A Complete Guide to Video Size for Facebook Ad Placements

When you're choosing a video size for a Facebook ad, your best bet for feed placements will almost always be 1:1 (square) and 4:5 (vertical). Forget about old-school landscape videos. These mobile-first formats are built to take up as much screen space as possible, grabbing a user's attention way more effectively. If you want your ads to be visually dominant and perform well, stick to these two.

Your Quick Guide to Facebook Ad Video Sizes

Getting your video ad dimensions right isn't just a technical detail—it's absolutely fundamental to your campaign's success. We live in a mobile-first world where people scroll fast. If your ad doesn't immediately fill the screen, it's going to get ignored. The whole game is about occupying as much of the user's viewport as you can without forcing them to turn their phone sideways.

This is exactly why vertical video has moved from a trendy "nice-to-have" to a hard requirement for any ad that's meant to perform.

Think about it: a 4:5 video commands a huge chunk of the mobile feed compared to a 16:9 landscape video, which usually ends up sandwiched between ugly black bars. That extra vertical real estate gives you more room for powerful branding, clearer text overlays, and a much more immersive experience for the viewer. All of this directly impacts your engagement rates.

When you're in the creative phase, it's crucial to think about how these different ratios will look across various placements. You can get more insights on this by checking out our detailed guide on designing ads that convert.

Quick Reference for Top-Performing Facebook Ad Video Sizes

To keep things simple and your creative process moving, it's smart to focus on the most versatile and effective video sizes. Facebook has a ton of placements, but a few key formats will give you the best coverage and the strongest results. Think of this table as your cheat sheet for the gold standards in Facebook video ads.

Mastering these core specs will give you a solid foundation for pretty much any campaign you can dream up, whether you're building brand awareness or driving straight to a sale.

Sticking to these three formats covers the most valuable real estate on the platform, ensuring your creative is always optimized to perform its best.

Why Mobile-First Video Sizes Drive Performance

Let’s be honest, the days of landscape video dominating social ads are long gone. The pivot to vertical video isn't just some passing trend—it's a direct reflection of how people actually use their phones. Think about it: almost everyone holds their phone vertically. A traditional 16:9 video just doesn't cut it anymore; it leaves huge, empty bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

This is where mobile-first sizes like 4:5 and 9:16 come in. They’re specifically designed to fill that wasted space, creating a much more immersive and commanding ad experience.

It’s a simple change, but the impact is massive. A vertical video can gobble up to 78% more screen real estate than its landscape counterpart on a mobile device. That kind of visual dominance makes your ad impossible to just scroll past. It’s a classic pattern interrupt that grabs attention.

When an ad feels like it belongs on the platform and doesn't force people to awkwardly turn their phones, you’re removing friction. That small convenience goes a long way, encouraging longer watch times and better engagement.

The Data Backs It Up

The proof is in the numbers. Meta’s own research shows that a staggering 75% of all video viewing happens on mobile. It’s no wonder their recommended ad specs now heavily favor vertical formats. This isn't just a suggestion; it's a critical piece of the performance puzzle. Optimizing your video size for a Facebook ad to match user behavior is non-negotiable.

This isn't just about making things look pretty. It directly impacts the metrics every performance marketer lives and breathes.

By taking up more of the screen, vertical videos naturally pull in higher engagement. A user is far more likely to stop, watch, and interact with an ad that fills their entire view, which can give you a serious boost in video view-through rates (VTR) and click-through rates (CTR).

Matching your creative to the placement doesn't have to be complicated. Just follow the user's lead:

• Facebook & Instagram Feeds: A 4:5 aspect ratio is your best friend here. It takes up the most vertical space possible in the main feed without getting awkwardly cropped.
• Stories & Reels: Go full-screen with 9:16. This delivers that seamless, native experience people expect in these fast-paced, vertical environments.

From Screen Space to Campaign Results

At the end of the day, going mobile-first with your video sizes is about getting more impact for your money. An ad that's more visible is more likely to be seen and remembered. This improvement at the top of the funnel often creates a positive domino effect across your entire campaign.

Because the ad creative is a better fit for the user experience, Meta's algorithm is more likely to reward it with better delivery and lower costs. We often see this lead to a lower cost per mille (CPM) and, ultimately, a more efficient cost per acquisition (CPA). By focusing on how users actually consume content, you can learn how to improve ad engagement and squeeze much better returns out of your ad spend.

Detailed Video Ad Specs for Every Facebook Placement

Nailing the right video specs for a Facebook ad isn't just a technical detail—it's the difference between an ad that fits seamlessly into a user's experience and one that gets awkwardly cropped or ignored. Every placement is its own unique piece of digital real estate. A video that looks incredible in the Feed can fall completely flat in Stories.

