For most Facebook ads, a 4:5 aspect ratio (1080x1350 pixels) is your go-to for Feed placements. For anything full-screen like Stories and Reels, you'll want to stick with a 9:16 ratio (1080x1920 pixels). Just be sure to keep the final video file under the 4GB maximum limit to avoid upload headaches and ensure it runs smoothly on mobile.
Your Quick Guide To Facebook Video Ad Sizes
Getting the video size right for your Facebook ads isn't just a technical checkbox—it's one of the first things that determines whether your ad captures attention or gets ignored. It’s a classic mistake: a video that looks incredible in the Feed gets awkwardly cropped in Stories, cutting off key visuals and weakening your message. Nail these specs from the get-go, and you’ll save yourself from costly re-edits and make sure every dollar of your ad spend counts.
This guide is built for marketers on the move. No fluff, no digging through dense Meta Business Help articles—just the specs you need for the most important placements to get your video assets performing at their best.
Key Video Ad Specifications
Before we jump into the nitty-gritty of each placement, let's quickly cover the three core pillars of video specs. Getting a handle on aspect ratio, resolution, and duration is fundamental to how your video will ultimately look and perform.
Here's a visual breakdown of the key metrics you'll be working with.
Think of aspect ratio, pixel dimensions, and duration as the essential trio for your video ads. Once you’ve mastered how these three work together, you’re well on your way to creating perfectly optimized ads for any placement Facebook throws at you.
Why Video Ad Dimensions Are Crucial for Performance
Getting your Facebook video ad dimensions right isn’t just some minor technical box to check—it’s a strategic move that can make or break your campaign's performance. With most people scrolling through Facebook on their phones, how your ad fills that screen directly impacts whether they’ll even give it a second of their time. A video that’s perfectly formatted for its placement feels seamless and professional, grabbing attention right away.
On the flip side, a poorly sized video is a dead giveaway of a lazy ad. Think about seeing a horizontal (16:9) video crammed into a vertical Stories placement. You get those ugly black bars at the top and bottom, a classic case of letterboxing. It screams "afterthought," wastes precious screen space, and can instantly cheapen your brand's perception.
The Impact on Key Performance Metrics
The right video size for your Facebook ads has a direct line to the metrics that actually matter. When a video is optimized for where it's being shown, it's just naturally more attention-grabbing, and that leads to better results across the board.
Here are a few key metrics that get a serious boost from correct video dimensions:
- Engagement Rate: Videos that fill the screen, like a 4:5 aspect ratio in the Feed or 9:16 in Reels, are far more immersive. That extra real estate encourages more likes, comments, and shares.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): A visually compelling video that fits the frame just right is way more likely to earn that click. You can dig into other strategies for enhancing your click-through rate to really stack the odds in your favor.
- Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): When your engagement and CTR go up, Meta's algorithm sees your ad as more relevant. A better relevance score often means lower advertising costs and a healthier CPA.
Why Vertical Video Dominates
The massive shift to mobile has crowned vertical video the undisputed king of engagement. It’s not even a fair fight anymore. Placements like Stories and Reels are built for full-screen, 9:16 content, and showing up with anything less is a huge missed opportunity. It just makes sense—it’s how we all naturally hold our phones.
The money follows the trend. Video ads are on track to make up a massive 37.5% of total ad spend on Facebook in 2025. This explosive growth is powered by simple math: video formats pull in 47% higher engagement than static images. It’s clear they're not just a piece of the puzzle; they're becoming the main event.
Facebook Feed Video Ad Specifications
The Facebook Feed is still prime real estate for advertisers, and getting your video specs dialed in is absolutely critical. Think about it: your ad is showing up right between posts from your audience's friends and family. A polished, correctly formatted video isn't just a nice-to-have; it's the only way you're going to stop the scroll.
For this placement, you’ll mainly be working with two aspect ratios: the classic 1:1 (square) and the more dominant 4:5 (vertical). Both can work, but the 4:5 format was built for mobile and it takes up way more screen space. This alone gives your creative a more premium, immersive feel right off the bat.
Aspect Ratios and Resolutions
To make sure your video looks sharp and professional, you should always export at the highest resolution Meta allows. Nailing the resolution prevents that dreaded pixelated look and ensures your ad holds up on modern HD screens.
1:1 Aspect Ratio: This versatile square format is a safe bet for both desktop and mobile. The go-to resolution here is 1080 x 1080 pixels. It gives you a balanced look that feels completely native to the Feed.
4:5 Aspect Ratio: This is your top performer if you're targeting mobile-only feed ads. By using a resolution of 1080 x 1350 pixels, your video fills much more of the vertical screen, literally pushing competitors out of view and grabbing more attention.
