Skip to main content

Social Media Story Sizes

Updated July 2026

The full-screen vertical dimensions for Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Pinterest Stories - plus the safe zones that keep text from getting covered

Stories are the one format almost every major platform agrees on. Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Pinterest all use the same full-screen vertical frame that fills a phone edge-to-edge. That consistency makes stories one of the easiest formats to design for - build one file at the right size and it works nearly everywhere.

The catch is in the details. Every app overlays its own interface on top of your content - profile icons, reply bars, progress dots, caption boxes, swipe-up buttons - and those overlays sit in slightly different spots on each platform. Get the base size right and you avoid cropping. Get the safe zone wrong and your logo or headline ends up hidden behind a "Send Message" bar. This guide covers both.

Quick Reference: Story Sizes by Platform

All figures below are pixel dimensions at a 9:16 aspect ratio unless noted. Read the platform sections further down for safe zone details and duration limits.

Platform Format Recommended Size Max Duration Max File Size
Instagram Story 1080 x 1920 px 60 sec / slide 30 MB image / 4 GB video
Facebook Story 1080 x 1920 px Photo: ~5 sec / Video: auto-split into short segments 4 GB video
Snapchat Snap / Story 1080 x 1920 px 10 sec photo / 60 sec video 5 MB (image)
WhatsApp Status 1080 x 1920 px 90 sec (video) 16 MB
TikTok Story 1080 x 1920 px 15 sec / segment 72 MB
YouTube Shorts 1080 x 1920 px Up to 3 min -
Pinterest Idea Pin 1080 x 1920 px Up to 20 pages, 5 min total video 20 MB image / 2 GB video (app)

Instagram Story & Reel Size

Instagram Stories and Reels both use 1080 x 1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio. Story slides play for up to 60 seconds before automatically advancing, and disappear after 24 hours unless saved to Highlights. Reels stay on your profile permanently and can run up to 90 seconds when recorded in-app, or up to 60 minutes when uploaded from your camera roll.

Instagram Story Safe Zone

  • Keep text and logos about 250px from the top and bottom edges - that's where the profile bar and reply field sit
  • Reels covers should stay within the center 1080 x 1420px area so text isn't clipped by the grid crop
  • Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, MP4, MOV, GIF

Full specs, post sizes, and ad dimensions: Instagram photo size guide.

Facebook Story Size

Facebook Stories share the same 1080 x 1920 pixel, 9:16 format as Instagram - not surprising since Meta owns both apps and the format was designed to be interchangeable between them. A photo posted to Facebook Stories displays for a few seconds before advancing, and video clips get automatically split into shorter segments so a longer recording still plays through as a multi-part story.

Facebook Story Safe Zone

  • Leave the top ~14% of the frame clear for the profile name and timestamp
  • Leave the bottom ~20% clear for reply and reaction controls
  • Keep the sides free of critical detail - roughly 6% margin on each edge varies by device

Full specs, cover photo, and ad dimensions: Facebook image size guide.

Snapchat Snap & Story Size

Snapchat is built entirely around the 1080 x 1920 pixel vertical frame - every snap, story, and Spotlight video uses it. A photo snap or story slide displays for up to 10 seconds, while video segments can run up to 60 seconds each. The minimum acceptable resolution is 720 x 1280 pixels, but the full 1080x1920 gives sharper results.

Snapchat Story Safe Zone

  • Avoid placing important content within 150px of the top or bottom edges
  • Custom geofilter overlays use a wider 1080 x 2340px canvas with a 1080 x 1920px safe viewing area in the center
  • Max image file size is 5 MB, JPG or PNG

Full specs, geofilters, and ad dimensions: Snapchat image size guide.

WhatsApp Status Size

WhatsApp's disappearing Status feature uses the standard 1080 x 1920 pixel, 9:16 vertical format - the same dimensions as Instagram Stories and Snapchat. Status videos can run up to 90 seconds, longer than most other platforms' story formats, with a 16 MB file size cap that covers both photos and videos.

WhatsApp Status Safe Zone

  • Keep critical content within the center 1080 x 1350px area
  • The contact name bar (top) and reply field (bottom) can partially cover the edges
  • WhatsApp usually handles resizing automatically for camera roll photos, but custom brand graphics should be designed at the exact size

Full specs, profile pictures, and catalog images: WhatsApp image size guide.

TikTok Story Size

TikTok Stories use the same 1080 x 1920 pixel vertical format as regular TikTok videos, but with a much shorter runtime - each story segment maxes out at 15 seconds, well under the 60-second Snapchat or Instagram story limit. Like Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok Stories disappear from your profile after 24 hours.

