To change a reel cover, tap Edit cover on the share screen before you post and pick a frame or add an image from your device. Instagram's Reels guide says the cover can also be edited after posting, through Options then Edit, although one Help Center page still says it cannot. Build covers at 1080 by 1920 with the title in the centre square so they survive the profile grid crop.
To change a reel cover on Instagram, tap Edit cover on the share screen before you post, then pick a frame from the reel or add an image from your device. After posting, open the reel, tap Options, then Edit: Instagram's own Reels guide says the cover is still editable there, although one Help Center page says it is not.
Steps checked October 2026 against Instagram's Help Center pages on recording a reel (app and computer versions) and reel size and aspect ratios, Instagram's guide to making Reels, Meta's publishing docs and the Business Help Center page on reels in Meta Business Suite. Labels are quoted as those pages give them. Meta moves them between app versions, so if yours differs, look one screen over.
The cover is the still image that stands in for a reel wherever it is not playing: on your profile grid and in the Reels tab of your profile. It is one of the share-screen settings in our Instagram Reels guide, and the one most people leave on whatever frame Instagram picked.
What you'll have at the end
One reel with a cover you chose on purpose, readable on the grid and in the Reels tab, and a repeatable way to make the next one. Allow ten minutes the first time and two after that.
- Instagram app updated: the cover control has changed name more than once
- If you are uploading a cover: an image at 1080 x 1920 (9:16) saved on your phone
- Title and face inside the centre 1080 x 1080 square of that image
- JPEG of 8 MB or less if the reel goes out through a scheduler
- A first frame that matches the cover, so the tap delivers what the tile showed
- A decision on where the reel will show: main grid, Reels tab or both
How to change a reel cover before you post
This is the reliable route. Every official page agrees the cover can be set at upload, and it takes one extra tap on the share screen.
- 1Finish the reel and tap Next
Record or upload, edit, then tap Next until you reach the screen with the caption box.
- 2Tap Edit cover
The Help Center's wording. Expected result: a cover screen where you can select a new cover photo or add one from your device.
- 3Slide to pick a frame
Drag along the strip of frames at the bottom. Expected result: the preview changes to the frame you stopped on.
- 4Or add a cover from your device
Choose the image you designed. Expected result: your image replaces the frame as the cover.
- 5Confirm and finish the share screen
Write the caption, add tags and a location, and set the audience as usual.
- 6Tap Share, then open your profile
Expected result: the tile on your grid and in the Reels tab shows the cover you set, not a random frame.
Source: Instagram Help Center, checked October 2026
The Help Center calls the control Edit cover. Its page on tagging products in reels calls the same thing Cover and tells you to "slide the image at the bottom of the screen." Both pages are current, which tells you how often the label moves.
On a computer, in Meta Business Suite and in a scheduler
The cover control exists on every route into Instagram. It just has a different name on each.
| Where you post | Where the cover control is | What you can set | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram app | Share screen, Edit cover | A frame from the reel, or an image from your device | Help Center, Record a reel |
| instagram.com on a computer | After Select from computer and Next: the slider under Cover photo | A frame from the clip, or Select from computer for an image | Help Center, computer steps |
| Meta Business Suite | Create reel, Media, Thumbnail | Choose a thumbnail or upload an image | Meta Business Help Center |
| Schedulers and API tools | The tool's own cover field | A cover image (JPEG, 8 MB or less) or a frame offset. First frame if neither is set | Meta publishing docs |
| After posting | Open the reel, Options, Edit | Cover, caption, tags and location | Instagram's Reels guide; see the caveat below |
The scheduler row is the one that catches people. Meta's publishing docs give a tool two ways to set a cover: an image (cover_url) or a frame position in milliseconds (thumb_offset). The default offset is 0, "the first frame of the video or reel." If your reel opens on a black frame or a mid-blink face and the tool sends neither, that frame becomes the cover. Which schedulers expose a cover field is one of the things to check in our Instagram scheduler comparison.
