How Long Is an Instagram Story? Max Length & Expert Tips

Instagram Stories are far more than a way to keep up with your friends. With more than 500 million people watching Instagram Stories every single day, mastering these posts is crucial for anyone looking to build and engage a dedicated audience. If you’re looking to do just that, keep reading.

Instagram Stories are arguably more important than posts. Stories usually have a smaller reach than normal posts, but up to one-quarter of viewers swipe the links added to stories. Imagine converting 25% of your Instagram audience, and you can start to appreciate just how vital these short videos are!

But just how short are stories? The app, like other social media sites, places certain limits on stories. Being aware of what you can and can’t do is key for any social media strategy.

First, some basics. When you post a story, it remains visible for 24 hours, unless you remove it earlier. You can choose to highlight a story, which will keep it visible on your profile for longer, if you want. The maximum number of stories you can post at one time is 100. After you reach that limit, earlier stories will disappear when you publish more. However, you shouldn’t ever come close to that limit. Posting a few stories a day is ideal.

Instagram Stories can be photos or videos. If you upload a photo, it will last for around 7 seconds. Adding music or audio might change that length a little. 

But how long can Instagram Stories be? And what length is ideal? Let’s dive in.

So, how long is an Instagram Story? Well, that depends on how long your video lasts. 

However, the maximum length allowed by Instagram is 60 seconds. That’s an increase from the previous 15-second limit.

Seems short? That’s the point. If you want to upload longer-form content, consider posting a Reel video, starting an Instagram Live, or uploading your content to other social media platforms.

While 60 seconds is the upper limit, it’s by no means a target. Instead, think of it as a creative restraint. In fact, one of the whole points of the limit is to encourage creators to make content that is short and sweet. It forces you to think outside the box and get to the point. 

Studies show that our attention spans have decreased over the last few decades. Twenty years ago, the average time a person could stay focused on a single thing was about 2.5 minutes. That’s 150 seconds. Today, that time has shrunk to just 45 seconds.

In other words, our attention spans have shortened by 70%!

It goes without saying that 45 seconds is significantly shorter than the 60-second limit on Instagram Stories. Keeping your videos short could help you achieve higher engagement.

For example, imagine you worked hard on a 60-second story video and you built up the video to a wonderful conclusion. But if most of your audience gets bored partway through and clicks away, they won’t see that conclusion. In other words, your story will have far less impact than you hoped. 

Now imagine you condensed that story into 30 seconds. You can likely guess where this is going. Fewer people will have clicked away before you get to your conclusion. That means more people seeing said conclusion, and more meaningful engagement for you. 

Hold on a second. If people’s attention spans are so short, what’s the point of uploading longer stories at all? Countless people do it. Are they all wasting time?

No. There are plenty of convincing arguments in favor of shorter stories. But there are also reasons to push your stories to the time limit.

One of the reasons Instagram Stories are so powerful is the tools they contain to increase engagement. We’ll discuss these tools, which are technically called stickers, later. The important thing to remember now, though, is that viewers need time to engage with whatever items you add to your stories. 

If you add a survey, for example, your viewers will need time to read the question, decide whether they want to answer, and then actually write and submit said answer. If your story is just 10 seconds long, it could end before your viewers manage to do all this. And if that happens, chances are most viewers won’t bother clicking back. 

Ultimately, different stories should be different lengths. Consider what you know about your audience. Larger audiences tend to be less engaged than smaller ones. 

Also consider your goals. If you want your viewers to buy a product, for example, you might want a longer story with a link to the product’s page. But if you just want to make an announcement, keeping things short might work better.

Your competitors are also a great source of information. Identify who you are competing against and examine what they’re doing. Are they posting long stories with plenty of stickers? Or are they sticking to short videos?

Remember, you can always adjust your strategy if something isn’t working. 

Not all Instagram formats are created equal. Reels, for example, can be longer than stories. Posts can contain up to 20 images in a single carousel post, allowing for plenty of creative exploration.

The same is true with audience engagement. Unfortunately, Instagram Stories generally have a lower reach than posts. While posts might reach over 10% of your audience, stories might only reach 2%. 

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them, though. Remember, stories might have smaller reach, but they often have much higher engagement.

Figuring out your engagement rate is simple. First, calculate the number of impressions, or views, your story received. Second, calculate the number of interactions that story received. You can see this in your Instagram Insights page. Likes, shares, reactions, and comments all count as interactions.

Once you have those two figures, divide the number of interactions by the number of impressions. Finally, multiply the resulting figure by 100 to convert it into a percentage.

For example, say your story was viewed 2,000 times, and 25 people interacted with it. Divide 25 by 2,000, then multiply by 100, and you get an engagement rate of 1.25%. 

Generally, you want an engagement rate above 1%. Anything above 3% is usually considered excellent. Remember, though, that smaller audiences tend to have higher engagement rates. So if your engagement is slipping a little during a period of high growth, don’t worry too much. It might be a natural consequence of your larger audience.

Some key engagement tools are:

• Links. Add a link to an external webpage. You can customize the text of the link. For example, you could write, “Click here!” Remember, up to 25% of story viewers click these links when given the opportunity. 
• Polls. Ask your audience a multiple-choice question. You can customize both the question and the answers, though there’s a limit on how many answers you can include. These are a great way to keep viewers engaged with your content while also gathering audience feedback.
• Surveys. A more expansive version of the poll. Here, you ask a question and your audience members can write a response. Instagram also allows you to repost these answers in a new story, giving you a way to highlight members of your community. 
• Quizzes. Similar to polls, but with a single correct answer. When a viewer clicks on an answer, it will reveal whether their choice was right or wrong. You can also see how popular each answer was with your audience. 
• Stickers. Instagram comes with hundreds of stickers to add to your vertical videos. Many of them are animated. Don’t overload your stories, though. For the most engagement, carefully select one or two stickers that add value to your video.
• Text. You can add text to your stories. Instagram allows you to customize this text in various ways, from backgrounds to animations and more. However, don’t get tempted to overload your viewers with too much text. Remember their attention span and write accordingly. 

