Meta Ad Specs 2026: Facebook and Instagram Ad Sizes by Placement

Short answer: design a 4:5 asset at 1440 × 1800 px for the Facebook and Instagram feeds, a 9:16 asset at 1440 × 2560 px for Stories and Reels, a 1:1 asset of at least 1080 × 1080 px for the right column, Marketplace and carousels, and a 16:9 or 1:1 asset for in stream video. Images can be JPG or PNG up to 30 MB, and videos MP4 or MOV up to 4 GB. On every 9:16 placement, keep 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% on each side free of text and logos, which is 269 px, 672 px and 65 px on a 1080 × 1920 frame. Every figure below comes from Meta's own Ads Guide or Business Help Center and links to it.

1. Meta ad sizes at a glance

The recommended size is what Meta suggests you upload. Smaller files are accepted down to the minimums listed in each section, but a larger source gives the platform more to work with when it scales your ad for different screens.

Across all placements, images are JPG or PNG and videos are MP4, MOV or GIF, with one exception: Instagram Reels video ads accept MP4 and MOV only.

2. Feed ads: Facebook Feed and Instagram Feed

Both 1:1 and 4:5 are supported in the feeds for images and videos. Meta's Help Center recommends 4:5 for single image ads in Facebook Feed and still suggests 1:1 for single image ads in Instagram Feed, while the Ads Guide now lists 4:5 at 1440 × 1800 for Instagram Feed images too. In practice, 4:5 fills more of a phone screen. If you are unsure, build at 4:5 and keep the headline and the product inside the centre square, so the same file still works if it is ever shown as 1:1.

Meta's list of aspect ratios supported by placements accepts more shapes than the Ads Guide pages show. Facebook Feed takes 1.91:1, 16:9, 1:1 and 4:5, with 4:5 recommended, and does not list 2:3 or 9:16. Instagram Feed takes all six, including 2:3 and 9:16, with 4:5 recommended for images and 9:16 for video. Meta letterboxes or crops a shape it does not recommend, so the Ad Spec Checker warns on 1.91:1 and 16:9 in Facebook Feed and on 1.91:1, 16:9 and 2:3 for Instagram Feed video. Instagram Feed images taller than 4:5 are a special case: the placement list supports 2:3 and 9:16, while the Ads Guide image page sets 4:5 as the minimum ratio, so the checker warns on them rather than failing.

Meta publishes no pixel margins for 1:1 and 4:5 feed ads. Its safe zone help page only asks you to keep the bottom and side edges of Instagram Feed ads free of key elements, text and logos. For those formats the checker uses a 5% margin on every side as a working convention, not as a Meta number: check a 4:5 feed ad.

Instagram Explore home uses the same image spec as Instagram Feed: 4:5 at 1440 × 1800 px, up to 30 MB, 125 characters of primary text, a 40 character headline and up to 30 hashtags.

Sources: Facebook Feed image, Facebook Feed video, Instagram Feed image, Instagram Feed video, Instagram Explore home image, best practices for aspect ratios, aspect ratios supported by placements. Last verified September 2026.

3. Stories ads: Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories videos under 16 seconds play in full in a single card, and longer ones may be split across several cards automatically. The full breakdown of the Stories interface, stickers and layout is in the Instagram Story safe zone guide.

A Story in a supported shape other than 9:16 is shown with bars or cropped, so the Ad Spec Checker warns on it, and it fails 2:3 or any shape Meta does not list. Two figures differ between Meta's pages. The Help Center gives Facebook Stories video 1 to 120 seconds, while the Ads Guide allows 3 minutes, and it asks for Instagram Stories video of at least 600 × 1067, while the Ads Guide accepts 250 px wide. In both cases the checker warns at the Help Center figure and fails only past the Ads Guide limit.

Sources: Facebook Stories image, Facebook Stories video, Instagram Stories image, Instagram Stories video, aspect ratios supported by placements, Stories video length, Instagram Stories video requirements. Last verified September 2026.

4. Reels ads: Facebook Reels and Instagram Reels

Sound is optional but strongly recommended on both, and Meta notes that automatic captioning is not supported for Facebook Reels ads, so burn in your own subtitles if the ad needs them. Instagram Reels ads cannot contain licensed music or product tags. If a Reels ad carries a disclaimer, Meta asks you to keep the bottom 40% of the frame free. The Instagram Reels safe zone guide covers placement of hooks, subtitles and logos in detail.

