Instagram story guide
Instagram story size, safe zone and a clean background
Make it 9:16. We found no story size from Instagram for ordinary stories; Meta's ad guide for Stories gives 1440 × 2560 px and asks to keep about 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% at each side free of text, where the app draws its buttons. 1080 × 1920 is the common size. For a clean story background, AwaCut puts your product on any colour, offline.
2 computers per licence. Full refund within 14 days, no reason needed.
- Works offline
- No account, no uploads
- As many photos as you want, all year
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Cut the product out with AwaCut
Drop the photo, or a whole folder, into AwaCut. Choose Alpha for a transparent PNG, or Custom and type a colour such as #FBCFE8 to get it on a plain background straight away. About 4 seconds a photo on a Mac Studio (M4 Max), at full size.
Make a 9:16 canvas
1080 × 1920 or 1440 × 2560. Put the product in the middle and the words in the upper part, inside the safe zone: not in the top 14%, the bottom 35% or the outer 6%.
Share it as a story
In the app, swipe right from the feed or tap your profile picture to add a story, pick the image, and share.
The finished story
1080 × 1920, the AwaCut cutout on pink (Custom, #FBCFE8). The dashed box is Meta's safe zone for text: the name and the product sit inside it.
Check it with the buttons
The top of a story carries your name and the progress bar, the bottom the reply box. Anything outside the safe zone can end up under them.
Instagram story size in 2026
Ratio
- What Meta says
- 9:16 (Stories ads)
- What to do
- Make every story 9:16.
Size
- What Meta says
- 1440 × 2560 px (Stories ads)
- What to do
- 1080 × 1920 is the common size for ordinary stories.
Safe zone
- What Meta says
- About 14% top, 35% bottom, 6% sides free of text (ads)
- What to do
- Keep words and logos inside.
File
- What Meta says
- JPG or PNG, up to 30 MB (ads)
- What to do
- JPG for photos.
Your cutout (AwaCut)
- What Meta says
- Keeps the photo's own size
- What to do
- A 12 MP upright photo is about 3000 × 4000, more than a story needs.
| What | What Meta says | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Ratio | 9:16 (Stories ads) | Make every story 9:16. |
| Size | 1440 × 2560 px (Stories ads) | 1080 × 1920 is the common size for ordinary stories. |
| Safe zone | About 14% top, 35% bottom, 6% sides free of text (ads) | Keep words and logos inside. |
| File | JPG or PNG, up to 30 MB (ads) | JPG for photos. |
| Your cutout (AwaCut) | Keeps the photo's own size | A 12 MP upright photo is about 3000 × 4000, more than a story needs. |
Source: Meta Ads Guide (Instagram Stories image ads; we found no Instagram size for ordinary stories), read on 25 October 2026.
Three mistakes on Instagram stories
Text under the reply box
The bottom third is busy. Keep words higher.
A busy photo as the background
A plain colour lets the product and the words read in a second, which is all a story gets.
A square photo floating in black
Make the image 9:16 so it fills the screen.
A week of stories in one go
Stories disappear in a day, so they need to be quick to make. AwaCut cuts out a whole folder at once, so a week of posts is one drop, not one upload per photo. It runs on your computer, with no credits: as many photos as you want, all year.
Try it on your own photos: the first 10 are free, no account.
2 computers per licence. Full refund within 14 days, no reason needed.
Frequently asked questions
What size is an Instagram story?
9:16. Meta's ad guide for Stories gives 1440 × 2560 px; 1080 × 1920 is the common size for ordinary stories, for which we found no size from Instagram.
What is the Instagram story safe zone?
Meta's ad guide asks to keep about 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% at each side free of text and logos.
How do I change the background of an Instagram story?
Make the background before you post: cut the product or yourself out with AwaCut, put it on a colour with Custom, and share that image as the story.
How do I cut out a person or a product for a social media image?
Drop the photo into AwaCut and choose Alpha for a transparent PNG to place on your design, or Custom to put it straight on a colour. It runs offline on Mac, Windows and Linux.
Cut out every photo for your next posts
The first 10 photos are free on each computer, with no account and no card. Then one yearly licence for as many photos as you want.
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No AwaCut account. No credits. No uploads. 2 computers per licence, full refund within 14 days.