Instagram Makes Some Pictures Blurry, and Users Want to Know How to Fix It

Instagram might blur your photos because of file sizes, aspect ratios, or a number of other issues.

Mar. 13 2024, Published 12:32 p.m. ET

In the era of the smartphone, one where everyone has a camera in their pocket, Instagram has become one of the most popular social media apps in the world. The photo-forward app has turned everyone into an expert designer who knows their angles, when the light will be just right, and many of the other details of how to take a great photograph.

For some, though, uploading those photos to Instagram has also come with some frustration. These users find that Instagram seems to be blurring their photos when they get uploaded. Here's what we know about this problem, and whether there's any way to fix it.

Why is Instagram blurring my photos?

If you've noticed that your photos get blurry when they're uploaded to Instagram, that could be explained by a number of different factors. One thing to pay attention to is the size of your file. If you're uploading files that are more than 1 MB, Instagram is going to compress the photo, which an lead to some blurring or distortion. On the other end, it can also stretch photos that are too small, which can lead to blurring as well.

It's also possible that the ratio of your photo is off, and that Instagram is cropping or changing your photo so that it complies with the standard 4:5 ratio that photos appear in on the app.

You may also experience issues when you port a photo over from another device like a laptop or tablet, as Instagram is a mobile-first application, and is designed in large part for posting photos you take with your phone.

Here's how to fix the issue of your photos blurring on Instagram.

If you've noticed that Instagram is making your photos blurry, you should focus on two key areas in particular. First, you should make sure that your images have a high enough resolution that Instagram doesn't distort them, but are small enough files that they don't get too compressed. Instagram compresses every photo to some extent so that they all look more similar as final products.

Typically, the photos that you take and then play with on a modern smartphone are perfect for use with Instagram, but if you're taking photos from another source and trying to post them to the platform, you should be sure to crop them to the 4:5 aspect ratio, and that they aren't too big to be used on Instagram. Ultimately, though, Instagram is always going to work best with photos taken straight from your phone, as that's how most people use it.

Thanks to its status as one of the most dominant social media platforms, and to its image-first approach to posting, many users have become more adept at finding ways to capture beautiful images, even if those images don't always reflect reality. Of course, sometimes, photos are blurry for all the wrong reasons, and the British royal family has to clean up the cropping for weeks to come.

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