If you were to ask the question, “How long is an Instagram Story?” a few years ago, you would have received a markedly different answer.

For the first six years after it was launched, Instagram didn’t have the option to add stories at all. Users could only upload posts. 

Stories were added in 2016. They quickly became one of Instagram’s most popular and most used features. 

But these early Instagram Stories were very different to the ones we know today. They had a maximum length of just 15 seconds. Content longer than 15 seconds would be trimmed.

In 2022, Instagram increased the story length limit by four times, from 15 seconds to 60 seconds.

• 2010: Instagram is launched
• 2016: Stories are added to Instagram, with a 15-second limit
• 2022: Instagram Story limit increased to 60 seconds

As things stand, in 2025 an Instagram Story can be a maximum of 60 seconds long. If you try and post a video longer than that, it will be trimmed to 60 seconds. 

Stories aren’t the only way to post videos to Instagram. You can post a reel, go live, and more. Each video format has different length limits.

Instagram might restrict the length of stories, but that doesn’t mean you have to stick to just 60 seconds of content.

Stories might be the ideal place for shorter content, but that doesn’t mean you should never post something longer.

Before we get to that, though, let’s discuss how you can post a full 60-second story on Instagram.

Creating an Instagram Story video is relatively straightforward. There are two options. The first is to record your story video within the app. 

This involves the following:

1. Open the Instagram app.
2. Swipe left to open the camera (you might have to enable camera and microphone access if you haven’t already).
3. Press and hold the circular record button, located at the bottom of your screen, to start recording a video.
4. Keep recording until you hit 60 seconds.
5. Make any necessary edits, including adding text and interactive elements.
6. Publish your story video.

While this method is the easiest, it’s not always ideal for posting more polished content. For that, you’ll want to record and edit your footage outside of Instagram. Use whatever equipment and software you like. Remember to carefully edit your video to be exactly 60 seconds long. Any longer and you’ll be forced to trim content. Any shorter and you won’t be taking advantage of all 60 seconds available to you.

Once you’ve recorded and edited your footage, export it. Make sure you export using a file format supported by Instagram, like MP4 or MOV.

Save or send your finished video to the mobile device that has the Instagram app installed. The video should be in this device’s camera roll.

Then, do the following:

1. Open the Instagram app.
2. Swipe left to open the camera.
3. Swipe up to access your camera roll (you might need to allow access if you haven’t already).
4. Select the video you want to upload.
5. Make any necessary final edits, such as adding interactive elements.
6. Share the video to your story.

The 60-second limit is a good one to follow. But it’s not set in stone.

You likely know this already. After all, plenty of creators manage to circumvent the time limit. If you’ve seen that, you might have wondered just how long Instagram Stories can be.

The secret to publishing longer stories is posting multiple stories. That’s it.

Consider the following workflow:

1. Record your footage
2. Import your footage into a video editor
3. Edit your content in sections, keeping each distinct section shorter than 60 seconds
4. Publish each section as a separate video
5. Post each section in order

When your audience clicks on your story, they’ll see the first section, then the next, and so on. With careful editing, you can make the transition between each individual story post seamless. 

There are several advantages to doing this:

• You can add multiple different interactive elements to each section of your story
• Cover more content at once
• Add long videos to your story highlights, keeping them available for viewers to see at a later date
• You can also send new followers to your story highlights in later posts if you want to reference a specific long video

It’s best to do this technique with an external video editor. Here are a few options:

• Movavi Video Editor (desktop app)
• CapCut (desktop and mobile app)
• InShot (mobile app)
• VEED (online app)

There are plenty of techniques to increase engagement on your Instagram Stories. Let’s cover some of the most effective.

The perfect story length depends on what content you’re uploading. But there are some general best practices to maximize engagement.

• Frontload interest: think of the first few seconds of your story as the “hook.” This needs to be interesting enough to keep people watching. If the beginning of your video isn’t fascinating, viewers will simply skip!

• Practice restraint: you might be tempted to take advantage of the full 60 seconds, or even go beyond that. But remember how short our attention spans are. Consider whether your video really needs to be that long. Make things as concise as possible.

• Stick to a few frames: each story segment is known as a “frame.” Posting a single frame is great. Two or three frames is also good, when required. Any more than that, and you should consider publishing your video as a reel or in your feed.

• Interaction: use the stickers available to maximize audience interaction

• Get people invested: if you’re publishing multiple stories or frames, use stickers to keep people watching instead of swiping away

• Music: adding a cool song or trending audio is a great way to improve engagement

• Captions: add subtitles to your videos to help people stay engaged even without audio

• Instagram Stories have a maximum length of 60 seconds
• To post longer content, divide your video into sections and post them individually, in the correct order
• Stories often get less reach than posts, but they also frequently have higher engagement rates
• Use interactive stickers to maximize engagement on your Instagram Stories
• Stories are best for casual, timely, concise content, and are a great way to build a more personal relationship with your audience

Story content is a great way of building an audience and keeping them engaged. However, doing this properly requires creating Instagram Stories that aren’t too long, overloaded with information, or boring. 

By now you hopefully see the importance of optimizing story length. Try to keep things short, and publish longer content to reels or as Instagram feed videos.