How to edit videos for Instagram Reels

Start with one idea, open on the best bit, and cut everything that doesn't earn its place. Then add captions and sound, check the framing, and export in the right size.

Good Reels editing is mostly subtraction. Most raw footage has a strong ten seconds buried in a minute of setup. Your job is to find it, lead with it, and keep the pace up until the end.

Vertical 9:16, at 1080 x 1920 pixels, which is what Instagram recommends. Shoot vertical where you can. Cropping a wide shot to vertical throws away most of the frame.

Instagram lets Reels run up to 3 minutes, but the limit isn't a target. Make it as long as the idea needs and no longer. A tip, a before and after or a quick demo often works in well under a minute.

Your cover image shows on your profile grid, which crops Reels to a narrower rectangle. Keep the subject and any title in the middle of the cover so nothing important gets cut off.

This is the order we edit in. It works whether you use Instagram's own editor or a desktop app.

1. 1Pick the one idea the Reel is about, and write it as a single sentence.
2. 2Find the strongest moment in your footage and put it first. That's your hook.
3. 3Lay out a rough cut in order: hook, the point, the proof, and what to do next.
4. 4Tighten it: cut pauses, ums, repeated takes and any shot that doesn't move things on.
5. 5Add captions, checked by eye, in a clear font with enough contrast to read on a phone.
6. 6Place text and logos in the middle of the frame, away from the top and bottom edges.
7. 7Add sound: clean up the voice, then music you have the rights to use, kept low under speech.
8. 8Check colour and brightness so shots match, then watch it on a phone, with and without sound.
9. 9Export at 1080 x 1920 and pick a cover frame that reads at thumbnail size.

Show the result, ask the question or make the claim in the opening frame. Don't spend the first seconds on a logo, a greeting or a slow pan.

• Start mid-action: the finished job, the reaction, the reveal.
• Put a short line of text on screen that says why this is worth watching.
• Say the most surprising thing first, and explain it after.
• Make the first cut quickly, so the video feels like it's going somewhere.

Instagram's own editor and Meta's Edits app are fine for quick Reels: trimming, text, captions and music from Instagram's library. They're quick, and the result is already the right shape.

For ads, longer edits or anything with several versions, a desktop editor such as Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve gives you more control over sound, colour and exports. Whatever you use, keep the original footage so you can recut it later.

Either let Instagram add automatic captions, or burn them into the video in your editor. Automatic captions are quick, but check them: names, product terms and accents trip them up.

Burned-in captions give you full control of the font, size and position, and they show wherever the video is shared. We caption every edit as standard, because plenty of people scroll with the sound off.

Only music you have the rights to use. Instagram's music library is the safe route for organic Reels, though business accounts get a more limited choice. Meta's Sound Collection has royalty-free tracks for business use.

Popular songs from other sources can get your audio muted or the Reel taken down, and that risk is higher for ads. If in doubt, use licensed or royalty-free music.

Three things. The call to action button and the ad label take up more of the screen, so Meta's Ads Guide shows safe zones to keep text and logos inside. You'll want versions in other sizes, such as 4:5 for the feed. And you'll want several hooks to test against each other.

Ads also live or die on the first frames more than organic Reels do, because nobody chose to follow you. Build the edit so the offer is clear even if someone only watches a few seconds.