Ever shot the perfect video, and when you uploaded it, the clip didn’t seem right? Whether it was extra padding added to the clip or some footage was cut off, you’re not alone.

How to resize videos for Instagram can be extremely daunting. It’s like things can never get tougher for creators and brands. They not only have to create outstanding videos, but they also have to learn how to resize them. Frustrating doesn’t capture it enough.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Resizing videos for Instagram is very simple if you know what to do and practice a couple of times by yourself. By the end of this guide, you’ll be confident with resizing videos for Instagram, and if you do it right, you should see positive changes in your Instagram account metrics, dig in.

Instagram Video Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio is a measure that describes how the width of a video’s frame relates to its height. However, this figure should be taken literally. A video frame that measures, say, four by nine pixels is virtually impossible to watch without additional visual aids.

A simple way of putting this is that aspect ratios are a simplified version of a video’s size (resolution-wise), but they aren’t simplified completely; rather, they’re a set of universally recognized ratios.

For instance, a video aspect ratio of 4:3 is, in a true Mathematical sense, 1.33:1. The same goes for other aspect ratios; they’re only universally recognized ratios that define or rather describe how a video renders. In line with this, it’s worth noting that several video resolutions can share the same aspect ratio but not vice versa.

A majority of Instagram users access the platform via mobile. This is why most functionalities are in the mobile app compared to the web version. Due to this, Instagram recommends video aspect ratios between 1.91:1 and 9:16.

As you’ll notice, they’re all skewed towards favoring vertically longer displays.

Instagram Video Requirements

Instagram has different requirements for each video featured on the platform. Reels, in-feed, and IGTV videos have different specifications in terms of aspect ratios.

However, Instagram is a bit lax, but you should stick to the recommended specifications if you want to achieve consistent growth on the platform.

The recommended aspect for reels and IGTV videos is 9:16, while 4:5 is recommended for in-feed videos.
Instagram also requires that all videos uploaded to the platform have a minimum of 30 FPS frame rate and a minimum 720p resolution.

Videos can range from 3 seconds to 60 minutes; however, this is limited to a few accounts. Lastly, Instagram allows video uploads up to a maximum of 3.6 GB for individual files.

How to Use Wave.video to Resize a Video for Instagram:

Wave.video hosts a suite of tools, including a video editor. The best part about it is it’s capable or even more powerful than conventional paid tools, free to use, and easy to work with. Here’s how you can use Wave.video editor to resize a video for Instagram:

• Launch Wave.video on your device browser, preferably a Mac or PC, since Wave.video doesn’t support mobile devices.
• Go to the online video resizer tool page.

• Hit the “Upload video” button and select the video you want to resize from your device. Confirm your selection and click open to initiate the upload.

• Once on the video editor, select “Resize” on the submenu to your left.

• Choose an appropriate aspect ratio for your Instagram video.

• Use the Trim feature to cut out unnecessary footage, especially if your video is too bulky or longer than the recommended length for videos on Instagram. You can also add stickers, voiceovers, or other special effects to your video.

• Once everything looks good, hit the “Publish” button and select video from the dropdown menu.

• Select the highest resolution and video quality available on your plan and hit “Render with watermark” this button may appear simply as “Render” on upgraded accounts.
• You can then download the video to your device and post it on Instagram or publish it directly from Wave.video to your Instagram account.

FAQs

How to resize a video for an Instagram story, reels, and TV?

To do this, you must import the video into a video editor and manually resize the video to fit the recommended specifications for Instagram stories, reels, and IGTV.

However, on Wave.video, you can do this in one go without looking for the appropriate aspect ratios elsewhere.

Simply navigate to the free video resizer tool and import the video. Select the resize option as shown above, then choose an appropriate aspect ratio for Instagram story, reels, or TV.

Ensure you download the resized video before resizing it again to another aspect ratio.

How to resize a TikTok or a Snapchat video for Instagram?

First, download the TikTok or Snapchat video to your device.

Next, determine which video editor works best for you and upload the video to the site. With Wave.video, follow the instructions above to resize the video to Instagram’s recommended specifications.

How to resize a video for Instagram with iMovie?

iMovie is native and only available on Mac, so this isn’t for you if you’re a PC user. This also means you don’t have to install anything on your Mac.

Here’s how to proceed:

• Open iMovie on your device and move import the video you want to resize on iMovie. You can add a video to iMovie via the “Import window” or drag it from the Finder to the event tab on iMovie.
• Select the video once it appears on your timeline and click the cropping button.

• Click “Crop to fill.” Adjust the flexible frame that appears to an Instagram-appropriate aspect ratio. This can be understandably tricky, with no gridlines to help you; however, a close estimate will do on Instagram. Remember, the recommended aspect ratios on Instagram are either perfect squares or slightly skewed to have more height (vertical length) than the frame width.
• Once you’re satisfied with the cropped frame, hit “Apply” to make the changes permanent on the video.
• You can now upload the resized video on your Instagram account.

How do I use Premiere Pro to resize a video for Instagram?

Premiere Pro is a powerful proprietary video editor. However, it can be quite intimidating for first-time users, given the sheer number of functionalities available on the tool.

Here’s how to resize a video for Instagram using Premiere Pro:

• First, install Premiere Pro on your device if you haven’t already, and open the application.
• Create a new project and import the video you want to resize
• Once the import is complete, edit the clip to customize it for your brand and navigate to the “Export” section.
• Uncheck the “Frame size” and “Aspect” sections of the media file. This opens it up for manipulation.
• Refer to the recommended Instagram video aspect ratios and adjust the figures to make the video appropriate for Instagram.
• Hit the “Export” button and wait a while for the tool to process the request.
• Find the resized video in the specified location on your device. Premiere Pro displays a prompt stating the exported file location.

Honestly, using Premiere Pro feels like a lot of hard work and can easily take a toll on most people. There’s so much to work with, and beginners to intermediate users can easily get overwhelmed by the numerous options and functions.

How do I resize a video for Instagram on iPhone?

There are two ways to do this. Using the inbuilt iMovie tool or using web-based video editors.
With iMovie, the process is the same as detailed here.

Alternatively, you can choose an appropriate video editor tool on Appstore or search for one on the web.
However, ensure you only work with trusted apps or sites to avoid getting adware or malware on your device.

Final Thoughts

When you think of it, how to resize videos for Instagram can seem complicated at first, and it can be grueling with some tools that complicate such a simple matter.

Fortunately, anyone can learn to resize videos for Instagram and quickly become a pro with several practice attempts. It’s also worth noting that to achieve the desired results, you must first establish what Instagram recommends as ideal specifications for videos on its platform.

Another crucial thing is choosing a tool that’s easy to work with and can easily automate excruciatingly hard and repetitive tasks. As a creator or brand, you should focus more on creating content and managing your account instead of spending too much time resizing videos for Instagram.