Any supported shape other than 9:16 is letterboxed or cropped in the full screen Reels frame, so the Ad Spec Checker warns on it, and it fails a shape Meta does not list, such as 4:3.

Sources: Facebook Reels image, Facebook Reels video, Instagram Reels image, Instagram Reels video, text overlays and the safe zone, aspect ratios supported by placements. Last verified September 2026.

5. Other placements

Facebook in stream video

• 16:9 or 1:1, at least 1080 × 1080 px, MP4, MOV or GIF up to 4 GB.
• 5 to 15 seconds on desktop, 5 seconds to 10 minutes on mobile. Meta notes the limit can vary by objective.
• Ads of 15 seconds or less play in full. Longer ads show their first 15 seconds and are then truncated, and skippable ads can be skipped after 5 seconds.
• Primary text 125 characters, headline 40 characters. Meta's Help Center recommends horizontal 16:9 for in stream.

Facebook right column

• Desktop only. The ads usually appear in the right hand column of Facebook pages but can show elsewhere on the site.
• 1:1 image, JPG or PNG, at least 1080 × 1080 px, with a minimum of 254 × 133 px.
• Headline 40 characters. Because the ad is small, Meta advises against putting text on the image at all.

Facebook Marketplace

• Images: 1:1, at least 1080 × 1080 px, up to 30 MB. Primary text 125, headline 40 and description 30 characters.
• Video: 1:1, at least 1080 × 1080 px, 1 second to 241 minutes, up to 4 GB, at least 120 × 120 px, headline 25 characters.

Facebook search results

• Images from 1.91:1 to 1:1, at least 1080 × 1080 px recommended with a minimum of 600 × 600 px, up to 30 MB, 3% tolerance.
• Primary text 125, headline 40 and description 30 characters.

Audience Network: native, banner and interstitial

• Images: 9:16, at least 398 × 208 px, up to 30 MB.
• Video: 9:16, at least 1080 × 1080 px, 1 second to 2 minutes, up to 4 GB. Captions are not supported.
• Primary text 125, headline 40 and description 30 characters.

Sources: Facebook in stream video, Facebook right column, Marketplace image, Marketplace video, search results, Audience Network image, Audience Network video. Last verified September 2026.

6. Carousel ads

Meta recommends keeping every card in a carousel at the same ratio, all 1:1 or all 4:5, so the platform does not have to adjust them. Sources: Facebook Feed carousel, Instagram Feed carousel, best practices for aspect ratios.

7. Safe zones for Meta ads

Meta publishes safe zones for its full screen placements and a general rule for the feeds. Percentages are of the frame height for top and bottom and of the width for the sides.

The simplest way to stay inside all of them with one vertical master is to design to 14%, 35% and 6%: that is the strictest of the 9:16 rules and it also satisfies the Facebook Stories video figures. Meta's help page also describes a safe zone option in Ads Manager that marks the area on the ad preview. To check the file itself before it goes anywhere near Ads Manager, open it in the Safe Zone Checker, or download the matching PNG from the templates page and drop it on the top track of your edit.

Source: About text overlays and the safe zone for ads in Stories and Reels, plus the placement pages linked above. Last verified September 2026.

8. Advantage+ placements: one ad, many shapes

Advantage+ placements lets Meta decide where an ad appears. Meta describes it as putting your ads across Facebook, Reels, Instagram Stories, Instagram Feed, Messenger, marketing messages on WhatsApp and Audience Network, "potentially increasing reach and lowering cost per result", and says ad sets using it saw an average CPA improvement of 11.7%. That is Meta's own figure, not an independent one.

The creative consequence is that one ad has to survive several shapes. When you create an ad, Ads Manager automatically adjusts your media to fit more placements. Its aspect ratios view shows each variation (square, vertical, portrait and horizontal) side by side, and if you do not provide all four, the system fills the gaps with padding, media expansion, cropping or AI features. Where media customization is available, you can upload up to 10 images or videos for a single ad.

