The short version
- An Instagram story background fills the whole 1080×1920 frame, so it is most of what people see on every frame.
- Instagram's own tools give you flat colours and a few gradients, which is why so many stories look alike.
- Grainy gradients, duotone photos, soft blurs, paper textures and slow motion loops all make better story backgrounds than a plain colour.
- The best story backgrounds stay calm where words and stickers sit, usually the middle band between the top and bottom 250 pixels.
- Using one background family across all your stories and highlight covers makes an account recognisable at a glance.
On this page
The best Instagram story background is not a plain colour from the in-app picker but a background with some depth: a grainy gradient, a duotone photo, a soft blur or a slow loop, kept calm in the middle where your words and stickers go. A story is full bleed at 1080×1920, so the background is most of what anyone sees. If it is the same flat pink everyone else picked, the story looks like everyone else's. Below are eight ideas worth trying, how to make each one, and how to keep the words readable on top.
How to change the story background colour in the app
Before going further, the quick fix most people search for. Instagram has no single background button for photo stories, but the drawing tool can flood the frame with colour.
- 1
Open the drawing tool
Add a photo or start a story, then open the draw tool, the squiggle icon, which may sit under the three dot menu.
- 2
Pick a colour
Choose from the row of colours, or press and hold one to open the full range. The eyedropper picks a colour from your photo. Menus move between app versions, so check Instagram's help if yours looks different.
- 3
Press and hold the screen
Hold a finger on the frame for a moment and it fills with that colour.
- 4
Reveal parts with the eraser
Use the eraser to uncover the photo underneath, for a window or a frame effect.
The text only Create mode also offers a few built in gradients. Both are fine for a quick update, but everyone else has exactly the same ones. For anything you post regularly, make the background before you open the app.
Eight Instagram story background ideas
- Lit gradient. A deep ground with one bright pool of colour in a corner. Put words over the deep part. Add a fine grain so it doesn't band after Instagram compresses it; grainy gradients shows how.
- Dusk sky. A vertical blend from deep to pale suits the tall frame and reads as calm. Headline in the deep top half.
- Warm paper. An off-white with a faint texture feels editorial and printed. Dark ink, generous margins.
- Night ground. Near black with a faint coloured glow at the centre. Light type, very premium, good for announcements.
- Duotone photo. Any photo turned into two of your colours. It keeps the mood of a picture without its clutter. See duotone photos.
- Soft swirl. A blurred conic blend for playful brands. Keep it soft, or text has nowhere calm to sit.
- Split field. Two flat colours divided cleanly. Words on one side, a product or photo on the other.
- Low sun. Warm light rising from the bottom edge, where Instagram's reply bar already sits. The top stays dark and calm for words.
Keep the background calm where the words go
A story has two layers of interface on top of your design: Instagram's own bar, name and reply field at the top and bottom, and whatever stickers, links and polls you add. That leaves a middle band for words, roughly between the top and bottom 250 pixels. The background should be at its quietest there. Instagram story size has the exact zones.
The brightest, busiest part of the background lands behind the headline.
The same background with a calm, high contrast region moved behind the words.
Gradiently does that second picture automatically. A Mark knows where your words are: its calmest, best contrasting region moves behind the text, and Auto ink picks light or dark type for each line from the Mark's own palette. No boxes, no shadows. For the manual method on any gradient, see text on a gradient.
Moving story backgrounds
A background that drifts slowly under still words catches the eye in a row of static stories. Keep the motion gentle and the words fixed, and make the loop join without a visible jump. Export it as a 1080×1920 video so Instagram has nothing to rescale. Animated Instagram stories covers timing and file settings.
A countdown story where the background moves slowly and the words stay still. Exported as a short video loop, it stands out between photo stories.
One background family for every story
The accounts people recognise in a row of story circles use the same background family again and again. Pick one or two of the ideas above, in your colours, and keep them for months. Vary the words, the photos and the layout; keep the background. Highlight covers in the same family finish the profile.
Forgettable
- A different picker colour every day
- The in-app gradients everyone uses
- Busy photos behind white text
- Words over the brightest part
- Highlight covers in random styles
Recognisable
- One or two backgrounds in your colours
- Grain, paper or duotone for depth
- Calm regions where words sit
- Contrast checked on the actual phone
- Highlight covers from the same family
Story templates help here too: start from one, swap in your background, save it, and every future story starts consistent. Instagram story templates and Instagram story ideas have layouts to put on top.
Questions people ask
How do I change the background colour of my Instagram story?
Open the drawing tool, pick a colour, then press and hold anywhere on the screen to fill the frame. Use the eraser to reveal parts of the photo beneath.
What size is an Instagram story background?
1080×1920 pixels, a 9:16 vertical frame. Keep words out of roughly the top and bottom 250 pixels.
How do I make an aesthetic Instagram story background?
Use a gradient with a deep ground and one lit colour, add a fine grain, and keep a calm area for words. Warm paper and duotone photos also work well.
Can I use a moving background on an Instagram story?
Yes. Export a slow loop as a 1080×1920 video, keep the words still and make sure the loop joins without a jump.
Why does my gradient story background look stripy?
Instagram compresses uploads, which turns smooth gradients into visible bands. Add a fine grain and upload a PNG or a high quality video.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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