TikTok Story Safe Zone

  • Keep text and important visuals within the center ~1080 x 1620px safe zone
  • Avoid the top ~50px (status bar) and bottom ~150px (caption area)
  • Max file size is 72 MB, uploaded as MP4 or MOV

Full specs, ad placements, and profile photo sizes: TikTok video size guide.

YouTube Shorts Size

YouTube doesn't call them "stories," but Shorts fill the same role - full-screen vertical video at 1080 x 1920 pixels, 9:16. Shorts can run up to 3 minutes (expanded from the original 60-second limit in late 2024), with a minimum acceptable resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels to avoid pixelation on larger phones. Square 1:1 video also qualifies as a Short.

YouTube Shorts Tips

  • Use MP4 with H.264 codec at 30fps or 60fps
  • Shorts thumbnails follow standard 1280 x 720px, 16:9 thumbnail rules
  • YouTube now supports native 9:16 vertical live streaming, which surfaces in the Shorts feed too

Full specs, thumbnails, and channel banner sizes: YouTube thumbnail size guide.

Pinterest Idea Pin Size

Pinterest's story-style format is the Idea Pin (formerly called Story Pins) - a multi-page slideshow at 1080 x 1920 pixels, 9:16. You can mix up to 20 pages of images and video, with video clips capped at 60 seconds each and 5 minutes total across the whole Idea Pin.

Pinterest Idea Pin Safe Zone

  • Keep text 270px from the top, 440px from the bottom, 65px from the left, and 195px from the right
  • Accepted image formats: BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, WEBP
  • Image file size max is 20 MB per page; video is capped at 100 MB (web) or 2 GB (mobile app)

Full specs, standard pins, and board covers: Pinterest pin size guide.

What About LinkedIn and Threads?

Two platforms are worth calling out because they don't fit the pattern. LinkedIn Stories launched in 2020 but was discontinued in 2023 - LinkedIn hasn't replaced it with another disappearing-content format since, so there's no Story size to design for on LinkedIn today. If you're posting vertical video there, use the standard LinkedIn video specs (1080 x 1920px for vertical, or 1080 x 1350px for the best-performing 4:5 feed format) instead.

Threads never built its own native Stories tab. Instead, Meta gave it a cross-posting shortcut: tap "Share to Instagram Story" on a Thread and it generates a 9:16 background card with your text and media dropped in as a clickable sticker. If you're planning to cross-post a Thread this way, design any image or video in it at the standard 9:16 story ratio so it doesn't get awkwardly cropped when it lands on Instagram.

Designing One Story File for Every Platform

Because seven major platforms all standardized on 1080 x 1920 pixels, you can design a single template and reuse it almost everywhere with minor safe-zone adjustments. A few habits make cross-posting painless:

  • Design at 1080 x 1920px from the start - resizing up from a smaller square post always looks softer than starting at native story resolution.
  • Keep the center third safe - if you only remember one rule, it's this one. Every platform's UI overlays live near the top and bottom edges, so text and logos placed in the vertical center survive every platform's cropping.
  • Export video at 30fps with H.264 - it's the one codec setting accepted everywhere on this list, and it keeps file sizes reasonable without a manual compression pass.
  • Check each platform's specific safe zone before publishing - the margins above are close but not identical, and a caption bar that's harmless on WhatsApp can cover a headline on TikTok.

Our Image Size Calculator has story presets built in for every platform on this page, so you can check your exported dimensions before you upload instead of finding out after it's cropped. And if you want the reasoning behind why 9:16 became the universal story ratio, our social media aspect ratios guide covers how it compares to the 1:1 and 4:5 ratios used for regular posts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the standard size for a social media story?

Almost every platform uses the same Story dimensions: 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 9:16 aspect ratio. That covers Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories, Snapchat, WhatsApp Status, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Pinterest Idea Pins. Designing one 1080x1920 file works for all of them, though safe zones for text differ slightly by platform.

Why do my story images look zoomed in or cropped?

If you upload an image with a different aspect ratio than 9:16, the app crops it to fill the full-screen vertical frame instead of showing the whole picture. This is most common when reusing a square Instagram post or a landscape photo for a story. Always resize to 1080 x 1920 pixels before uploading so nothing gets cut off.

Do LinkedIn and Threads have Stories?

No. LinkedIn Stories was discontinued in 2023, and LinkedIn has not brought back a disappearing-content feature since. Threads does not have a native Stories tab either - it uses Meta's cross-posting tool to turn a Thread into a 9:16 Instagram Story card instead.

How long can a video be in a story?

It varies by platform. Instagram Story video segments run up to 60 seconds each, Snapchat snaps and story segments cap at 60 seconds, WhatsApp Status videos allow up to 90 seconds, and TikTok Stories are limited to 15 seconds per segment. Longer videos get automatically split into consecutive segments rather than rejected.

Related Guides