Meta Reels Ad Specs 2026: Sizes, Safe Zones, Length

Meta ad creative in 2026 needs one export per ratio. Reels and Stories take 9:16 at 1440 x 2560. Facebook Feed takes 4:5 at 1440 x 1800. Carousel cards take 1:1 at 1080 x 1080 or larger. On every 9:16 placement, Meta tells you to keep text and logos out of the top 14 percent, the bottom 35 percent, and 6 percent on each side, because the call to action button and the profile icon sit there. Aim for 15 to 30 seconds on direct response, put the product in the opening frames, and design for sound off. The table below gives the size, file limits, and safe area for each placement, with the Meta page each number came from.

Meta ad specs by placement, 2026

Every row below was read from Meta's own Ads Guide on 7 September 2026. The Source column names the page. Meta changes these pages, so check the link before a big production run.

Sources, each fetched on 7 September 2026: Facebook Reels video specs, Instagram Reels video specs, Instagram Reels image specs, Instagram Stories video specs, Facebook Feed video specs, Facebook Feed image specs, and carousel specs.

Two things in that table changed from the numbers most guides still repeat. Meta's recommended vertical resolution is now 1440 x 2560, not 1080 x 1920, and the recommended Facebook Feed size is 4:5 at 1440 x 1800, not square. If your export preset still says 1080 x 1920, you are uploading below Meta's recommendation.

Reels: 9:16, 1440 x 2560, and where the interface covers your frame

Facebook Reels and Instagram Reels both take 9:16 at 1440 x 2560. The frame is full screen, so the interface sits on top of your creative rather than beside it.

Meta states the safe area in percentages, not pixels, and it is the same on both Reels surfaces: keep text, logos, and anything important out of the top 14 percent, the bottom 35 percent, and 6 percent on each side, so the call to action button and the profile icon do not cover it, and so the frame is not cropped on taller phones.

Percentages matter more than a fixed pixel margin here. The bottom third is the expensive part. A headline placed low in the frame reads perfectly in your editor and is completely hidden in the feed. Compose as if the middle half of the frame is the only area you own.

Two more Reels rules worth holding:

• Character limits are tight. Facebook Reels allows 40 characters of primary text and a 55 character headline. Instagram Reels allows 44 characters of primary text. Write the caption to that length rather than trimming it in the upload screen.
• Instagram Reels ads cannot carry licensed music. Meta points advertisers to its royalty free sound collection instead.

Feed: 4:5 and why square is the wrong default

Meta's current recommendation for Facebook Feed is 4:5 at 1440 x 1800, for both video and image. Square is still accepted, but it hands back vertical screen space you could have used.

Feed video accepts MP4, MOV, or GIF up to 4 GB, and Meta allows anything from 1 second to 241 minutes. That range is a technical limit, not a recommendation. For direct response, 15 to 30 seconds with the product in the opening frames remains the working range.

One placement quirk is worth knowing before you compose. Meta notes that with the awareness objective, the lower part of a Facebook Feed video ad, including the headline, the description, and the call to action button, does not display on mobile. If your creative depends on that furniture to make sense, it will not make sense on the objective where reach is cheapest.

Feed images take JPG or PNG up to 30 MB, with a 600 pixel minimum width and a 3 percent tolerance on the ratio. That tolerance is why a 1080 x 1350 export still passes: it is inside the allowed variance of 4:5.

Stories: the same 9:16 frame, a different caption budget

Instagram Stories video uses the same 9:16 frame at 1440 x 2560 and the same 14, 35, and 6 percent safe area as Reels. In practice that means one vertical master serves Reels and Stories.

The differences are around the frame, not inside it. Stories accepts 1 second to 60 minutes of video and gives you 125 characters of primary text, roughly three times what a Reels ad allows. If you have a caption that needs the extra room, Stories is where it fits.

Because the safe area is identical, there is no reason to build a separate Stories cut. Build one vertical asset that respects the safe area, then reuse it.

Carousel and static: 1:1 cards and per-card copy

A Facebook Feed carousel holds 2 to 10 cards at 1:1, at least 1080 x 1080. Cards can be images up to 30 MB or video up to 4 GB. The copy budget is tighter than Feed: 80 characters of primary text, a 20 character headline, and an 18 character description per card.

