November 12, 2026

Free Instagram Highlight Covers

Make a matching set of Instagram highlight covers in a minute. Tap a theme pack, then change any cover: pick from 80 icons, type a few letters or choose an emoji, and pick your colors. Download PNGs sized for Instagram.

Your highlights

your.name

Your Name

Your bio goes here

Tap a highlight to change it below. Swipe the row to see them all.

Size:

Theme packs

One tap makes a matching cover for each of your 12 highlights. Then change any of them below.

Change this cover

Highlight name

PNG, 1080 × 1920

How to Make Instagram Highlight Covers

Tap a theme pack, like Beige or Pastel. It makes a matching cover for each highlight, and shows them on a pretend profile.
Tap any highlight on that profile to change it. Pick an icon, or tap Letters or Emoji.
Choose a background, a color for the icon, its size and line thickness, and a thin ring if you like.
Happy with one? Tap Use this style on all so every cover matches.
Tap Download all to get a ZIP, or save covers one at a time. On iPhone, tap Save / Share, then Save Image, so they go into Photos.

Want different highlights in a pack? Tap Choose which highlights a pack makes, tick the ones you use, then tap a pack again.

How to Add a Highlight Cover Without Posting It to Your Story

You don't have to post your cover. You can pick it straight from your photos. These are the steps in the Instagram app for iPhone and Android, as of November 2026:

Save the cover to your phone (on iPhone, use Save / Share).
Open Instagram and go to your profile.
Press and hold the highlight, then tap Edit highlight.
Tap Edit cover.
Tap the picture icon and choose your cover from your photos.
Move or pinch it so it sits nicely in the circle, then tap Done.

Making a new highlight? On your profile, tap New. If you can't see it, tap + at the top and choose Story highlight. Pick at least one story and tap Next. Then tap Edit cover, choose your cover from your photos, type a name and tap Add (Done on Android).

A highlight needs at least one story in it, but it can be an old one. Instagram keeps your old stories in your archive, unless you turned Save story to archive off. Highlights stay on your profile until you remove them, and anyone who can see your stories can see them too. There's more in Instagram's help page on highlights.

What Size Are Instagram Highlight Covers?

As of November 2026, Instagram's help pages don't give an official size for highlight covers. Instagram shows your cover as a circle cut from the middle of the picture, and on a phone that circle is about as big as a fingertip. So keep the design big, simple and in the center.

Size	Pixels	When to use it
Story size (9:16)	1080 × 1920	The best choice. It works when you pick it from your photos, and it also fits profiles that show highlights as tall pictures.
Square (1:1)	1080 × 1080	Works fine when you pick the cover from your photos.
What shows on your profile	A circle from the middle	Keep icons and letters in the center, away from the edges.

Instagram has also tested showing highlights in their own tab, as tall pictures instead of circles, so some profiles look different. A 1080 × 1920 cover with the background filling the whole picture and the design in the middle looks right either way. That's why it's the size the maker uses unless you pick Square.

Making posts too? Here's every Instagram post size for posts, reels and stories. To check how big a picture file is, use the image file size calculator.

Instagram Highlight Name Ideas

Short names work best: one word that says what's inside. Long names get cut off under the circle.

For	Highlight names
Personal	About, Me, Travel, Food, Friends, Family, Pets, Faves, Music, Books, Outfits, Fitness
Business	Shop, New, Sale, Reviews, Orders, Shipping, FAQ, BTS, Team, Contact
Creators	About, Collabs, Tips, Tutorials, Q&A, Links, Merch, Podcast, Gear, Press
One-word aesthetic	Vibes, Daily, Moments, Mood, Wander, Eats, Fits, Glow, Home, Love

Want fancy letters in a highlight name? Copy them from the Instagram fonts generator. Still choosing a handle? Try the Instagram username ideas tool.

Make Your Highlights Match Your Profile

Pick one style. The same background, icon color and line thickness on every cover looks tidy. One color family, like the Pastel or Earthy pack, works too.
Take colors from your posts. Beige and cream suit calm, neutral feeds, and bold colors suit bright ones. Use Or pick any color to match a brand color exactly.
Keep it simple. The circle is tiny on a phone, so one clear icon beats words or busy pictures. These simple shapes are often called Instagram highlight icons.
Check light and dark mode. Lots of people use Instagram in dark mode. Flip the preview to see your covers both ways.

Finishing the rest of your profile? Make a new profile picture, split one photo across your feed with the Instagram grid maker, or find photos to post in our free stock images. Once it's all set up, see how your posts are doing with the Instagram engagement rate calculator, or find out how much Instagram pays creators.

Saving Covers on iPhone, Android and Computer

iPhone: tap Save / Share (or Save / Share all), then Save Image. Instagram picks covers from Photos, and the Download button saves to the Files app instead.
Android: tap Download. The PNG goes to your Downloads folder, and you can choose it from there when you edit a cover. Save / Share works too.
Computer: Download all saves a ZIP. Send the covers to your phone, because you change highlight covers in the Instagram app.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make Instagram highlight covers?

Tap a theme pack in the maker on this page for a matching set, or tap any cover to change it: pick an icon, type up to 3 letters or choose an emoji, then pick the background and colors. Download one cover, or all of them as a ZIP. It's free, with no sign-up.

What size should Instagram highlight covers be?

Use 1080 × 1920 pixels, the same size as a story, with the design in the middle. A 1080 × 1080 square works too when you pick the cover from your photos. As of November 2026, Instagram's help pages don't give an official size, and Instagram shows the cover as a circle cut from the middle of your picture.

How do I change my highlight cover without posting it to my story?

Save the cover to your phone's photos. In the Instagram app, go to your profile, press and hold the highlight and tap Edit highlight, then Edit cover. Tap the picture icon, choose your cover, move it so it fits the circle and tap Done. Nothing is posted to your story.

Can you make an Instagram highlight without posting a story?

Usually not: a highlight is made of stories, so it needs at least one. But it can be an old story from your archive, which Instagram fills automatically unless you turned Save story to archive off. The cover itself can come straight from your photos, so it never has to be posted.

How do I save highlight covers to my iPhone photos?

Open this page in Safari, tap Save / Share under a cover (or Save / Share all for the whole set), then tap Save Image. That puts them in Photos, which is where Instagram picks covers from. The Download button saves to the Files app instead.

Why does my highlight cover look blurry or cut off?

Instagram shows a circle from the middle of your picture, so anything near the edges is cut off. Keep the design in the center, as every cover from this maker already is. Blurry covers usually come from screenshots or small pictures, so use the full-size PNG.

Can I use letters or an emoji as a highlight cover?

Yes. In the maker, tap Letters to type up to 3 letters, numbers or symbols in a sans, serif or script style, or tap Emoji to use any emoji. Emoji are drawn the way your phone shows them, so they look a little different on iPhone and Android.

Are these Instagram highlight covers free?

Yes. They're free to download and use on any account, personal or business, with no watermark and no sign-up. Everything is made in your browser, and nothing is uploaded.

What should I name my Instagram highlights?

Use one short word that says what's inside, like About, Travel, Food, Shop, Reviews or Q&A. Short names fit under the circle, and long ones get cut off. Business accounts often add Orders, FAQ and Contact.

Will my followers see when I change a highlight cover?

Changing a cover doesn't post anything, so it won't show up in your followers' stories. They'll just see the new cover the next time they visit your profile.