Automatic crops are where headlines get chopped. A workflow that avoids it:

1. Supply your own variations. Ideally a 1:1, a 4:5, a 9:16 and a 16:9 version of the same idea. Meta says uploading your own gives you the most control.
2. Keep the message in the middle. Headline, product and logo inside the centre of every version, and inside the 14%, 35% and 6% safe box on the 9:16 one.
3. Review every variation in the aspect ratios view before publishing, and opt out of padding or expansion you do not want.
4. Use placement opt outs if an asset should not appear somewhere. Meta is explicit that cropping alone does not restrict delivery.
5. Check the vertical version in the checker, since Stories and Reels cover the most of your frame.

Sources: Meta Advantage+ placements, best practices for aspect ratios and media customization. Last verified September 2026.

9. Video settings and text limits

Every Meta video placement asks for the same encoding: H.264 compression, square pixels, a fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC audio at 128 kbps or more. Files should not contain edit lists or special boxes in the file container.

Meta publishes the text figures as recommendations. Longer text is accepted, but it may be cut off in the placement, so write the first words to carry the message.

If you tag your landing pages, Meta's URL parameters use their own macro syntax, which the ad platform URL macros guide explains and the UTM Builder keeps intact.

10. Checklist before you upload

1. Is there a 4:5 version for the feeds and a 9:16 version for Stories and Reels, both at Meta's recommended size?
2. On the 9:16 version, is all text, every logo and the offer inside the safe box, above y 1248 and below y 269 on 1080 × 1920?
3. If the ad carries a disclaimer and runs in Reels, is everything above y 1152?
4. Are images under 30 MB and videos under 4 GB, exported as H.264 with AAC audio?
5. Is the primary text front loaded, so the message survives if the placement cuts it short?
6. For Instagram Reels, is the audio original or royalty free rather than licensed music?
7. Have you reviewed every automatic crop in the aspect ratios view?

11. Meta ad specs FAQ

What size is a Facebook ad in 2026?

For Facebook Feed, Meta recommends 4:5 at 1440 × 1800 px for both images and videos. Stories and Reels ads are 9:16 at 1440 × 2560 px. The right column, Marketplace and Feed carousels use 1:1 at a minimum of 1080 × 1080 px, and in stream video uses 16:9 or 1:1.

What size is an Instagram ad?

Instagram Feed image ads are 4:5 at 1440 × 1800 px, Instagram Feed video ads are listed at 9:16 and 1080 × 1920 px, and Instagram Stories and Reels ads are 9:16 at 1440 × 2560 px.

What is the best aspect ratio for Meta ads?

Meta's own guidance is 4:5 or 1:1 for feeds, 9:16 for Stories and Reels, 16:9 for in stream video and 9:16 for Audience Network. If you only make two versions, make a 4:5 and a 9:16.

What is the maximum file size for Facebook and Instagram ads?

30 MB for images and 4 GB for videos, on every placement that lists a limit.

What are the safe zones for Facebook and Instagram ads?

On Stories and Reels, keep 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% on each side free of text and logos: 269 px, 672 px and 65 px on a 1080 × 1920 frame. Facebook Stories video uses 250 px at the top and 340 px at the bottom as printed by Meta. Feed ads have no published margins beyond keeping the bottom and sides clear.

How long can a Facebook or Instagram video ad be?

Facebook Feed allows 1 second to 241 minutes, Facebook Stories 1 second to 3 minutes (the Help Center lists 1 to 120 seconds), Instagram Feed and Instagram Stories 1 second to 60 minutes, and Instagram Reels 0 seconds to 15 minutes. In stream video runs 5 to 15 seconds on desktop and 5 seconds to 10 minutes on mobile.

Do I need a separate creative for every placement?

Not for every placement, but for every shape. A 4:5, a 9:16 and ideally a 1:1 and a 16:9 cover all current placements. Without them, Ads Manager pads, expands or crops your media to fit, and you should review those adjustments before publishing.

12. Related guides and tools

• Instagram Reels safe zone: pixel margins, layout advice and a free template.
• Instagram Story safe zone: the Stories interface and sticker placement.
• Social and IAB specs table: every platform's safe zone on one page.
• Safe Zone Checker: test any 9:16, 4:5 or 1:1 creative in your browser.
• Social media video aspect ratios: the same question for every other platform.