How long an Instagram video can be depends on where you post it. As read on 27 October 2026: the new Features format takes horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes, Live broadcasts run up to 4 hours, Reels can be up to 20 minutes, and one Story plays for up to 60 seconds. Features is still a test with selected creators, so most accounts have the other three today.
Instagram changes these numbers often, and old guides keep repeating old limits, so every number below links to the page we read it on, with the date. We build Ziztu, an AI video tool that comes up near the end of this guide, so weigh that part. The limits themselves come from Instagram's Help Centre, Instagram's business blog, Meta's Ads Guide and news reports that quote Meta.
Instagram video length limits at a glance
| Format | Longest video | Where we read it |
|---|---|---|
| Features (new, in testing) | 90 minutes, horizontal | Social Media Today, 26 October 2026 |
| Live | 4 hours | TechCrunch, 27 October 2020 |
| Reels | 20 minutes | Instagram Help Centre, read 27 October 2026 |
| Stories | 60 seconds per story | TechCrunch, 23 September 2022 |
| Video posts in the feed | Shared as Reels | Instagram for Business blog, July 2022 |
The shape matters as much as the length. Reels and Stories are vertical, Features are horizontal. Our Instagram aspect ratio guide has the size for every format.
Features: up to 90 minutes, horizontal
On 26 October 2026, Instagram's head Adam Mosseri announced Features, a new home for long horizontal videos. Social Media Today reported that Features lets creators post videos of up to 90 minutes, that Instagram had already tested it with creators in Brazil, and that it began rolling out to select creators in the US on 26 October. The same report says creators can link up to eight Reels clips back to the longer video. The short clips sit in the Reels feed, where people find them, and lead to the full video. The National reported the same 90 minute length and a wider rollout in the weeks ahead.
If your account does not have Features yet:
- Plan long videos horizontally now. A video made for Features is wide, like a YouTube video, not tall like a Reel.
- Keep the clips that point to it short and vertical. They are the part most people see first.
- Do not wait for a spec sheet. Instagram had not published a Help Centre page for Features when we checked on 27 October 2026. We export horizontal videos at 1920 x 1080 pixels (16:9), the usual size for widescreen video, and will update this guide when Instagram publishes its own numbers.
Reels: up to 20 minutes
Instagram's Help Centre page Record a reel on Instagram says, as read on 27 October 2026: "You can record and edit videos up to 20 minutes with Instagram Reels." The same page notes that Reels is not yet available to every account.
The limit has grown quickly. Reels were capped at 90 seconds until January 2025, when Instagram raised the limit to 3 minutes and changed the profile grid from squares to rectangles (Engadget). That is why many guides still say 90 seconds or 3 minutes. If your app stops you earlier than 20 minutes, update the app before you trim the video.
The limit is not a target. Our own rule for Reels: the first two seconds decide whether anyone stays, so the length should come from the idea. A 30 second explainer that says one thing clearly does better work than a 5 minute one that says it slowly. Long Reels make sense for tutorials, recipes and stories that need the time.
Stories: 60 seconds per story
In September 2022 a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch that people could now "play and create Stories continuously for up to 60 seconds, instead of being automatically cut into 15 second clips." Before that, Stories played in 15 second pieces, which is where the old 15 second figure comes from.
For a video longer than a minute, you have two choices: cut it into parts of up to 60 seconds and post them as a run of stories, or post the whole video as a Reel and share that Reel to your story. The second keeps the video in one piece and leaves it on your profile after the story disappears.
Live: up to 4 hours
Instagram raised the limit for Live broadcasts from 1 hour to 4 hours in October 2020, TechCrunch reported. The longer limit has a condition: the account has to be in good standing, without a history of intellectual property or policy violations. Live is the longest format Instagram has, but it is live: you cannot polish it first.
Video posts in the feed are shared as Reels
In July 2022 Instagram announced that new video posts would be shared as Reels, starting with videos shorter than 15 minutes. A video you post today lands in the Reels tab of your profile, so for an ordinary video post, the Reels limit above is the one to plan around.
Ads follow their own rules. If you pay to promote a video, Meta's Ads Guide lists video ads in Instagram Stories and in the feed as running from 1 second to 60 minutes, with files of up to 4 GB, as read on 27 October 2026.
What happened to IGTV?
IGTV was Instagram's earlier home for long videos. Meta told TechCrunch in February 2022 that the standalone IGTV app would leave the app stores in March 2022, and long videos moved into the main Instagram app. Features is Instagram's new place for long horizontal video.
How to post a long video on Instagram, step by step
- Pick the format by length. Up to 60 seconds fits one story. Up to 20 minutes fits a Reel. Longer than that needs Features, if your account has it, or Live, if you are broadcasting.
- Pick the shape. Vertical (9:16) for Reels and Stories, horizontal for Features.
- Export a safe file. MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio is the combination Meta lists in its video ad specs.
- Put the point in the first seconds. A long video still has to earn the next minute. Say what the viewer gets before you explain how.
- With Features: post the full horizontal video, then link short Reels clips to it, up to eight according to Social Media Today.
- Without Features: post the strongest 30 to 60 seconds as a Reel and say in the caption where the full video lives, for example on your YouTube channel.
Making a long video for Instagram with AI
Most AI video models make clips of 5 to 15 seconds, so a 20 or 90 minute video is really hundreds of shots plus a script, a narrator and an edit. That is the part we built tools for.
Ziztu's AI Instagram Video Maker makes a narrated horizontal video of 3 to 60 minutes from one idea or a pasted link. It writes the script chapter by chapter, keeps one look across the whole film and shows the price in credits before anything runs. That covers the long Features video.
For the vertical Reels that lead to it, Reel Factory turns one topic into a finished 9:16 reel with a script, a voice, word captions and music. A 30 second reel in the starting style is 1,190 credits in Basic. You download both and post them to Instagram yourself; neither tool cuts Reels out of a long film for you. 400 free credits for scripts, character art, storyboards, voices and sound, plus your first 5 second video free, no card. More video starts at $7.
If you would rather keep the long video on YouTube and use Instagram for the clips, the same engine runs our AI YouTube Video Maker.
The short version
- Features: up to 90 minutes, horizontal, in testing since 26 October 2026.
- Live: up to 4 hours, for accounts in good standing.
- Reels: up to 20 minutes.
- Stories: up to 60 seconds each.
Instagram has changed most of these limits since 2020, so check the dates above before you rely on a number. To make the long horizontal video and the Reels that point to it, start with the AI Instagram Video Maker.