Compress a Video for Instagram
Get your video under Instagram’s limit without it falling apart. Free, nothing to install.
- Free to start
- Nothing to install
- Up to 1GB
Compress for Instagram in 3 steps
Upload your video
Drag and drop the clip you need to send to Instagram, or click to browse. Anything under 1GB.
Settings tuned for Instagram
The compression level and resolution are pre-set for Instagram. Adjust either in the panel if you want a different trade.
Compress and download
Create a free account to download the smaller file.
Getting a video small enough for Instagram
Instagram re-encodes everything you upload, so the goal here is not the smallest possible file, it is the cleanest 1080-wide file you can hand over. Compress too hard and the platform compounds your artefacts with its own.
Balanced compression at 1080p is the sweet spot: small enough to upload quickly on a phone, high enough quality that Instagram’s pass does not have much left to spoil.
If the shape is wrong as well as the size, crop first, 4:5 for the feed or 9:16 for Reels, then compress.
Recommended resolution
Recommended level
Feed ratio
Reels ratio
| Destination | Practical limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended resolution | 1080p wide | Matches Instagram’s own target |
| Recommended level | Balanced | Leaves headroom for platform recompression |
| Feed ratio | 4:5 | 1080 x 1350 |
| Reels ratio | 9:16 | 1080 x 1920 |
compress for instagram: questions
Why does Instagram make my video look bad?
It recompresses every upload. Uploading a 1080-wide file compressed only moderately gives its encoder a clean source to work from.
Should I compress before uploading to Instagram?
Only moderately. Heavy compression before upload stacks two lossy passes and is what produces the blocky look.
Does compression ruin the quality?
At the preset level here, most viewers will not see a difference. Quality only falls apart when you compress hard AND keep a high resolution, which is why this page pairs a level with a resolution.
Is it free?
Yes. Compress and preview for free, then create a free account to download.
Other presets
Everything else you can do here.
All compress video presets
Crop for a platform
Crop to a ratio
Resize to a resolution
Rotate or flip
Change the frame rate
Change the speed
Transcribe a language
Extract audio from a format
Subtitles in another language
Convert a caption file
Need more than compress for instagram?
REQO is a full browser video editor: record, edit by transcript, caption and export.