Format and length
Reels are vertical. Export at 9:16, 1080p and you get a 1080×1920 MP4, which Instagram accepts without re-cropping. As an opener, keep the text effect short – three to five seconds – and cut straight into your main clip, or use it as the whole Reel with a trending sound added inside Instagram.
Staying clear of the interface
Instagram overlays your caption, username and audio label along the bottom of a Reel, and the like/comment/share column down the right-hand side. Exact sizes change with app versions and phone shapes, so treat these as rough guides:
- Keep the focal word roughly in the middle third of the frame vertically.
- Avoid the bottom fifth of the frame, and give the right edge some breathing room – a Horizontal position of 45–50% works well.
- The optional TextSnapy credit sits above the bottom overlay on vertical exports, so it isn’t hidden.
Styles that suit Reels
- Social captions – clean bold type, good over a talking-head intro.
- Motivation – large condensed caps with colour cycling.
- Aesthetic – soft pastels for lifestyle and study content.
- Meme – loud and fast for humour accounts.
Uploading
On a phone, use Share video after exporting to send the file straight to Instagram, or save it to your camera roll first. On desktop, download the MP4 and upload it from instagram.com or Meta Business Suite. If your browser produced a WebM file instead of MP4, re-export from Chrome, Edge or Safari – Instagram prefers MP4.