How Long Can a Video Be on Instagram? 2026 Limits
Last verified: 27 September 2026
Up to 20 min, if you record or edit the Reel in the Instagram app. Two lower ceilings sit underneath: a Reel longer than 3 min won’t be recommended to new audiences, and scheduling tools can publish only 3 s to 15 min through Instagram’s API. Story videos run 3 s to 60 s.
So the honest answer to “how long can a video be on Instagram?” is a question back: posted how, and seen by whom? The three current limits are kept apart below, with the Instagram source for each. New to the format? Start with what Reels are and how they work. For pixels rather than seconds, see the Instagram post size guide. Both are part of our cheat sheet of social media sizes and limits.
Table of Contents
- How long can a video be on Instagram in 2026?
- How long can Instagram Reels be?
- Do Reels over 3 minutes still get recommended?
- How long can Instagram Stories be?
- Why does a scheduling tool cap Instagram video at 15 minutes?
- What file size and format does Instagram accept for video?
- What happens if your video is longer than the limit?
- Frequently asked questions
How long can a video be on Instagram in 2026?
Instagram has three video ceilings, and they move independently. The app lets you record and edit a Reel of up to 20 minutes. The publishing API that scheduling tools use accepts 3 seconds to 15 minutes. And whatever the upload route, a Reel over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences. Stories are shorter: 3 to 60 seconds per video through the API.
| Placement | Video length | Max file size | File types | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 3 s to 20 min | 300 MB Publishing API limit. The app publishes no cap. | MP4, MOV | Instagram Help: Reel size & aspect ratios on Instagram |
| Story | 3 s to 60 s | 100 MB Video, via the publishing API. Images: 8 MB JPEG via the API. The app publishes no cap. | JPEG (image, API), MP4, MOV | Instagram Graph API: IG User Media (story specs) |
Writing the caption too? The free Instagram character counter checks your Reel caption against Instagram’s limit of 2,200 characters as you type. It runs in your browser and needs no account.
The table shows the widest range for each format. It can’t show that the Reel row holds three different limits, so here they are separately:
- App ceiling: 20 min. Instagram Help says you can record and edit reels up to 20 minutes in the app.
- Recommendation gate: 3 minutes. On the same help page: “Reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences.”
- Publishing API: 3 s to 15 min. This is the range Meta’s content publishing API accepts, and therefore the most a scheduler can publish automatically.
- Story videos: 3 s to 60 s through the same API.
Two figures that still circulate are out of date. There is no separate 60-minute “feed video” any more: that number dates from IGTV, Instagram’s former long-video format, and none of the current Instagram Help or API pages cited here gives it. “Reels are 90 seconds” fails the same test: none of the Instagram pages cited here states it.
How long can Instagram Reels be?
A Reel can be up to 20 minutes long when you create it in the Instagram app, according to Instagram Help. That is the hard ceiling for an in-app upload. Through Instagram’s publishing API, the route scheduling tools take, the range is 3 seconds to 15 minutes. And only Reels of 3 minutes or less are eligible to be recommended to new audiences.
The app-versus-API distinction matters more than most guides admit. Instagram’s help article on recording a reel describes the 20-minute limit as something you can “record and edit” in the app. That is the limit for Reels made inside Instagram itself. It does not cover a file handed to Instagram by another piece of software, which has its own, lower ceiling, set in the API documentation rather than the help centre.
If your app stops you short of 20 minutes, update Instagram before assuming the help page is wrong.
At the other end, the API won’t take a Reel shorter than 3 s. Short loops and one-beat reaction clips need to clear that floor if they will be scheduled.
Do Reels over 3 minutes still get recommended?
No. Instagram Help states that “Reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences.” The sentence is on Instagram’s help page for recording a reel, checked on 27 September 2026. A longer Reel still publishes and stays on your profile. What it loses is recommendation to people who haven’t come across your account before.
Read the wording literally. It is about recommendation to new audiences. It doesn’t say a longer Reel is hidden from your followers or penalised in any other way. That makes the decision fairly mechanical:
- If the Reel’s job is discovery (reaching people who don’t follow you yet), keep it at 3 minutes or under. Nothing else about the edit can make up for being ineligible.
- If the Reel’s job is depth for people who already follow you (a full tutorial, a workshop recording, a product walkthrough), the extra minutes are available up to the app ceiling. Just don’t expect them to travel.
Length is only the eligibility check. What happens to an eligible Reel after that is a ranking question, covered in our breakdown of how the Instagram algorithm ranks Reels. The other levers you control are when you post and how you label the video: the best time to post on Instagram and picking five hashtags for a Reel.
Cross-posting the same clip? TikTok and YouTube draw their lines in different places: see how long TikTok videos can be and the YouTube Shorts length and dimension limits, or compare every network in our all-platform size and length table.
How long can Instagram Stories be?
An Instagram Story video can be 3 s to 60 s long when it is published through Instagram’s API. In the app, Instagram Help describes trimming a longer clip with the video trimmer, and lists that trimmer for iOS only. Instagram does not publish a total length for a sequence of Story cards, so no figure for a full Story is official.
Instagram’s help page on trimming Story videos is the source for the trimming behaviour. The 3-to-60-second window comes from Meta’s content publishing API reference, the same document that sets the Reel limits above.
