Meta ad specs 2026: image, video, carousel, copy limits and safe zones

How Meta's Ads Guide is organized

Meta does not publish one spec sheet. The Ads Guide has a page for each format and placement, such as video in Facebook Feed or image in Instagram Reels, and each page has an objective selector. The pages below were read with the default Awareness view. Numbers can differ by objective, so check the page for the objective you are buying before a large export.

Most limits are listed under "Text recommendations", not hard caps. Meta accepts longer text and cuts it off behind a "more" tap. Treat the numbers as the point where your copy stops being read, not the point where Ads Manager rejects it.

Meta image ad specs

Image specs are close across placements. The ratio is the main change:

1. 01

   Facebook Feed image: 4:5 at 1440x1800 recommended, minimum 600x750, JPG or PNG up to 30 MB, 3% ratio tolerance.

2. 02

   Instagram Feed image: 4:5 at 1440x1800, JPG or PNG up to 30 MB, minimum width 500 px. The allowed range runs from 4:5 vertical to 1.91:1 horizontal, with 1% tolerance.

3. 03

   Instagram Reels image: 9:16 at 1440x2560, JPG or PNG up to 30 MB, minimum width 500 px, with the 14/35/6 safe zone.

4. 04

   Stories images follow the same 9:16 frame as Stories video.

Meta video ad specs by placement

Every video page lists the same encoding: H.264, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, stereo AAC audio at 128 kbps or more, and no edit lists or special boxes in the container. Sound and captions are optional on every page, and recommended on every page. The differences are ratio, length and how long videos play:

1. 01

   Facebook Feed video: 4:5 at 1440x1800, minimum 120 px wide and high, MP4, MOV or GIF up to 4 GB, 1 second to 241 minutes.

2. 02

   Instagram Feed video: the Awareness page lists 9:16 at 1080x1920 with 1% tolerance, minimum width 250 px, up to 4 GB, 1 second to 60 minutes.

3. 03

   Facebook Stories video: 9:16 at 1440x2560, up to 4 GB, 1 second to 3 minutes. Ads of 15 seconds or less play in full; longer ones are split into Stories cards, and 1 to 3 cards play before the viewer taps to see the rest.

4. 04

   Instagram Stories video: 9:16 at 1440x2560, up to 4 GB, 1 second to 60 minutes. Videos under 16 seconds play in full; longer ones may be split into up to three cards.

5. 05

   Instagram Reels video: 9:16 at 1440x2560, MP4 or MOV up to 4 GB, 0 seconds to 15 minutes. Reels has extra rules on music and existing posts, covered in our Instagram Reels ad specs post.

Meta ad copy limits: primary text, headline, description

Copy guidance changes more between placements than file specs do. From the Ads Guide pages read for this post:

1. 01

   Facebook Feed (image and video): primary text 50 to 150 characters, headline 27 characters.

2. 02

   Instagram Feed image: primary text 125 characters, headline 40 characters, up to 30 hashtags.

3. 03

   Instagram Feed video: primary text 125 characters, up to 30 hashtags.

4. 04

   Facebook Stories video: primary text 125 characters, headline 40 characters.

5. 05

   Instagram Stories video: primary text 125 characters.

6. 06

   Instagram Reels (video and image): primary text 44 characters.

7. 07

   Facebook Feed carousel: primary text 80 characters, headline 20 characters per card, description 18 characters per card.

Writing one set of copy that survives every placement

If you run Advantage+ placements, the same copy appears in Feed, Stories and Reels. Write for the shortest limit first. Make the first 44 characters of primary text a complete thought, because that is all Reels shows. Then add a second sentence for Feed, where up to 125 to 150 characters get read. Keep the headline under 27 characters so it is not cut in Facebook Feed. Meta's Facebook Feed video page adds a warning: with the Awareness objective, or goals such as reach, impressions, 2-second continuous views or engagement, the footer with headline, description and button does not show on mobile Facebook Feed. Do not rely on the headline to carry the offer in those campaigns.

The spoken line matters more than the caption in video ads. The hook in the first seconds of the video does the work the headline does in an image ad. Build it from our UGC hooks library and the UGC script template, and keep text overlays short enough to read in a second.

Meta carousel ad specs

The Facebook Feed carousel page allows 2 to 10 cards. Each card is 1:1 with 3% tolerance and at least 1080x1080. Image cards take JPG or PNG up to 30 MB; video cards take MP4, MOV or GIF up to 4 GB and 1 second to 240 minutes. Text guidance is 80 characters of primary text, then 20 characters of headline and 18 of description per card. A landing page URL is required.

Carousels work for ranges and steps: a product line, before and after, or a three-step how-to. They are weaker for a single UGC testimonial, which reads better as one vertical video. If you test both, keep the offer and audience the same so the format is the only change.

Meta safe zones: Stories and Reels

Meta's Stories and Reels pages give the same instruction: consider leaving at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% on each side free of text, logos and other important elements. On a 1080x1920 frame that works out to about 269 px top, 672 px bottom and 65 px per side. Feed pages list no safe zone, but a 4:5 video can be cropped in Feed, so keep the subject centered there too.

Design one 9:16 master with all key elements inside the Stories and Reels safe box, then crop the 4:5 Feed version from the middle. That one rule makes a single shoot usable across every Meta placement, and across TikTok and Shorts too. Our TikTok ad specs post covers TikTok's own safe zone files.

Write the ratio, length and safe zone into the UGC brief template before production. Once the ads run, compare openings with the hook rate calculator and the Meta hook rate benchmarks.

FireplaceUGC exports every take as a 9:16 MP4 with sound, with 500+ AI actors to choose from. Product in Hand and Box Opening keep the product centered, which helps skincare and home goods brands crop one master to every placement. You upload the files to Ads Manager yourself. If an AI actor appears in the ad, check the AI ad disclosure rules.