Treat the sequence as a story rather than a gallery:

• Card one is the cover and the hook. It has to stop the scroll on its own.
• Middle cards each advance one point: context, a proof detail, a feature, a use case.
• The final card carries the offer and the call to action.
• Keep the crop identical across cards. Mismatched crops read as sloppy and break the swipe.

The same product photos you already own become a carousel when you assign each image a job. Order them the way a buyer decides: attention, context, proof, trust, then the ask. If your images arrive cropped, blurry, or out of order, fix that before you sequence them. Our guide on fixing cropped, blurry, or misordered slideshow images covers the common failures, and the sequencing logic behind TikTok slideshow ads built from product images applies directly to Meta carousels.

Designing for sound off

Meta lists sound and captions as optional but recommended on Reels and Stories, and it does not support automatic captioning on Facebook Reels ads. Read that as a production instruction: burn your captions in, because nothing will add them for you.

Three rules follow from that:

• Every claim that decides the sale is on screen as text, inside the safe area.
• The opening frame carries the product or the payoff, not a logo animation.
• Voiceover adds emphasis. It never carries information that appears nowhere else.

The hook, body, CTA framework is the fastest way to structure a muted first three seconds on purpose rather than by accident.

What to change when a creative fatigues

When cost per result climbs on an ad that used to work, change one variable and keep the rest. Otherwise the result tells you nothing.

In order of how much they usually move:

1. The first frame and the first line. This is the largest single lever, and the cheapest to swap.
2. The proof element in the middle. A different demonstration, a different customer line.
3. The offer wording on the closing frame or card.
4. The format itself. If a video has stopped working, the same argument as a swipeable carousel is a genuinely different creative, not a re-edit.

Add three to five fresh assets a week rather than one perfect asset. Meta's delivery needs options to match creative to viewer, and swipeable formats make that volume realistic. Our breakdown of UGC ads that convert shows which patterns are worth putting into the rotation. If any asset is AI generated, check AI UGC and Facebook ad policy before you launch.

Exporting once per ratio instead of once per platform

Most teams export per platform and end up with near duplicate files. Export per ratio instead. Meta's own specs collapse into three masters:

• 9:16 at 1440 x 2560. Serves Facebook Reels, Instagram Reels, and Instagram Stories. Respect the 14, 35, and 6 percent safe area, and it works on all three.
• 4:5 at 1440 x 1800. Serves Facebook and Instagram Feed for both video and image.
• 1:1 at 1080 x 1080 or larger. Serves carousel cards.

Build the 9:16 master first, because it is the strictest frame. A composition that survives the Reels safe area crops down to 4:5 and 1:1 without losing the message. The reverse is not true.

That same 9:16 master is also a TikTok post. The frame, the safe area habit, and the sound off discipline transfer, which is why one production pass can feed both platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions

What size should a Meta Reels ad be in 2026?

9:16 at 1440 x 2560 pixels, per Meta's Ads Guide as of 7 September 2026. MP4 or MOV, up to 4 GB.

What is the safe zone for Meta Reels and Stories ads?

Meta advises leaving the top 14 percent, the bottom 35 percent, and 6 percent on each side free of text, logos, and important elements, so the call to action button and profile icon do not cover them.

What is the ideal length for a Meta video ad?

Meta's technical limits are wide, from 1 second up to 241 minutes on Facebook Feed. For direct response, 15 to 30 seconds with the hook and the product in the first three seconds is the practical range.

Should I run the same creative across all placements?

Not the same file, but not one file per placement either. Export one master per ratio: 9:16 for Reels and Stories, 4:5 for Feed, 1:1 for carousel cards.

How many cards should a Meta carousel have?

Meta allows 2 to 10. Three to five suits most product ads: a cover hook, one or two proof cards, and a closing card with the offer.

Can I turn product photos into Meta carousel ads without a shoot?

Yes. Give each existing photo a role in the buying sequence, keep the crops consistent at 1:1, and order them attention, context, proof, trust, action. Tools that build slideshows from a product URL can export the same sequences as carousel creative.

Do Meta ads support licensed music?

Meta states that Instagram Reels ads cannot include licensed music and points advertisers to its royalty free collection instead.