Through the API, one Story card is one video of up to 60 seconds; Instagram Help doesn’t publish a separate in-app figure. For something longer, trim it, cut it into separate clips yourself, or post it as a Reel and share the Reel to your Story. The 3-second floor applies to scheduled Stories too, and the file cap is lower than for Reels: 100 MB per video through the API.
Why does a scheduling tool cap Instagram video at 15 minutes?
Because Instagram’s publishing API accepts Reels of 3 seconds to 15 minutes, and scheduling tools that auto-publish go through that API. A third-party tool can’t use the app’s own 20-minute route. So a 16-minute video can go out from your phone, but no scheduler can publish it for you automatically. The 15-minute cap is Instagram’s API limit, not a choice by the tool.
The same split runs through Instagram’s other specs: the app and the API disagree on photo shapes and carousel sizes too. The rule of thumb holds everywhere: if a scheduler will post it, plan to the API numbers. For video, that means:
- Length: 3 s to 15 min
- File size: 300 MB or less
- Format: MP4 and MOV
How Outfeed handles this
Outfeed is a chat-first social media manager: you describe a post in a conversation, check a preview for each platform, and it publishes to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest and Bluesky. It publishes through the same Instagram API as other schedulers, so the same limits apply. Stated plainly from our publishing code: Outfeed’s publisher blocks an Instagram video shorter than 3 seconds, longer than 15 minutes or larger than 300 MB, and publishes a single video as a reel.
Try Outfeed AI for your Reels and Stories
What file size and format does Instagram accept for video?
Through the publishing API, a Reel can be up to 300 MB and a Story video up to 100 MB, as MP4 or MOV. Instagram publishes no file-size cap for videos uploaded inside the app. Frame rate has limits too: Instagram Help asks for at least 30 frames per second, and the API accepts 23 to 60.
A few practical notes:
- File size tracks bitrate more than length. A long screen recording can come in well under the limit while a short 4K phone clip goes over.
- Stick to MP4 or MOV. They are the two containers the API lists, and they are what phones and editing apps export by default.
- The cover image is a separate file. You choose it when you post the Reel, and Instagram Help notes that you can’t edit the cover after upload, so pick it before you publish.
For frame sizes, Reels are widely reported to upload at 1080 x 1920 pixels, and Instagram Help recommends 420 x 654 pixels for covers. The rest are in our guide to Instagram post and Reel dimensions.
What happens if your video is longer than the limit?
It depends on the route. The Instagram app won’t take a Reel over 20 minutes as one video. The API rejects anything over 15 minutes, or over 60 seconds for a Story. A Reel between 3 and 20 minutes publishes normally but won’t be recommended to new audiences. Case by case:
- Your Reel is over 20 minutes and you’re posting from the app. Trim it, or split it into parts and post them as a series. Instagram has no separate long-video format to fall back on.
- Your Reel is between 3 and 20 minutes. It posts fine from the app. It just won’t be recommended to new audiences. If reach matters, cut a version of 3 minutes or less and point viewers to the full video.
- Your Reel is over 15 minutes and you’re scheduling it. The API won’t accept it, so no scheduler can publish it automatically. Either publish from the app or trim it to 15 minutes.
- Your file is over 300 MB and you’re scheduling it. Re-export at a lower bitrate before cutting length.
- Your Story clip is over 60 seconds. Trim it (Instagram Help lists the trimmer for iOS), cut it into separate cards yourself, or post it as a Reel.
- Your clip is under 3 seconds. A scheduled Reel or Story that short is rejected. Extend it before uploading.
- “Instagram won’t let me post a long video” and none of the above fits. Update the app, check you are creating a Reel rather than a Story, and check whether the upload is going through a third-party tool, which is held to the API’s 15 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a video be on Instagram in 2026?
Up to 20 minutes for a Reel recorded or edited in the Instagram app. Reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences, and scheduling tools, which publish through Instagram’s API, can post Reels of 3 seconds to 15 minutes. Story videos run 3 to 60 seconds through the API.
How long can Instagram Reels be?
Instagram Help says you can record and edit reels up to 20 minutes in the app. Two lower limits matter as well: reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences, and the publishing API that scheduling tools use accepts reels from 3 seconds to 15 minutes.
How long can an Instagram Story be?
A Story video can run 3 to 60 seconds through Instagram’s publishing API. For a longer clip, Instagram Help describes trimming it in the app with the video trimmer, which it lists for iOS only. Instagram does not publish a total length for a run of several Story cards.
Can you post a video longer than 3 minutes on Instagram?
Yes. The app takes Reels up to 20 minutes, and scheduling tools can publish up to 15 minutes. The catch is reach: Instagram Help says reels over 3 minutes won’t be recommended to new audiences, so a longer Reel will not be pushed to people who don’t already know your account.
Why can’t my scheduling tool post a 20-minute Instagram video?
Scheduling tools that publish automatically go through Instagram’s content publishing API, which accepts reels of 3 seconds to 15 minutes and up to 300 MB. The 20-minute limit applies only inside the Instagram app, so post longer videos from the app or trim them to 15 minutes before scheduling.
What is the maximum video file size on Instagram?
Through the publishing API, a Reel can be up to 300 MB and a Story video up to 100 MB, as MP4 or MOV. Instagram publishes no file-size cap for videos uploaded in the app itself, so the 300 MB and 100 MB limits are the ones that matter when you schedule.