Facebook advertising remains one of the highest-reach paid media channels available to businesses of any size. But with that reach comes complexity — Facebook has more distinct ad placements than almost any other platform, and each one has its own dimension requirements, file size limits, and rendering behaviour.
Getting the specs wrong does not always result in a rejected ad. More often, the ad runs but looks wrong — slightly cropped, oddly letterboxed, or with key content hidden behind a button. Those are the harder mistakes to catch, because the campaign appears to be running while the creative is quietly underperforming.
This guide covers every Facebook ad format with the exact specifications you need to design assets that render correctly across all placements.
Feed Ads
Feed ads are the most common Facebook ad format. They appear directly in the News Feed on desktop and mobile, between organic posts from friends and pages the user follows.
Feed Ad — Square
- Dimensions: 1440 × 1440 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 1:1
- File type: JPG or PNG (image), MP4 / MOV / GIF (video)
- File size: Up to 30MB (image), up to 4GB (video)
- Video settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, stereo AAC audio at 128kbps or higher
The 1:1 format works on both desktop and mobile and is the safest choice if you need consistent rendering across environments. It displays without letterboxing or cropping on either platform.
Feed Ad — Vertical
- Dimensions: 1440 × 1800 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 4:5
- File type: JPG or PNG (image), MP4 / MOV / GIF (video)
- File size: Up to 30MB (image), up to 4GB (video)
The 4:5 vertical format occupies significantly more screen space on mobile than the square version — roughly 25% more vertical height in the feed. This extra presence typically increases the time a viewer spends with the ad before scrolling past, which makes it worth testing for awareness objectives. Note that 4:5 only delivers optimally on mobile placements. For desktop-heavy audiences, the 1:1 format is more reliable.
Keep text and logos in the safe zone: avoid the bottom 14% of the frame, where Facebook may add its own UI elements and CTA overlays.
Story Ads
Story Ads appear in between organic Stories when a user is tapping through them. They are full-screen and unskippable (up to the point where the user swipes away).
- Dimensions: 1440 × 2560 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- File type: JPG or PNG (image), MP4 / MOV / GIF (video)
- File size: Up to 30MB (image), up to 4GB (video)
- Video settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, stereo AAC audio at 128kbps or higher
- Safe zone: Leave a 250-pixel safe zone at the top and a 340-pixel safe zone at the bottom
The safe zone is non-negotiable for Story Ads. Facebook renders a “Sponsored” label, the advertiser’s profile name and photo, and a call-to-action swipe-up element within these margins. Any text, logo, or key visual placed inside the top 250px or bottom 340px will be partially or fully obscured.
This leaves you with approximately 1440 × 1970 pixels of usable canvas — still a generous space, but significantly less than the full 2560px height suggests.
Reel Ads
Facebook Reel Ads run in the Reels feed and share the same dimensions as Story Ads.
- Dimensions: 1440 × 2560 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- File type: JPG or PNG (image), MP4 / MOV / GIF (video)
- File size: Up to 30MB (image), up to 4GB (video)
- Safe zone: 250px top, 340px bottom
The Reel Ad placement also supports image ads at 9:16, which is useful for motion-averse creative strategies or static visual content that still needs the full-screen vertical placement.
Reel Ads auto-play with sound on in most contexts. Unlike Feed video ads — which many users encounter in a sound-off environment — Reels tend to have audio active. Design your Reel creative to work well with sound, but include text overlays that carry the message if the audio is missed.
Carousel Ads
Carousel Ads display a scrollable series of individual cards, each with its own image or video, headline, and optional link.
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels per card
- Aspect ratio: 1:1
- File type: JPG or PNG (image)
- File size: Up to 30MB per card
- Cards: Up to 10 cards per carousel
Each card in a Carousel Ad functions as an independent creative unit. Consistency in visual style across cards creates a more cohesive experience. A common approach is to design the cards as a continuous panoramic image that reveals itself as the user swipes — this creates a native-feeling interaction that rewards engagement.
For carousel video, the 1:1 format applies to each video card, and each can be a separate MP4 or MOV up to 4GB.
Collection Ads
Collection Ads are mobile-only. They display a cover image or video alongside a grid of three product images below it. When tapped, they open an Instant Experience — a full-screen, fast-loading landing page within the Facebook app.
