Facebook Ad Specs:
Fit Each Placement

An ad can look finished in the design file and still look unfinished when it reaches someone’s phone. The product sits comfortably in a square, but a taller Feed crop cuts into the label. A line of copy that reads well on a full-screen video ends up under the Reels controls. The immediate question is often “What size should a Facebook ad be?” The useful answer starts one step earlier: where will the ad appear, and what must remain visible there?

There is no single Facebook ad specification that covers every creative. Meta’s Ads Guide organizes requirements by placement and format, including the media and text that accompany an ad. That distinction matters when one campaign can show an image in Feed, a video in Reels, and a card in a carousel. A file that uploads successfully may still be a poor fit for one of those surfaces. Choose the placements first, make assets for their shapes, and inspect the actual ad previews before delivery.

Start with the screen shape, not a universal pixel number#

Aspect ratio describes the shape of the frame: 1:1 is square, 4:5 is a taller portrait, and 9:16 is a full-height vertical canvas. Pixel dimensions describe the size of a particular export within that shape. For example, both 1080×1080 and 1440×1440 are square. Increasing the pixel count does not turn a square composition into a vertical one; it simply produces a larger square file. The 2026 Hootsuite size reference gives example exports of 1440×1440 for 1:1, 1440×1800 for 4:5, and 1440×2560 for 9:16. Treat those as useful working sizes, then check the live Meta requirement for the exact placement and format you select.

These are different jobs, even where the numbers match. Hootsuite’s placement summary lists square Feed, carousel, and Marketplace options alongside vertical Stories and Reels video. It also lists an image overlay in Reels separately from a Reels video. An advertiser should not read “Reels: 9:16” as a rule for every ad object associated with Reels. The selected ad type matters as much as the destination.

The ratio is the first creative decision because it determines what can fit. A 4:5 layout can give a product photograph room for the item and a short message in mobile Feed. A 9:16 layout has more height, but the Reels interface claims some of it. A square can travel across several placements, yet a centered object may appear small in a full-screen vertical slot. None of these is a defect in the pixels. The composition has to answer the space where it will be seen.

Choose 4:5 for a Feed-led campaign; keep a square for reach across formats#

If most of the creative effort is aimed at mobile Feed, a 4:5 version is the better starting point. It gives the image or video more vertical area than a square, so a person scrolling can see a larger visual without opening anything. Hootsuite identifies 4:5 as a mobile Feed option and pairs it with the 1440×1800 export above. That extra space is useful when the product needs context: a garment on a person, a piece of furniture in a room, or a service shown in use. It is less useful if the added height is filled with tiny claims that cannot be read at Feed speed.

A square is the practical starting file when one asset must serve Feed and several other placements. The same reference lists 1:1 across Feed, carousel, Marketplace, search results, and the right column. That coverage saves production time, but it is a reason to choose the square deliberately, not an assurance that every placement will display the same ad experience. The right column is a much smaller viewing context than mobile Feed. A square with a large, clear subject can travel more gracefully than one that depends on small text, fine packaging details, or an edge-to-edge layout.

When the campaign can support more than one export, keep both 4:5 and 1:1. Design the portrait for Feed, then rebuild the square around the same main subject and message. Cropping a 4:5 artwork down to a square may remove the hand holding a product, the second half of a comparison, or the logo at the bottom. Shrinking everything to fit solves the crop but can make the useful detail too small. Recompose the asset instead: retain the product, the one essential visual cue, and enough blank space for the image to remain legible in a smaller placement.

This choice has a cost. Two exports take more design and review time than one, and a campaign with many offers multiplies that work. The return is control over what the audience actually sees. If only one file can be made before launch, a square is the safer broad-coverage choice for the placements Hootsuite lists. If mobile Feed is the main destination and a second file is possible, add the 4:5 version rather than expecting an automated crop to make the same judgment a designer would make.

Build Reels and Stories around the visible center#

Stories and Reels are vertical experiences, so a square campaign image is an awkward starting point for either. Hootsuite’s Stories and Reels specifications use 9:16 and give 1440×2560 as a sample export. A vertical frame should be composed as vertical from the beginning. Merely adding empty space above and below a square can preserve the file’s dimensions while leaving the product and message looking remote from the viewer.

The full 9:16 canvas is not a promise of uninterrupted attention. Interface elements can cover parts of a Reel, and Meta advises keeping key creative elements in the Reels safe zone. Put the product’s essential action, the main line of text, and any necessary branding where they remain visible in the placement preview. Decorative background or motion can extend toward the edges. This is a stronger design rule than memorizing one fixed number of pixels at the top or bottom: controls and overlays belong to a particular format and can change.

A Stories version deserves its own preview even if the same 9:16 video can be uploaded to both places. Hootsuite notes that Stories have interface and call-to-action areas that can cover parts of a vertical creative. The important distinction is what the viewer needs to understand before tapping. If the offer, product, or readable caption sits at an edge, moving it inward is preferable to hoping the interface will leave it clear. Keep the frame attractive at full height, but put information where the viewer can actually see it.