How to change a reels thumbnail after posting
Here the official pages disagree. Instagram's Reels guide says: "You can edit the caption, cover image, tags and location after posting." The Help Center page on reel sizes says: "Right now, you can't edit your cover photo after you've uploaded it." Try this route first. If the option is missing, the size page describes your account and the cover has to be right at upload.
- Open the reel from your profile. Use the Reels tab or the main grid.
- Tap Options, then Edit. Options is the three-dot menu. This is the route the Help Center gives for editing the caption of a shared post. Expected result: the edit screen, with the caption editable.
- Find the cover control on the reel preview. No Help Center page documents its label; expect Cover or Edit cover, as on the share screen.
- Pick a new frame or add an image, then save. Expected result: the tile on your profile updates. The reel, its caption and its comments stay as they were.
Instagram reel cover photo: pick a frame or upload one?
Both are fine. The choice depends on what the reel is for and how often you post.
- The reel has one sharp moment that shows the result
- The account is personal or documentary in style
- You post daily and cannot design a cover each time
- The first frame already carries the on-screen hook
- The reel is a tutorial, list or series people will look for later
- You want a readable title on the grid
- No single frame is sharp, well lit and flattering
- You keep one template so the grid reads as a set
- 01Decide where it shows
Main grid, Reels tab or both.
- 02Frame or custom
A sharp frame for moments, a designed cover for reference content.
- 03Build at 1080 x 1920
Title and face inside the centre square.
- 04Preview the crops
Check the 3:4 tile and the square.
- 05Set it at upload
Edit cover on the share screen.
- 06Check the profile
On a phone, at tile size.
Reel cover size and the crops it has to survive
Instagram publishes two cover sizes. The Help Center recommends 420 by 654 pixels, a 1:1.55 ratio. Meta's publishing docs recommend 9:16 and say that a cover in any other ratio is cropped to "the middle most 9:16 rectangle." Build at 1080 by 1920: it matches the reel itself and scales down cleanly.
The harder part is that one image is shown in several shapes. The profile grid has used tall tiles instead of squares since January 2025, and every shape shorter than 9:16 trims the top and the bottom of your cover. Instagram publishes no pixel size for the tile. Buffer's help center describes the grid as 3:4, which is also the tallest photo shape Instagram's Help Center supports (1080 by 1440).
| Crop | What is left of a 1080 x 1920 cover | Trimmed from top and bottom | Where the shape comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:16 | 1080 x 1920 | Nothing | The ratio Meta's docs recommend; the cover for the Reels tab |
| 3:4 | 1080 x 1440 | 240 pixels each | The tall profile grid tile. Instagram publishes no pixel spec for it |
| 4:5 | 1080 x 1350 | 285 pixels each | The portrait feed post shape |
| 1:1 | 1080 x 1080 | 420 pixels each | Meta's docs: the middle square is used when a reel is shared to feed |
Design for the smallest one. Text and faces inside the centre 1080 by 1080 square survive all four shapes; anything in the top or bottom 420 pixels is decoration that may not be seen. Before you post, drop the cover into our free Crop and Grid Preview and look at the 3:4 tile and the square side by side. The full spec sheet, including the frame itself, is in Instagram Reels size.
How to choose covers that get clicks
A cover has one job: getting a profile visitor to tap this reel instead of scrolling past it. That is a decision made at thumbnail size, three tiles across a phone screen, so the rules are closer to road signs than to posters.
- Say what the reel is in three to five words. "Fix grainy night video" beats "My filming tips". The visitor is choosing between your tiles, so name the outcome.
- Make it readable at tile size. Heavy type, high contrast, two lines at most. If you cannot read it with the phone at arm's length, nobody browsing your grid can.
- Show one thing. A face or the result. Both together turn into noise at that size.
- Match the first seconds. A cover that promises something the opening does not show loses the viewer it just earned.
- Keep one template. Same font, same position, same colour. A visitor should understand the account from the tiles alone.
- Number a series. "Part 2" on the cover tells people there is a Part 1 to find.
