If you use Instagram regularly, you are probably concerned over the length of your videos. After all, nobody enjoys putting in a ton of effort into creating a video and uploading it, only to see a part of it getting cut off.
How long can an Instagram video be? That is the question we will answer in this article, since it is not that cut and dry. It entirely depends on what kind of video you are wanting to upload. We will break down all of the video lengths for each of the different video formats on Instagram.
If you want to increase your view count and engagement, you definitely want to share videos, photos and you want to make sure you are aware of the video length limits for each format type.
How Long Can an Instagram Video Be
Let’s cut to the chase and look at the video lengths for each kind of video that you can share on Instagram:
- In-Feed Videos
- Minimum: 3 seconds
- Maximum: 60 minutes
- Reels Videos
- Minimum: 15 seconds
- Maximum: 90 seconds
- Story Videos
- Minimum: 1 second
- Maximum: 60 seconds
- Live Videos
- Minimum: 1 second
- Maximum: 4 hours
- In-Feed Video Ads
- Minimum: 1 second
- Maximum: 60 seconds
- Story Video Ads
- Minimum: 1 second
- Maximum: 15 seconds
A Word on Instagram Video Ads
Running video ads on Instagram has its own set of rules, which vary from regular video content you can share on the platform. The two options, as listed above, are in-feed ads and Story ads.
An in-feed video ad will display in a person’s feed, and while it can be up to 60 seconds in length, you will likely want to keep it down to around 15 seconds due to users typically moving on if it is longer than that.
A story ad shows up within Instagram Stories, occasionally popping up between stories. Also, a key consideration when it comes to story ads is that they will only be visible for 24 hours. After that, the person who saw it will no longer do so. On the other hand, your story ad will be shown to others for the length of your campaign.
Bottom Line: Keep your video ads between 15 and 30 seconds long.
What to Do When Video Length Exceeds Limits
If you have created a video and it is longer than the lengths stated earlier in this article, then you might be wondering if there is a workaround.
There are a few options you can consider.
- Trim the Video – You can use Instagram’s built-in trimming tool to cut down the length of your video if it is longer than the allowed length limit.
- Use a Video Editing App – There are countless video editing apps available today that will make it easy to trim down a video, as well as other handy editing features.
- Create a Carousel Post – If you are adamant about keeping a video at the length it’s at, you have the option to create a video carousel post. This will split up your content into shorter clips. To view the entire video, a person would need to swipe in the post to the next clip.
Protip: Video Carousel posts can be up to 10 minutes in length–much longer than the standard 60 seconds you get otherwise.
Bonus Tip: You are able to convert an Instagram ad into a Video Carousel!
What About IGTV?
IGTV was actually discontinued in 2021 and no longer exists in that capacity.
Now that you know how long can an Instagram video be, you will never get unexpectedly surprised by your video content being too short or long.
