instagram videos are definitely worth the money. That’s a bulletproof investment, and that is why you should consider them for your next (or current!) social media marketing strategy. 🙂
If you’re not using the power of video to meet your marketing goals yet, it’s time to start. Pick up a camera and start churning out video content like there’s no tomorrow!
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