This section is your definitive guide to getting the technicals right every single time. Think of it as your cheat sheet for making sure your creative looks professional and is optimized for maximum impact, no matter where it shows up.

To make this even easier, here’s a quick-reference table breaking down the key specs across the most important placements.

Facebook & Instagram Video Ad Placement Specifications

Getting the specs right at a glance is crucial when you're managing multiple campaigns. This table lays out the core requirements for the most common video ad placements on Meta's platforms, helping you plan your creative production efficiently.

Remember, while these are the technical minimums and maximums, the optimal length and format almost always lean toward shorter, mobile-first creative. Now let's dive into the specifics for each placement.

Facebook and Instagram Feed Video Ads

The Feed is the heart of the user experience on both Facebook and Instagram, which makes it the most competitive—and valuable—ad placement you can buy. Your number one job here is to stop the scroll. Your best tool for that is taking up as much screen real estate as possible.

This is why vertical video formats are king. On mobile, where most people will see your ad, a taller aspect ratio simply commands more attention. If you're serious about performance, you should always check the detailed video specifications for Facebook Feed ads before exporting your final creative.

• Recommended Aspect Ratios: Go with 4:5 (vertical) for mobile-first campaigns. It just fills more of the screen. 1:1 (square) is a solid, safe choice that works well on both mobile and desktop.
• Recommended Resolution: Aim for at least 1080 x 1350 pixels for 4:5 or 1080 x 1080 pixels for 1:1. Crisp, high-resolution video looks more professional and trustworthy.
• Maximum File Size: You have up to 4 GB to work with, which is plenty for high-quality, short-form video.
• Video Duration: The official range is 1 second to 241 minutes, but let's be realistic. For a Feed ad, if you can't get your message across in under 15 seconds, you've likely already lost your audience.

Facebook Stories and Instagram Reels Ads

Stories and Reels are all about the full-screen, immersive experience. Anything less than a native 9:16 video feels out of place and immediately screams "this is an ad." You absolutely want to avoid black bars or weird cropping, as it’s a dead giveaway that you repurposed a video from another placement.

This format is built for quick, punchy, attention-grabbing content. You have about three seconds to hook someone before they tap to the next screen.

• Required Aspect Ratio: 9:16 (full vertical). This is non-negotiable if you want your ad to look professional.
• Recommended Resolution: Stick to 1080 x 1920 pixels, the standard for full HD vertical video.
• Maximum File Size: 4 GB.
• Video Duration (Stories): You can run a video from 1 second to 2 minutes. Anything over 15 seconds will likely be segmented into multiple Story cards.
• Video Duration (Reels): The window here is 0.5 seconds to 90 seconds. Shorter is almost always better. Keep it tight.

In-Stream Video Ads

In-stream ads are the ones that pop up before, during, or after a video someone is already watching. Because they interrupt the viewing experience, the creative approach needs to be a bit different. You can get away with a traditional landscape format or a square one, as it often depends on the format of the host video.

The key here is speed. Your message needs to land fast, as most users are just waiting for the "Skip Ad" button to appear.

• Recommended Aspect Ratios: 16:9 (landscape) or 1:1 (square) are your best bets.
• Recommended Resolution: At least 1080 x 1080 pixels to maintain quality.
• Maximum File Size: 4 GB.
• Video Duration: The official range is 5 seconds to 10 minutes, but the most effective in-stream ads are almost always between 5 and 15 seconds.

Carousel and Collection Video Ads

Carousel and Collection ads are absolute powerhouses for e-commerce brands. They let you show off multiple products, features, or angles in a single, interactive unit. For these to work, consistency is everything. Each video card in your carousel needs to have the same aspect ratio for a clean, seamless swipe-through experience.

Pro Tip: Just use the square 1:1 format for your carousel videos. It’s the most versatile and gives you a balanced, clean look that displays products clearly and consistently across every card.

• Required Aspect Ratio: 1:1 (square).
• Recommended Resolution: 1080 x 1080 pixels.
• Maximum File Size: 4 GB per video card.
• Video Duration: 1 second to 240 minutes per card.
• Number of Cards: You can include 2 to 10 video cards in a single carousel ad.

Trying to keep all these different specs straight across multiple campaigns can quickly become a huge time-suck. If you're looking to build a more efficient workflow, our guide on how to use Facebook Ads Manager has some great tips for organizing your campaigns. By treating each placement as its own canvas, you're ensuring every dollar of your ad spend is working as hard as it possibly can.