So which one should you choose? It really comes down to your creative assets and what you’re trying to achieve. But if your audience is mostly on their phones, the 4:5 ratio gives you a clear advantage in visibility and impact.
Technical Requirements
Getting the dimensions right is only half the battle. You also have to stick to the technical specs to ensure a smooth upload and optimal playback. Get the file format or size wrong, and you'll be staring at frustrating errors in Facebook Ads Manager, which is the last thing you want when you're trying to get a campaign live. If you're new to the platform, it's worth taking some time to understand what Facebook Ads Manager is and how it all works.
Key Takeaway: The absolute maximum file size for any video you upload is 4GB. If your final render is bigger than that, you'll need to compress it before it'll be accepted.
Here are the other must-know specs:
- Recommended Formats: Stick with MP4 and MOV. They are the most reliable file types and rarely cause issues.
- Video Length: You can run a video from as short as 1 second up to 241 minutes, but let's be realistic—shorter is almost always better. Aim for that 15-60 second sweet spot to get your message across without losing your audience.
- Minimum Dimensions: While 1080p is what you should aim for, the absolute minimum width and height Meta will accept is 120 x 120 pixels.
Mastering Stories and Reels Video Ad Sizes
Stories and Reels aren't just another placement—they're the fastest-growing, most immersive formats on Meta's platforms. If you want to compete here, you have to think vertical. We're talking a full-screen, 9:16 aspect ratio (1080x1920 pixels). This isn't just a recommendation; it's the only way your ad will look like it belongs.
Try to run anything else, and you'll end up with those awkward black bars or weird cropping. It immediately screams "low-effort ad" and you've already lost the user's attention. The whole point of these placements is to feel native and blend in with the fast-paced, swipe-up culture.
The data backs this up, too. Vertical 9:16 videos consistently crush it, showing 23% higher completion rates and 35% better click-through rates in Reels. It's a clear signal from users that they prefer content designed for the way they actually use their phones. If you want to dig deeper into how sizing impacts your campaigns, you can discover key insights on Meta ad performance.
Essential Specs for Stories and Reels
Getting the aspect ratio right is the first step, but you need to nail the technical details to make sure your ad runs smoothly and looks sharp.
- Resolution: Stick to 1080x1920 pixels. Anything less will look grainy on modern phone screens.
- Max File Size: Keep your final video file under 4GB. We'll cover some tips for this later on.
- Recommended Codec: Use H.264 compression. It’s the industry standard for a reason, offering a great balance between quality and file size.
- Duration: Think short and punchy. Videos under 15 seconds are your sweet spot for keeping a user’s attention before they swipe away.
Understanding the Safe Zone
Here’s a concept that trips up a lot of advertisers: the "safe zone." This is the central part of the screen where your most important stuff—your logo, your call-to-action, any key text—needs to live. Why? Because Meta overlays its own interface elements over your video.
Things like the profile icon, captions, and engagement buttons will cover parts of the top and bottom of the screen. If you place your CTA button right at the bottom edge, it's going to get blocked. Always, always preview your ad on a real device before you launch. It’s the only way to be sure nothing critical is hidden from view.
Video Specs for Other Facebook Ad Placements
While Feeds, Stories, and Reels soak up most of the limelight, ignoring other Facebook ad placements is like leaving money on the table. Placements such as In-Stream videos, Marketplace, and even Search Results each have their own unique context, audience mindset, and—you guessed it—technical requirements.
Getting the video specs right for these less-common spots is crucial for a seamless user experience. You don't want your creative looking clunky or out of place. For instance, an In-Stream ad that pops up mid-video needs a totally different vibe than a Marketplace ad hitting a user who's ready to buy. Nailing the native format is key to looking professional and keeping your campaign effective.
In-Stream and Search Results Specs
Let's start with In-Stream. These ads play during other videos, so they absolutely have to feel like a natural part of the viewing experience. On the other hand, ads in Facebook Search Results need to be clean and non-disruptive to capture a user's attention without annoying them.
Here’s the breakdown:
In-Stream Videos: These ads are pretty flexible, supporting both 16:9 (landscape) and 1:1 (square) aspect ratios. Honestly, the more traditional 16:9 format usually works best here since it mirrors standard video content. Duration is also a huge factor, with a wide range of 5 seconds to 10 minutes, but let's be real—shorter is almost always better for holding onto someone's attention.
Search Results: For this placement, think square. A 1:1 aspect ratio with a resolution of at least 1080x1080 pixels is the gold standard. This format fits perfectly into the search listings without jarring the user's flow.
