If you’re reading this, you’ve probably noticed a lot of vertical posts when scrolling on Instagram. But, this isn’t new! In fact, the portrait format was introduced back in 2015. The only difference back then was that all posts remained a square on the grid regardless of the size.
Instagram has been testing out a new feature that will focus on vertical posts - and has been rolled out to some accounts already. That would mean all posts on the grid and feed won’t have that classic square and would look like this instead:
So here's our tip: If your grid hasn't changed yet, we recommend posting using the 4:5 aspect ratio in case your profile is seen by someone who has the new feature. And so you'll be prepared when Instagram rolls it out to all users and your square posts won't get cropped out of the new grid size. So, focus on making all your new Instagram content portrait-style instead of square to play it safe.
Static Posts and Reels
The portrait-style format will be visible on your feed AND grid. Instagram hasn’t released this feature to everyone but it’ll be a matter of time before they do. And when that happens, all your posts will be in a vertical, portrait-style format. And yes, that also includes Reels.
Posts will go from the usual 1:1 aspect ratio or 1080 x 1080 px to 4:5 aspect ratio or 1080 x 1350 px. If you're confused with the sizing, there are plenty of graphic design apps and tools such as Canva to help resize your designs.
Things to note:
Sizing will go from a 1:1 aspect ratio to a 4:5 aspect ratio
For heavy graphics, avoid white space outside of the 1:1 frame (or center square) when designing
Keep important text and information centered and focused
All posts including reels will be visible on the feed and grid with the 4:5 aspect ratio
Here are some examples of a vertical, portrait-style grid:
Carousel Posts
The same guidelines and sizing apply to carousel posts (yay!). The only difference is you can't post full-screen videos in a carousel, so if you want to include a video or GIF, you'll need to center the video on the post, like this:
Things to note:
Sizing will go from a 1:1 aspect ratio to a 4:5 aspect ratio
For heavy graphics, avoid white space outside of the 1:1 frame (or center square) when designing
Keep important text and information centered and focused on the first slide as it will appear on the grid
Carousel posts will be visible on the feed and grid
In a nutshell
We can't say when this new feature on Instagram will be available to all users. There have been reports of some accounts with the updated grid but Instagram is still testing and hasn't released any announcement (so you're first to know). That said, we still recommend using the 4:5 aspect ratio on your new posts.
Check if your account has been updated and if you see only portrait-style grids!
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