How Video Size Impacts Your Core Advertising Metrics

Getting the video size right for a Facebook ad is way more than just checking a technical box. It’s a make-or-break factor that directly hits the metrics you care about most: view-through rates (VTR), click-through rates (CTR), and, ultimately, your return on ad spend (ROAS).

When a video is sized incorrectly, it shows up with awkward cropping or those ugly black bars—a phenomenon known as "letterboxing." This instantly cheapens the user experience and screams low-quality creative. The moment an ad feels jarring or out of place, users scroll right past it. This tanks your engagement, and you can bet Meta's algorithm will notice, often leading to higher CPMs and a budget that just doesn't go as far.

On the flip side, a video that fits the placement perfectly feels native and professional. It grabs attention, encourages viewers to stick around longer, and gives them a reason to take action.

This infographic gives you a quick rundown of the core video specs to keep on your radar.

The bottom line is simple: optimizing your aspect ratio, resolution, and video length is fundamental to capturing attention and driving the results you need.

The Connection Between Video Specs and Performance

The "right" Facebook video size has a measurable impact on your KPIs. For instance, while the average view-through rate (VTR) for Facebook video ads hovers around 29%, shorter videos clean up. Videos under 15 seconds boast the highest completion rate at around 53.7%, compared to the 29–30% range for longer formats.

It’s also about where the video lives. Uploading a video directly to Facebook is far more effective than just sharing a link. Native Facebook videos can generate over 10× more shares than YouTube links posted on the platform, which really drives home the importance of uploading spec-compliant files.

These numbers reveal a clear link between technical details and user behavior. People are far more likely to finish watching shorter, well-formatted videos, which means better message retention and a higher chance they'll actually click. To get a better handle on how those clicks translate into real results, check out our deep dive on the average click-through rate for Facebook ads.

Optimizing for Engagement and ROAS

At the end of the day, every technical decision you make should serve a strategic purpose. When you align your video dimensions with each specific placement, you're creating a seamless viewing experience that naturally boosts engagement. A solid grasp of how video size affects your core advertising metrics is the first step toward building effective social media engagement strategies.

That positive engagement sends powerful signals to Meta's delivery algorithm, telling it that your ad is relevant and valuable to users. The algorithm, in turn, rewards high-quality, engaging content with better placements and, often, lower costs. It's a win-win.

Recommended Video Export Settings for High Quality Ads

Nailing the right aspect ratio is only half the battle. To make sure your video ad looks sharp and professional when it hits the feed, you absolutely have to pay attention to your export settings in your editing software. Botch this step, and you'll end up with compression artifacts, muddy colors, or—worst of all—a massive file that Ads Manager flat-out rejects after you've already wasted time uploading it.

Getting these technical details right from the start is about future-proofing your creative against Facebook's own compression algorithms. Your goal is to upload a file that's already in a great spot—high-quality but not bloated. This sweet spot prevents most common upload errors and ensures your ad looks as crisp as it did on your timeline.

Core Video and Audio Codecs

Think of codecs as the language your video file speaks. Pick the wrong one, and Facebook's servers won't know how to read it. Thankfully, the industry standards are pretty straightforward and universally supported.

• Video Codec H.264: This is the gold standard for pretty much all web video, and for good reason. It provides an excellent trade-off between file size and visual quality. When you're ready to export, look for H.264 (sometimes listed as AVC) to guarantee maximum compatibility.

• Audio Codec AAC: For sound, Meta officially recommends the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec. Stick to a bitrate of 128kbps or higher, and you’ll get crystal-clear audio that doesn't add unnecessary weight to your file.

Just by sticking to these two codecs, you'll dodge the vast majority of file format-related rejections.

Bitrate, Frame Rate, and Other Key Settings

Beyond the codec, a few other settings dial in the final quality and size. Bitrate is the big one here, as it directly controls how much data is used to render each second of your video.

Pro Tip: Higher bitrate equals better quality but a bigger file. If your bitrate is too low, you'll see pixelation and blur, especially in scenes with a lot of movement. The key to optimizing your video size for Facebook ad uploads is finding that perfect balance.

Use these settings as your go-to export preset:

• Frame Rate: For most ads, a fixed frame rate of 24 to 30 FPS (frames per second) is perfect.
• Bitrate (for 1080p video): We've found the sweet spot is a target bitrate between 8 and 15 Mbps (megabits per second). This range keeps resolutions like 1080x1080 or 1080x1350 looking great without creating a gigantic file.
• Scan Type: Always, always choose Progressive Scan. Interlaced video is an old TV standard that can create nasty visual tearing on digital screens.
• Pixel Aspect Ratio: Lock this to Square Pixels. This ensures your video shows up in the correct proportions and doesn't look stretched or squished.

