"Instagram layout" means three things in 2026: the Layout collage app, the 3:4 profile grid, and the new Grid Reordering feature. Here's what changed and how to use each.
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Looking for the Layout collage app? The standalone Layout app by Instagram was discontinued on May 29, 2024. The collage feature still exists, but it moved into the main Instagram app inside Stories creation. Jump to the Layout app section below.
Looking for the Instagram grid layout or profile layout? Instagram changed the profile grid from square (1:1) to vertical (3:4) in early 2025. You cannot revert to the old square grid, and you cannot rearrange existing posts. Jump to the grid layout section below.
The Layout collage tool now lives inside the Stories camera. Here is how to use it in 2026:
The Layout feature inside Stories supports up to six photos in a single collage across a selection of preset templates. It only works for Stories, not for feed posts.
No. The Layout app was discontinued on May 29, 2024 and is no longer available to download. Its features moved into the main Instagram app for Stories creation.
If you search Layout in the App Store or Google Play, you will find third-party apps with similar names that are not made by Instagram. They can build collages, but they are separate products from other developers, not the official tool.
Instagram built the collage functionality directly into the main app rather than maintaining a separate tool. The Layout feature now lives inside the Stories camera, reached the same way you would reach Boomerang or other creative formats when you create a Story.
The native Layout tool only works for Stories. For a feed-post collage, you need a third-party app. The most common choices are Canva, which has a free collage maker with preset Instagram dimensions, and Adobe Express, which works similarly. Both let you export at 1080 x 1080px or 1080 x 1350px and share straight to Instagram. Dedicated collage apps also exist under names like "Layout for Instagram," but those are third-party products, not Instagram's own tool.
If your profile looks different than it did a year or two ago, there are three likely reasons.
Your grid looks taller and less square. Instagram changed the profile grid from square (1:1) to vertical (3:4) in early 2025. Posts that used to display as clean squares now show as taller vertical thumbnails. This happened automatically across all accounts, and you cannot switch it back.
Your posts can now be in an order you chose. As of June 8, 2026, Instagram lets you rearrange your grid with the Grid Reordering feature, so posts no longer have to sit in reverse chronological order. If your order looks different from your posting calendar, someone may have reordered the grid.
The app navigation looks different. Instagram also restructured the bottom navigation bar. Reels and DMs now sit in the two most prominent positions, and the dedicated Create button was removed from the bottom bar, so creating a post now lives in the top-left corner. The muscle memory from the old layout no longer applies.
Instagram changed its profile grid from square (1:1) to vertical (3:4) in early 2025. Every post now displays as a taller vertical rectangle rather than a square, including posts uploaded before the change. Instagram center-crops photos to fit the 3:4 grid regardless of their original aspect ratio, but the original image stays unchanged and displays in full when someone taps to open it.
The profile grid previews posts at 3:4. The feed still displays posts at their original uploaded aspect ratio, with 4:5 (1080 x 1350px) being the most commonly recommended format for vertical feed posts. The practical difference: a 4:5 post is cropped slightly at the top and bottom in the grid, because the grid crops to 3:4, while a post designed at 3:4 (1080 x 1440px) displays on the grid with no cropping. For every current post and story size in one place, see our Instagram post size guide.
You cannot change the grid shape itself. Since the early 2025 update, the 3:4 vertical grid applies to all accounts and cannot be switched back to square. What you can control is how your content looks within that grid, by choosing the right dimensions when you design and upload, and by reordering posts (covered next).
You cannot. The square grid is no longer an option. The way to control how posts appear on the grid is to design them at 3:4 (1080 x 1440px), which fills the grid preview with no cropping.
Yes. This changed. Instagram launched Grid Reordering globally on June 8, 2026, after years of it being one of the most requested features. You can now rearrange any post on your profile grid, including posts from years ago, without affecting their original publish date, likes, comments, or reach.
The quick version: open your profile, tap and hold any post, select Reorder grid from the menu, then drag the post to a new position. Changes save instantly and are visible to everyone who visits your profile. Pinned posts (up to three) stay locked at the top regardless of how you reorder the rest, so unpin a post first if you want to move it out of the pinned row. The feature is on the mobile app only, not desktop, and it is rolling out gradually, so update the app if you do not see it yet.
For the full step-by-step, the strategy behind which post to place first, and how to turn that top-of-grid attention into DMs, read our complete guide on how to reorder your Instagram grid.
Instagram tested a rearrangement feature back in 2022 and did not roll it out at the time, which is why older guides say it was pulled. It then rebuilt the grid around larger vertical thumbnails in early 2025 and returned to reordering later, launching Grid Reordering for everyone on June 8, 2026. So the short answer for 2026 is that reordering is available, not removed.
Even with reordering available, planning before you post is still the cleanest way to control how your grid reads as a whole. The approach most brands and creators use:
Design content in batches. Plan a set of posts that work together visually across the grid view you want to control, rather than posting one at a time.
Use a grid planner. Apps like Later, Preview, and Planoly let you drag and drop upcoming posts into a grid preview before publishing, using the current 3:4 format.
Design at 3:4 (1080 x 1440px). This is the only dimension that fills the grid preview with no automatic cropping. At 4:5, the grid center-crops the image slightly.
Keep important content centered. Whatever the format, keep faces, text, logos, and key elements in the center third of the frame so they survive both the feed display and the grid crop.
Set up your first comment automation and turn every post into a conversation.
No. The standalone Layout app was discontinued on May 29, 2024. The collage feature moved into the main Instagram app and is now inside the Stories camera as a format option.
Open the Stories camera, scroll through the format options at the bottom, and tap Layout. That opens the collage creator inside the main app. It works for Stories only.
For Stories collages, use the built-in Layout feature in the Stories camera. For feed-post collages, use Canva or Adobe Express, both of which support Instagram dimensions and are free to use.
The 3:4 profile grid rolled out automatically to all accounts in early 2025. There is nothing to switch on. Every account now has the vertical grid.
You cannot. The square grid is no longer available. The 3:4 vertical grid applies to all accounts and cannot be changed back.
Yes. Instagram launched Grid Reordering on June 8, 2026. Open your profile, tap and hold a post, select Reorder grid, and drag it into place. It does not change the post's original date, likes, or reach, and pinned posts stay at the top. Full steps are in our guide on how to reorder your Instagram grid.
It was tested in 2022 and not released at the time, which is why older articles say it was pulled. Instagram then launched Grid Reordering globally on June 8, 2026, so as of 2026 the feature is available, not removed.
Two changes explain most of it. Instagram moved the profile grid from square (1:1) to vertical (3:4) in early 2025, so posts show a taller crop, and it restructured the bottom navigation bar, moving the Create button to the top-left corner. The underlying images are unchanged.
You cannot change the grid shape, which Instagram sets at 3:4. What you can control is the dimensions you upload (1080 x 1440px gives no grid cropping) and the order of your posts, using the Grid Reordering feature.
Later, Preview, and Planoly are the most commonly used tools for planning grid layouts. All three let you drag and drop upcoming posts into a visual grid preview before publishing, using the current 3:4 format.
Yes. Later and Preview both offer free plans with basic grid planning. Canva has a free grid preview feature, and Planoly has a free tier with limited scheduling slots.
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