Instagram carousel size, measured properly.
The Instagram carousel size that works everywhere is 1080x1350 pixels, a 4:5 portrait ratio. Instagram also accepts 1080x1440 (3:4), which matches the taller profile grid preview, 1080x1080 (1:1) square, and 1080x566 (1.91:1) landscape. A carousel holds up to 20 slides, and every slide after the first is cropped to whatever ratio the first slide sets.
These are the dimensions Purpeu renders to, so the numbers below come from the tool that draws the files rather than from another blog post.
By PurpeuPublished Updated
The short version
- 1080x1350 (4:5) is the safe default and takes the most feed space of the widely supported ratios.
- 1080x1440 (3:4) is taller again and matches how the profile grid now previews posts.
- Slide one sets the ratio. Every other slide is cropped to match it, whatever you uploaded.
- Twenty slides is the hard limit. Export in RGB, not CMYK.
What size should a carousel be on Instagram?
Use 1080 pixels wide and pick the height from the ratio you want. Instagram scales anything wider back down to 1080, so a larger export costs upload time and gains nothing.
The four sizes below are the ones Instagram displays without cropping. Portrait at 4:5 is the default recommendation because it fills more of a phone screen than square without risking the newer ratio being handled differently by older scheduling tools.
Portrait
- Pixels
- 1080x1350
- Ratio
- 4:5
- Use it when
- The default. Most feed space with the widest support.
Tall
- Pixels
- 1080x1440
- Ratio
- 3:4
- Use it when
- You want the maximum height and a grid preview that is not cropped.
Square
- Pixels
- 1080x1080
- Ratio
- 1:1
- Use it when
- The design is symmetrical, or the same slides go to LinkedIn too.
Landscape
- Pixels
- 1080x566
- Ratio
- 1.91:1
- Use it when
- Wide photography. Rare for carousels, it wastes vertical space.
Instagram keeps your original resolution when the aspect ratio falls between 1.91:1 and 4:5. Outside that range it crops, which is what turns a careful layout into a cut-off headline.
Is Instagram 16:9 or 4:3?
Neither, for a feed carousel. 16:9 is a video ratio and Instagram will letterbox or crop it in the feed. 4:3 is a landscape ratio and is not the same thing as the 3:4 portrait format Instagram added for the grid.
The pair to remember is 4:5 and 3:4, both portrait, both taller than wide. Writing them backwards is the single most common way people end up with a cropped carousel.
Why does every slide have to be the same ratio?
Instagram reads the aspect ratio of the first slide and applies it to the whole carousel. Upload a 4:5 opener followed by square slides and the square ones are cropped to 4:5, taking a slice off the top and bottom of each.
This is the failure that ruins otherwise good carousels, because it only shows up after posting. If your slides came from more than one source, check them as a set before you upload rather than one at a time.
- Design every slide at one size from the start, rather than resizing at the end.
- Keep text at least 60 pixels clear of every edge, so a small crop does not clip a letter.
- Put nothing important in the bottom right of slide one, where the carousel dots sit.
What is the ideal size for a 4-slide Instagram carousel?
The same as for any other slide count. 1080x1350 for four slides, for ten slides, and for twenty. The number of slides does not change the dimensions, only how many files you upload.
Slide count does affect how the post performs, though not through sizing. A carousel is one post that can be shown again to someone who did not swipe, so more slides gives Instagram more chances to resurface it. Between six and ten is a reasonable working range.
How the grid preview crops your first slide
Your profile grid previews posts taller than the old square thumbnail. A 4:5 slide is shown almost in full, but a 1:1 slide can have its edges trimmed in the preview even though the post itself is untouched.
If the profile grid matters to you, design slide one at 1080x1440 so the preview and the post show the same thing. If it does not, 1080x1350 is still the more universally handled choice.