Facebook Marketplace Video Ads
Marketplace is a whole different ballgame. Users here are in a high-intent mindset; they're actively looking to buy something. Your video ad needs to look and feel like a native listing—clear, straightforward, and focused entirely on the product.
The go-to format for Marketplace video ads is a 1:1 aspect ratio (1080x1080 pixels). This square sizing is consistent with the organic listings you see all over Marketplace, helping your ad blend in without screaming "I'm an ad!" Sticking to this spec is a fundamental part of mastering the placement of advertising across Meta's platforms.
The technicals for these placements are pretty standard across the board: keep your file size under 4GB and stick with MP4 or MOV formats.
To make things easier, here’s a quick reference table covering the specs for these additional—but still very important—Facebook ad placements.
| Placement | Recommended Ratio | Resolution (Pixels) | File Size & Duration Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-Stream Videos | 16:9 or 1:1 | At least 1080x1080 | 4GB max file size. Duration can be 5s - 10 min. |
| Search Results | 1:1 (Square) | At least 1080x1080 | 4GB max file size. Keep duration concise. |
| Marketplace | 1:1 (Square) | At least 1080x1080 | 4GB max file size. Video should feel like a native listing. |
Keeping this table handy will save you a ton of headaches. By tailoring your video creative to the specific context of each placement, you ensure your ads not only look good but also perform better by meeting users where they are, in a format they expect.
Common Mistakes in Facebook Video Sizing and How to Avoid Them
Even veteran media buyers get tripped up by video ad specs now and then. It happens. But those small mistakes—a wrong aspect ratio here, a file format error there—can get ads rejected, burn through your budget, and tank performance before a campaign even gets going.
Getting familiar with the most common slip-ups is the best way to make sure every campaign you launch is perfectly optimized from the start.
One of the biggest and most frequent mistakes we see is someone uploading a single 16:9 landscape video and just letting Meta's automatic placements run with it. This is what causes those ugly black bars (letterboxing) when your ad shows up in vertical placements like Stories or Reels. It screams "lazy ad," fails to grab attention by using the full screen, and kills your engagement right out of the gate.
Another huge miss is simply not designing for mobile-first aspect ratios. The vast majority of users are scrolling on their phones, so if you aren't creating dedicated 4:5 or 9:16 vertical assets, you're already at a major disadvantage. Your ad will feel clunky and out of place, making it incredibly easy for people to scroll right past it without a second glance.
Troubleshooting Common Video Sizing Errors
Having a quick pre-flight checklist can save you a world of frustration with ad rejections. Running through these points before you hit publish ensures your creative is primed to perform the second it goes live.
- Wrong Aspect Ratio for Placement: Don't try to jam a square peg into a round hole. You absolutely need different creative versions for the Feed (4:5), Stories/Reels (9:16), and In-Stream placements (16:9).
- Video Duration Exceeds Limits: A slick 60-second video is useless for a 15-second Story placement. Double-check the time limits for each format and have shorter edits ready to go.
- Incorrect File Format: Just stick to MP4 or MOV. It’s the safest bet. Trying to upload an unsupported file type is a super common reason for upload errors that can completely derail a campaign launch.
Getting these technical specs right can solve a surprising number of delivery headaches. If your campaigns are still stuck in review or just not spending, it might be time to look at other factors. You can dig deeper into why your Facebook ads are not delivering and learn how to fix them.
How to Optimize and Compress Videos Without Losing Quality
Massive video files can bring your workflow to a screeching halt and bump up against Meta’s upload limits, especially when you’re juggling multiple campaigns. The real trick to managing video size for Facebook ads isn't just about shrinking files; it's about doing it smartly, so your sharp, high-def creative doesn't turn into a pixelated mess. This whole process is called compression, and getting good at it is a game-changer for efficiency.
Your goal is to strike that perfect balance between a small file size and crisp visual quality. Three main factors are at play here: resolution, bitrate, and codec. You should probably stick to the recommended resolutions like 1080x1350, but you’ve got a lot more wiggle room with bitrate.
Key Compression Settings
Think of bitrate as the amount of data packed into each second of your video. A higher bitrate means better quality, but it also means a bigger file. For most Facebook ads, a bitrate somewhere between 2-4 Mbps (megabits per second) is a solid starting point for 1080p video. Dropping it just a little can slash your file size without anyone noticing a difference in quality.
Then there's the codec, which is just the technology doing the compressing.
H.264 (AVC): This is the undisputed champion for web video. It provides fantastic compression and is supported everywhere, which means your ads will play smoothly for everyone, no matter the device.