- Cover image/video dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels (1:1)
- File type: JPG or PNG (image), MP4 / MOV / GIF (video)
- File size: Up to 30MB (image), up to 4GB (video)
- Video recommendations: Under 2 minutes for cover video
The three product images below the cover are pulled automatically from your product catalog — their dimensions and formatting are handled by Facebook’s rendering engine. Your design task for Collection Ads is primarily the cover asset. Make it strong enough to attract the tap that opens the Instant Experience.
Right Column Ads
Right Column Ads are desktop-only and appear in the narrow right sidebar of the Facebook News Feed page. They are not available on mobile.
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 1:1
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 30MB
- Minimum recommended size: 254 × 133 pixels (though 1080 × 1080 is recommended for quality)
Right Column Ads display at a much smaller physical size than Feed Ads. They function more like traditional display banner ads than social media creative. Designs should be visually simple, with a clear focal point and minimal text — anything detailed will be lost at the rendered size.
In-Stream Video Ads
In-Stream Video Ads appear within Facebook videos — either before the video starts (pre-roll) or during it (mid-roll). They run in the Facebook Live feed and in regular video content.
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 1:1 (also supports 4:5 for mobile-only)
- File type: MP4 / MOV / GIF
- File size: Up to 4GB
- Video settings: H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, stereo AAC audio at 128kbps or higher
In-Stream Ads are non-skippable for their first 5 seconds on mobile. The first few seconds therefore carry the entire weight of gaining — or losing — the viewer’s attention before they have the option to dismiss. Lead with something visually immediate.
Search Results Ads and Marketplace Ads
Search Results Ads
These appear in Facebook’s search results and Marketplace search — both image and video formats.
- Image dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels (1:1); also supports 1.91:1
- Video dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels (1:1); also supports 1.91:1
- File type: JPG or PNG (image), MP4 / MOV / GIF (video)
- File size: Up to 30MB (image), up to 4GB (video)
Marketplace Ads
Marketplace Ads are image-only and appear in the Facebook Marketplace browse and category views. They also appear in the News Feed through Advantage+ placements.
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 1:1
- File type: JPG or PNG
- File size: Up to 30MB
Clear product photography with minimal background clutter performs consistently well in Marketplace placements, where users are actively browsing with purchase intent.
Business Explore Ads
Business Explore Ads are a mobile-only placement that appears when a user taps on a business’s post header to learn more about the account. They support both image and video formats.
- Image dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels (1:1); also supports 1.91:1
- Video dimensions: 1080 × 1080 pixels (1:1); also supports 1.91:1
- File type: JPG or PNG (image), MP4 / MOV / GIF (video)
- File size: Up to 30MB (image), up to 4GB (video)
- Primary text: Up to 125 characters
- Headline: Up to 27 characters (video), up to 40 characters (image)
The Most Common Mistakes in Facebook Ad Creative
Designing at 1080px when the format calls for 1440px. Several Facebook ad formats — particularly Feed Ads and Story Ads — have recommended dimensions above 1080px on their longest side. Designing at the lower resolution means Facebook will scale up on high-density screens, introducing softness. Start at the recommended size.
Ignoring the 20% text rule’s legacy. Facebook officially removed the hard 20% text overlay restriction in 2021, but heavy text in ad images still tends to see reduced delivery. This is an algorithmic tendency rather than a hard rule, but clean visuals with minimal text consistently outperform text-heavy designs across most objectives.
Using the same asset across Feed, Story, and Reel placements. A 1:1 Feed Ad dropped into a 9:16 Story placement will be letterboxed with large black bars above and below. Facebook’s Advantage+ placements can adapt some assets automatically, but this auto-adaptation often produces poor results. Designing format-specific assets is always worth the additional production effort.
Not testing the safe zone on Stories and Reels. The 250px top / 340px bottom safe zone is easy to overlook in a design file where the UI overlay is invisible. Always preview the asset in a mocked-up Story environment — or check it in the Ads Manager preview — before publishing.
Final Thoughts
Facebook advertising offers more format variety than almost any other platform. That variety is a creative opportunity — different placements reach users in different mindsets, and format-appropriate creative almost always outperforms a single resized master asset.
The specifications here reflect what Facebook actually renders, not just what the help centre publishes. Design to the safe zones, test across placements, and treat each format as its own creative brief rather than a variation on a theme.