For Reels, a video with sound is the stronger first choice when production resources allow it. Meta specifically recommends 9:16 video with audio and key elements in the safe zone. Its published comparison reports lower cost per result for that combination than for image ads in a set of Reels-only split tests. That result supports making a native Reels version, but it is not a forecast for every account or offer. A still image may be the sensible launch asset when video cannot yet be made. The next production investment should then be a vertical video built to communicate its point within the visible frame.

Sound also needs a rights decision. Instagram’s help page on licensed music says certain business accounts and post types may not have access to its licensed music library, which is intended for personal, noncommercial use. It points to Meta’s Sound Collection for commercial uses such as ads, subject to the platform’s terms. An audio track heard in an organic Reel is therefore not automatically a usable track in an ad. Decide on the music source while editing, so a rights or account restriction does not force a late replacement after timing the cuts to a song.

The implication is practical: the vertical master should work as a complete advertisement, not just a taller version of the Feed visual. Use the opening frames to establish the subject, allow the action to occupy the center, and keep the spoken or musical element connected to what appears on screen. Check the video with sound and with the screen muted. This is a creative review recommendation, not a separate platform requirement: the ad should still make its central point when a viewer has sound off, while its audio should add something when sound is on.

Carousel and secondary placements change the creative brief#

A carousel is a sequence of cards, so the shape decision repeats. Hootsuite’s carousel specifications give 1:1 as the usual ratio and at least 1080×1080 as a working size; its guide notes a 4:5 option for a specific Advantage+ catalog case. Do not assume that a portrait single-image Feed asset can be dropped into every carousel configuration. If the campaign needs a sequence, design each card for its own square frame and ask whether the order adds information: a progression, separate products, or distinct features. A series of near-identical cards costs the viewer a swipe without delivering much more than one image.

Marketplace and search placements also tend toward a square working asset in Hootsuite’s placement table. That does not make them interchangeable with a carousel card. A carousel card can rely partly on its neighbors; a standalone square may appear without that sequence. If an offer needs the viewer to understand the object immediately, the standalone version must contain that context itself. A close crop that works as card three in a product story could leave a Marketplace viewer wondering what is being sold.

Other placements can call for genuinely different shapes. Hootsuite’s guide lists 16:9 or 1:1 for in-stream video and separate banner or interstitial sizes for Audience Network. Those examples illustrate why a universal “Facebook ad size” chart is an incomplete production brief. It is reasonable to use three core masters—square, portrait Feed, and vertical full-screen—for a common Feed and Stories or Reels campaign. It is unreasonable to promise that those masters cover every placement and format without checking the chosen inventory against Meta’s placement guide.

This is also where the word “spec” needs care. A preferred export size, a minimum accepted dimension, a permitted aspect ratio, and a maximum file size are different constraints. Hootsuite’s 2026 table shows 30 MB as a maximum for the image examples it lists and 4 GB for the video examples, with file types such as JPG or PNG for images and MP4 or MOV for video. Those figures help prepare a file, but the current Meta Ads Guide remains the place to confirm the exact selected combination. A 1440×2560 video can have the right shape and still be the wrong file for a particular requirement if its other settings do not match.

Copy is part of that check. The visual asset, primary text, headline, and any button or destination are assembled into an ad within a placement, rather than baked into one identical rectangle everywhere. Meta’s Ads Guide includes media, copy, and technical conditions by format. Keep essential words readable in the asset, then inspect how the accompanying fields appear in the actual preview. An elegant line in the headline field does little work if the placement shows it sparingly; putting the whole message into the image creates a different problem when the image is reduced or covered by an interface.

Make the preview the final design decision#

The simplest production plan is to begin with the placements the campaign will actually use. For a typical set that includes Feed and full-screen vertical placements, prepare a square 1:1 master, a 4:5 Feed version, and a 9:16 Stories or Reels version. Treat those as composition templates rather than automatic resize presets. Put the same offer and product in each, but decide anew where the subject, logo, and most important words belong. If the campaign uses carousel, collection, or an in-stream format, check that format’s own requirements before adding it to the asset list.

Next, review what the platform will show, placement by placement. Meta says Ads Manager supports placement asset customization for Reels alongside other placements. Use that control where available to pair the right file with the right surface, then inspect the rendered previews. Look for a missing product edge, a face cut by a crop, a line hidden by controls, or a square subject stranded in a vertical frame. These are visible failures, so they should be corrected in the artwork before budget is committed.

Finally, check the conditions that cannot be judged from a still preview alone. Confirm that a video export and its audio meet the selected format’s requirements, that the music can be used in an ad, and that a multi-card format reads in the intended order. Recheck the Meta placement guide when a campaign is built or revised, because format specifications and account options can change. The practical answer to “What are Facebook ad specs?” is therefore a short sequence of choices: select the placement and format, make the right shape, keep the main message visible, and confirm the finished ad in that placement. The pixels start the work; the preview finishes it.