App GuidesMedium2025-10-02
How to Prevent Instagram Story Quality Loss
Learn why Instagram Stories lose quality when uploaded and get tips on how to maintain high resolution.
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When you upload Stories to Instagram, the quality often degrades compared to the original. Understanding and optimizing Instagram's compression algorithm can help you post sharper Stories.
Optimal Instagram Story Specs
- Resolution: 1080 x 1920px (9:16 ratio)
- File size: Under 30MB
- Duration: Under 15 seconds (video)
- Format: JPG, PNG (images), MP4 (video)
※ Content outside these specs will be force-compressed by Instagram
High-Quality Upload Settings
In-app settings:
1. Open the Instagram app
2. Profile > Menu (≡) > Settings and privacy
3. Data usage and media quality
4. Enable ‘High-Quality Uploads’ or ‘Upload at Highest Quality’
※ Enabling this will increase data usage on mobile data
Shooting & Editing Tips
Shooting:
- Shoot with your default camera app instead of the Instagram in-app camera, then upload
- Shoot in bright lighting (dark environments increase noise → heavier compression)
- Keep your device stable to avoid blur
Editing:
- Pre-edit to 9:16 ratio before uploading (cropping in Instagram reduces quality)
- Avoid excessive filter use
- JPG is more suitable for Stories than PNG
- Use H.264 codec for video
Recommended Editing Apps
- InShot: 9:16 ratio editing, background addition
- CapCut: Video editing with quality preservation
- Canva: Story templates and design
- Unfold: Minimal story layouts
- Lightroom: Photo color correction
※ Select the ‘Highest Quality’ option when exporting from any app
Mistakes to Avoid
- Uploading screenshots (low resolution)
- Excessive zoom-in (breaks image quality)
- Saving after multiple rounds of editing (repeated compression)
- Uploading photos received via KakaoTalk (already compressed)
- Stretching a square photo to 9:16
Additional Tips
- Uploading over Wi-Fi results in lower compression rates
- Saving to Highlights may further reduce quality
- If quality matters, posting as a feed post is a better option
- Switching to a professional account lets you check quality performance via Insights
#instagram quality#story quality#instagram#image quality improvement
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