H.265 (HEVC): This is the newer kid on the block. It offers even better compression than H.264, giving you smaller files at the same quality level. The only catch is that it isn't quite as universally compatible yet.
Pro Tip: When you're exporting your final video, always, always use H.264. It’s the safest bet to guarantee full compatibility with Meta's platform. For tools, HandBrake is a fantastic free desktop app that gives you tons of control. If you need a quick fix without installing software, online services can help you compress MP4 videos effectively. A few smart tweaks to these settings will keep your quality high and your file size well under the 4GB limit.
Automating Video Ad Creation with AdStellar AI
Let's be honest, manually resizing videos for every single Facebook placement is a massive time-sink for any growth team. It's the kind of tedious work that grinds everything to a halt.
Creating separate versions for the Feed (4:5), Reels (9:16), and In-Stream placements (16:9) can easily become a full-time job. This creates a huge bottleneck that slows down campaign launches and makes rapid testing feel impossible. This is exactly where automation becomes your secret weapon.
AdStellar AI was built to solve this exact problem by automating the entire creation process for properly sized video ads. Instead of getting bogged down in endless manual edits, your team can just upload a single master video. Our AI instantly gets to work, generating perfectly formatted variations for every placement you could possibly need. This completely removes the technical grunt work and frees up your team to focus on what actually matters—strategy.
Scale Your Creative Testing
The real power here goes way beyond just saving a few hours. It’s about enabling your team to test hundreds of creative combinations at a scale that would be completely out of reach if you were doing it manually.
When you can generate correctly sized assets in minutes, you can get more ads live, faster. This means you’re gathering performance data sooner and can quickly pinpoint which formats are actually resonating with your audience.
This data-driven approach is what allows you to scale your campaigns with confidence. In 2025, with video driving 85% of Facebook ad engagement, this kind of speed isn't a luxury; it's essential. For instance, we know that vertical 9:16 videos often outperform square formats by up to 35% in click-through rates on Reels. Automating their creation lets you capitalize on these trends instantly instead of playing catch-up.
By eliminating the manual resizing grind, you can shift from just producing ads to strategically identifying winners. This is the key to scaling campaigns 10x faster and achieving better results with less effort.
This efficiency is a core part of building a smarter workflow. You can learn more about how to use AI for Facebook Ads to really get a competitive edge.
Frequently Asked Questions
When you're in the trenches of running Meta ad campaigns, questions about video specs are bound to come up. Placements change, best practices evolve, and keeping it all straight can be a headache. Here are some of the most common questions performance marketers ask when they're building and optimizing campaigns.
What Is the Best Video Size for Facebook Ads Overall?
Honestly, there's no single "best" size that works perfectly everywhere. The ideal format really depends on where your ad is going to show up.
That said, if you're focusing on a mobile-first strategy (which you should be), the 4:5 aspect ratio (1080x1350) for Feeds and the 9:16 aspect ratio (1080x1920) for Stories and Reels are your top priorities. These formats are designed to grab the most screen real estate on a phone, which is critical for stopping the scroll.
Can I Use the Same 1 to 1 Square Video for All Placements?
You can, but I’d strongly advise against it. When you run a 1:1 square video in a vertical placement like Stories or Reels, Facebook will stick ugly black bars above and below it to fill the space. This is called letterboxing.
It instantly makes your ad look unprofessional and lazy, wasting a huge chunk of valuable screen space. This amateur look almost always tanks ad performance. Always, always create custom assets for your key aspect ratios to keep your brand looking sharp.
Key Insight: Using placement-specific assets is one of the easiest performance lifts you can get. An ad that looks native to the placement feels less jarring to the user. It's more likely to hold their attention, which directly boosts your click-through and conversion rates.
What Happens If My Video File Is Larger Than 4GB?
Simple: Facebook will reject it. The platform has a hard 4GB maximum size limit for video uploads.
If your file is too big, you’ll have to compress it before uploading. You can use a video editing tool to lower the bitrate or, in some cases, slightly reduce the resolution. Done right, you can get it under the limit without any noticeable drop in quality.
How Important Is Video Length for Facebook Ads?
Video length is absolutely critical and, you guessed it, depends on the placement. For placements where users are flying through content, like Stories and Reels, videos under 15 seconds almost always perform best. You have just a moment to capture their attention.
For In-Feed ads, you have a bit more breathing room. Even so, keeping your videos between 15 and 60 seconds is a solid rule of thumb. It gives you enough time to get your message across without losing your viewer's engagement.
Ready to stop resizing videos manually and start scaling your campaigns? With AdStellar AI, you can generate perfectly sized video ads for every placement in minutes, not hours. Launch, test, and scale your Meta ads 10x faster today.
