Instagram story size:
1080 × 1920. Here's the rest.
The story canvas is 9:16 — but the edges get covered by Instagram's own UI. Below: the exact safe zones, the blur fixes, and a free blank story canvas in black, white or any color, ready to download.
Safe zones — and a free blank canvas
Keep text and stickers ~250 px clear of the top and bottom edges
⬇️ Blank story canvas (1080×1920)
The plain background everyone searches for — black for reposts and text stories, or any color you like. One tap, full size, no watermark.
Story dimensions at a glance
Story
1080 × 1920 px, 9:16. The native canvas — everything else on this list derives from it.
Story video
Same 1080 × 1920, up to 60 seconds per card, MP4/MOV, max ~4 GB.
Highlight cover
1080 × 1920 with the icon centered — Instagram crops a circle from the middle. Use our free cover maker.
Feed post reshared to story
Instagram shrinks it onto the 9:16 canvas as a tappable card — a colored canvas behind it looks best.
Text story
Start from a blank canvas (download above) and type — cleaner than Instagram's gradient backgrounds.
Accepted range
1.91:1 to 9:16. Anything not 9:16 gets letterboxed, so export native whenever you can.
The size is easy. The safe zone is what trips people up.
Every story is a 1080 × 1920 canvas — but on a viewer's screen, Instagram lays its own interface over your content: profile name and close button across the top, reply bar and share arrow across the bottom. Roughly the outer 250 pixels at each end belong to Instagram, not to you. Design inside the middle and nothing you write gets covered; ignore it and your punchline sits under the reply bar.
Why the black canvas is the most-wanted story asset
Instagram gives you gradient backgrounds but no plain canvas — no simple black page to repost a photo on, drop a screenshot onto, or write over. That's why a “black story background” is one of the most-searched story assets there is. The download buttons above generate one on your device at exact story resolution, in black, white, five other shades or any custom color — free and without a watermark.
Blur has three causes, all fixable
Blurry stories come from uploading images smaller than 1080 px wide (Instagram upscales them), uploading over mobile data (aggressive compression), or re-sharing screenshots of screenshots (double compression). The fix is the same in every case: start from a full-resolution 1080 × 1920 source and upload on Wi-Fi. Photos taken in the Instagram camera are already the right size.
The other vertical formats
Reels share the 9:16 canvas but crop differently in the feed and grid — the Reel size guide maps those zones. Feed posts follow their own rules entirely (see post sizes), and your best stories deserve matching highlight covers — our free maker builds them from the same canvas. Then post them when people are actually online: the best time to post guide has the day-by-day windows.
Story sizes, answered
What size is an Instagram story?
1080 x 1920 pixels — a 9:16 vertical canvas. That's the full-screen format Stories are designed around, and the size the canvas generator on this page exports.
What is the Instagram story safe zone?
Keep important content roughly 250 px clear of the top and bottom edges. Instagram overlays your profile name at the top and reply/share controls at the bottom, so text or stickers placed there get covered on viewers' screens.
Why do people want a black Instagram story background?
A plain black 1080 x 1920 canvas is the standard base for reposting photos, sharing screenshots, or writing text stories on a clean dark background. Instagram doesn't offer a plain-canvas option directly — which is why so many people search for one. The generator above downloads it in one tap.
What's the story aspect ratio?
9:16. Instagram accepts ratios from 1.91:1 to 9:16, but anything that isn't 9:16 gets letterboxed with blurred or colored bars. Native 9:16 at 1080 x 1920 always looks best.
Why do my stories look blurry?
Usually one of three things: the source was under 1080 px wide, your upload was heavily compressed on mobile data, or you uploaded a screenshot of a screenshot. Start from a full-resolution 1080 x 1920 image and upload on Wi-Fi.
What size are story highlight covers?
The same 1080 x 1920 canvas — Instagram crops a centered circle from it for the highlight bubble. Our free highlight cover maker builds them with the icon perfectly centered.
Stories looking sharp? See who they bring in.
Track every follower your stories gain — and every quiet unfollow — automatically, without ever sharing your password.