Common Mistakes to Avoid with Facebook Video Ads

Even veteran marketers stumble over the technical details of video ad specs. It’s an easy way to burn through your budget and end up with terrible performance. Nailing the right video size for a Facebook ad is a huge first step, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle.

The good news is that the most common pitfalls are easily avoidable with a little planning. These mistakes usually happen when you try to take a shortcut, but they almost always backfire by creating a clunky, jarring user experience that screams "ad."

Using a Single Video for All Placements

This is hands-down the most frequent error I see: creating one landscape (16:9) video and letting Meta’s automatic placements handle the rest. It’s definitely the easiest option, but it's also the least effective. A landscape video looks tiny and unprofessional in a vertical-first world like Stories or Reels, immediately flagging your ad as lazy.

This one-size-fits-all approach is a surefire way to get your ad awkwardly cropped or stuck with ugly black bars (letterboxed) in most placements. It tanks engagement and tells the algorithm your creative is low-quality.

• The Problem: A single aspect ratio just can’t look good everywhere. Feeds are optimized for 4:5, Stories demand 9:16, and In-Stream works best with 16:9. Users scrolling through Stories expect full-screen, immersive videos, and that tiny landscape box will get skipped in a heartbeat.
• The Solution: At an absolute minimum, you need three versions of your ad. Create a 4:5 vertical for Feeds, a 9:16 full-screen vertical for Stories and Reels, and a 1:1 square video for placements like Carousel and Collections. This ensures your ad feels native and professional wherever it shows up.

Ignoring Safe Zones in Stories and Reels

Another critical oversight is forgetting about the UI elements that sit on top of full-screen placements. In both Instagram Reels and Facebook Stories, the platform overlays profile info, captions, and CTA buttons at the top and bottom of the screen. Slapping your logo, key text, or product shots in these areas is a recipe for disaster.

Your most important message will be completely hidden, making your ad confusing and pretty much useless. This simple mistake can cripple your ad's performance before it even gets a chance.

To fix this, always design within the "safe zones." Think of it as leaving a buffer of roughly 15% at the top and bottom of your 9:16 creative. Keep all your essential visuals and text toward the center to guarantee everyone can see them clearly.

Exceeding File Size or Duration Limits

Finally, those technical limits aren't just friendly suggestions. If you try to upload a video that’s over the 4 GB maximum file size, Ads Manager will reject it on the spot. But just as damaging is ignoring the practical time limits for each placement.

Sure, you can technically upload a two-minute video to Stories, but it’s going to get chopped up into a bunch of cards, and you’ll see a massive drop-off in viewers. Forgetting these limits can cause major delivery headaches. If you find your campaign isn't spending, check out our guide on why your Facebook ad is not delivering for more troubleshooting tips. For most placements, stick to short, punchy videos under 15 seconds to maximize completion rates and make sure your message actually lands.

Facebook Video Ads: Your Questions Answered

Even with the best guide, you'll inevitably run into specific questions right when you're about to launch a campaign. Let's clear up some of the most common ones that pop up in the trenches so you can troubleshoot on the fly and keep your creative workflow moving.

What Is the Best Video Format for Facebook Ads?

The short answer? MP4. It’s the gold standard for a reason, giving you the best possible balance between high quality and a manageable file size. This ensures your ads load quickly and play smoothly on just about any device.

While Meta technically supports other formats like MOV or GIF, sticking with the MP4 container is your safest bet. Pair it with the H.264 video codec and AAC audio codec—this is Meta's official recommendation and following it will save you from a world of upload errors and compatibility headaches.

Can My Facebook Video Ad Be Longer Than 15 Seconds?

Yes, but whether you should is a different question. It all comes down to the placement. For a standard Feed ad, you can technically upload a video that's up to 241 minutes long, but please don't ever do that. It’s a surefire way to burn your budget.

Realistically, you need to grab attention in the first 3-5 seconds. For most placements like the Feed or Stories, aim for a total length of under 15 seconds. For Reels, you can go up to 90 seconds, but keep it punchy to maximize how many people actually finish watching it.

Why Does My Video Look Blurry on Facebook?

This is almost always an export problem. When you upload a video with a low resolution or bitrate, Facebook's own compression algorithms kick in and make a bad situation worse, resulting in that dreaded pixelated look.

To avoid this, you need to give Facebook's servers a high-quality file to work with. Make sure you're:

• Exporting your video at the correct resolution for the placement (e.g., 1080x1350 for a 4:5 Feed ad).
• Using a healthy bitrate—something around 8-15 Mbps for a 1080p video usually does the trick.
• Always choosing the H.264 codec.

A clean, high-quality source file gives Facebook’s compression process more data, which helps preserve the sharp details you worked so hard to create.

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