What are Instagram’s video lengths and time limit? How long can an Instagram video be? Well, it depends on where you want to post your video on Instagram. For example, a video on IGTV can last a lot longer than that for Stories.

At VEED, a free and easy-to-use video editor loved by many Instagram video content creators around the world, we're tackling Instagram video lengths and, more importantly, how to create Instagram videos that engage and never feel boring, however long they last.

You’ll learn:

  • Fast tips to create engaging Instagram videos that never feel too long
  • The Instagram video lengths for Stories, Feed, Reels, IGTV and Live
  • How to trim Instagram videos

How Do You Create Engaging Instagram Videos That Don’t Bore Your Viewers?

But first, before we get into the specifics, let's make things clear.

Knowing Instagram video lengths or how long Instagram videos can be is just a piece of the puzzle. What you really need is engagement. Here are some fast tips on Instagram video length that will help you create engaging Instagram videos:

  • Make every second count. Most Instagram videos are short-form in nature (except IGTV), so get straight to the important information or the engaging bit in your video content.
  • Make every word count. Study your competitors and other influencers in your niche. Look at the questions people ask in the comments. Turn your answers to these questions into video content.
  • Make your first 3 seconds count. They should hook your viewers in with interesting and captivating content. This may be a pertinent question or a strong statement. You may be able to record 4 15-second Stories but if you lose people in the first 5 seconds with "hey guys happy Friday '', they will leave. Why? It's not interesting.
  • Knowing about Instagram video lengths doesn’t mean that your videos should be that long. Enough said. Capture their attention, first, before thinking about whether you can hack Instagram video lengths.
  • Be clear, engaging, intentional and conversational. These are the hallmarks of Instagram videos that engage and build an audience.

How Long Can Instagram Videos Be?

How long can Instagram Stories be?

Ideal aspect ratio: 9:16 (vertical)

The maximum Instagram Story length is 15 seconds. After this, your video automatically gets separated until it’s 4 Stories long.

However, the maximum Instagram Story length for ads stands at 15 seconds, and no longer than that. Video ads posted on Stories also don’t get automatically separated, and they can’t be played one after the other.

How long can an Instagram Feed video be?

Ideal aspect ratios: 1:1 (square), 1:91:1 (landscape) and 4:5 (portrait)

Your video uploaded on the Feed needs to be between 3 and 60 seconds long. Your video ads posted on the Feed must also be 3-60 seconds long.

Instagram video length limit hack for Feed videos: Create a Carousel (i.e. feature multiple videos in one post) to bypass the 60-second limit for your Feed videos.

That said, we don't recommend this because people drop off when there's too many things to watch on a carousel. It's better to opt for a video post format and choose which will do the best job depending on complexity of the information.

You can use VEED’s editor to very quickly trim and split your video into smaller clips and upload them as a Carousel post!

How long can an Instagram Reels video be?

Default aspect ratio: 9:16

The video length for Instagram Reels needs to be under 30 seconds.

Instagram video length limit hack for Reels: No hacks to increase the time limit just yet.

You can use its countdown timer to record specific clips hands-free. This is great for participating in dance challenges or for creating a Reels video with many different parts.

How long can IGTV videos be

Ideal aspect ratios: 16:9 (horizontal) and 9:16 (vertical)

The IGTV video length needs to be between 15 seconds and 10 minutes to be posted on the platform.

Instagram video length limit hack for IGTV: If you’re verified, your IGTV video length can be up to 60 minutes.

How long can Instagram Live videos be?

Default aspect ratio: 9:16

Instagram’s Live time limit is up to 60 minutes per session.

The videos can also be later rewatched by your followers, but you can disable this feature if you wish to do so.

Note: You can also download Live videos and turn them as a Feed video. Use VEED to trim your Live videos down.

Instagram video length limit hack for Instagram Live: Simply start another Live event as soon as you hit the 60-minute time limit! You can repeat this trick as many times as you want.

How To Trim Instagram Videos Effortlessly

Now that you’ve learned about Instagram’s video lengths and time limit, and realized that you need to trim your Instagram videos to make them fit within the channel you’re posting them to.

Here’s how to trim your Instagram videos in a few clicks using VEED’s simple, yet powerful, video editor.

1) Go to VEED and upload your Instagram video to trim

Note: If you want to save this project and start new ones, you can easily create an account on VEED for free. All you need is to add your email address.

You can upload from:

  • Personal files
  • Camera
  • Dropbox
  • YouTube link

2) In the Timeline, select the clip and drag the handles on both ends of the video content to trim Instagram videos.

Dragging the handle on the left will trim the beginning part of your Instagram video.

Dragging the handle on the right will trim the end part of your video.

Easy enough, right?

Note: If you’re trimming out some of the beginning bits in your Instagram videos, make sure to drag the video content in the Timeline to the left.

Otherwise, these seconds will appear as a black screen in your video.

If you want to bring back the content you’ve just trimmed out, just drag the handles to its respective directions (ie drag the left handle to the left and the right one to the right) to make the video bar in the Timeline longer.

3) (Optional) Cut the middle bits of your video through splitting

Basically, if you want to trim the middle bits in your Instagram videos, do these:

  • Drag the playhead in the Timeline (the vertical blue line) to the point that you want to cut out.
  • Either click S in your keyboard or hit the Split button in the top-left corner of your Timeline.
  • Once your Instagram video has been split into two parts, choose either part and commence editing out the part that you do not want.

If you have a more comprehensive tutorial on this, read our blog post on using VEED’s video splitter tool.

4) Export your video and hit download

And you’re done!

Other Important VEED Resources On Instagram Content That You Should Be Reading Now

Keen on starting creating great Instagram videos? Well, you need to follow us on Instagram. On @veedstudio, we share expert tips on social media video content creation to take your Instagram videos to the next level and to become more engaging on social media.

If you’re having problems with aspect ratios on Instagram or with preserving the high-quality of your videos after uploading them to Instagram, check out our blog post on how to improve the quality of your Instagram videos.

If you want to learn how to upload videos and gifs on Instagram, here’s a blog post on just that.

Use VEED to create amazing videos on Instagram

In this quick tutorial, we’ve not only given you some important pointers on Instagram’s video lengths and time limit, but also taught you how to trim Instagram’s videos using VEED’s simple, yet powerful, video editor.

Instagram’s video lengths can be somewhat of a pain in the neck. As a fellow content creator, I know how frustrating it can be to have to learn about Instagram’s video lengths when you want to start building your audience!

But, hey, once you’re done with this, you’ll be on your way to cranking out and creating awesome videos on the platform.

Well, you still need to follow the best uploading practices for the platform and found a reliable video editor to help you quickly create awesome videos.

VEED’s video editor is optimized for creating beautiful videos for Instagram and other platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Of course, VEED is so much more than for editing Instagram videos. With our video editor, add text to your video, merge, trim and split your videos, add an audiogram, and so on.

In under a few clicks, you can easily repurpose your Feed video for Stories and vice-versa with our predefined aspect ratios. Try for free.