- A random mid-sentence frame
- Title in thin type along the bottom edge
- Seven words, cut off by the grid crop
- A different style on every tile
- The finished result, sharp and well lit
- Three to five heavy words in the centre
- Readable with the phone at arm's length
- The same template as the tiles around it
The cover is one tile. The Profile Optimization lesson in Instagram Ignited covers the rest of what a visitor sees around it: the top rows of the grid, pinned posts and a consistent cover style. For text inside the video rather than on the cover, see our guide to Reels text overlay placement, and for the row of circles above the grid, Instagram highlight covers.
Troubleshooting: when the cover will not change
- No Edit cover on the share screen. Update the app first; the Help Center itself notes that Reels isn't currently available to everyone. Posting from instagram.com gives you the slider under Cover photo instead.
- No cover option after posting. That matches the Help Center page that says covers can't be edited after upload. Decide whether the cover is bad enough to repost; usually it is not.
- Heads or titles cut off on the grid. The text sits outside the centre of the image. Rebuild the cover with everything important inside the middle 1080 by 1080.
- The cover looks soft. A small image has been scaled up. Export at 1080 by 1920 rather than at the 420 by 654 minimum the Help Center recommends.
- A scheduled reel used the first frame. The tool sent no cover. Set one in the scheduler, or open the video on a clean title frame.
- The cover is right but the reel is missing from the main grid. That is a sharing setting, not a cover problem. Reels can be posted to the Reels tab only; see why a reel is not showing on your profile.
Changing a reel cover: FAQ
How do I change the cover on an Instagram reel?
On the share screen, before you post, tap Edit cover. Pick a frame from the reel or add an image from your device, then finish the caption and tap Share. On a computer the same control is a slider under Cover photo with a Select from computer button. Those are the steps in Instagram's Help Center, checked October 2026.
Can you change a reel cover after posting?
Instagram's own Reels guide says yes: you can edit the caption, cover image, tags and location after posting. Open the reel, tap Options, then Edit. One Help Center page on reel sizes still says the cover can't be edited after upload, so the option may not appear on every account. The video itself can never be changed without deleting the reel and posting it again.
What size is an Instagram reel cover photo?
Instagram's Help Center recommends 420 by 654 pixels, a 1:1.55 ratio. Meta's publishing docs recommend a 9:16 cover, as a JPEG of 8 MB or less. Our working size is 1080 by 1920 with the title and face inside the centre 1080 by 1080 square, because that centre survives the tall profile grid crop and a square crop.
Why is my reel cover cropped on my profile?
A cover is one tall image shown in more than one shape. The Reels tab shows it at full height, the main profile grid shows a shorter tile that trims the top and bottom, and Meta's docs describe a middle square crop when a reel is shared to feed. Anything outside the centre of the cover is at risk. Rebuild the cover with the text in the middle.
Can I use a custom image as a reel cover?
Yes. On the share screen tap Edit cover and add an image from your device instead of picking a frame. A custom cover lets you add a readable title and keep one style across the grid. Keep it honest: the cover should show what the reel delivers, and it works best when it matches the first seconds of the video.
Why did my scheduled reel post with the wrong cover?
Reels published through Instagram's API use the first frame as the cover unless the tool sends a cover image or a frame offset. Meta's publishing docs set the default offset to 0, the first frame of the reel. Set the cover inside your scheduler before the reel goes out, or make the first frame of the video a clean title frame.
Does changing a reel cover affect its views?
We found no Instagram statement that a cover change resets or reduces a reel's distribution, and none that it helps. A cover does its work on your profile, where it decides whether a visitor taps that reel or scrolls past it. Change it when the current one misrepresents or undersells the video, not as a way to restart reach.
The cover earns the tap. The first three seconds keep it.
Instagram Ignited, included in All Access, covers profile optimization and the grid, the hook framework, scripting for retention and the CapCut edit. One subscription also opens the other three programs, live coaching and the private community.
Check the crop before you post
Preview a cover as a 3:4 grid tile and a square with the free Crop and Grid Preview, and get Instagram changes in the free Telegram channel as they land.