Specs
Meta ad sizes in 2026: every image spec that matters
Every Meta image-ad size worth knowing, checked against Meta's own Ads Guide and Business Help Center in October 2026: feed, Stories, Reels, right column and Marketplace, plus safe zones and text limits.
By the StoreToAds team · · 5 min read
The short version
If you only remember three sizes, make them these. Together they cover feed, Stories and Reels on Facebook and Instagram, which is where most small-store budgets end up.
| Size | Ratio | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| 1440 x 1800 (Meta's top recommendation), 1080 x 1350 at minimum | 4:5 | Facebook and Instagram feed |
| 1080 x 1080 or larger | 1:1 | Marketplace, right column, search, any feed |
| 1440 x 2560 (recommended), 1080 x 1920 at minimum | 9:16 | Stories and Reels |
Everything below is detail: which placements prefer which shape, the minimums, and the parts of the frame that Meta covers with its own buttons.
The full spec table (checked October 2026)
These numbers come from Meta's Ads Guide and two Help Center pages: "Aspect ratios supported by placements" and "Recommended minimum image pixel requirements". The recommended ratio is the one Meta marks as recommended for images; the others are accepted.
| Placement | Recommended ratio | Also accepted | Recommended minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facebook Feed | 4:5 | 1.91:1, 16:9, 1:1 | 1440 x 1800 (4:5) or 1080 x 1080 (1:1) |
| Instagram Feed | 4:5 | 1.91:1, 16:9, 1:1, 2:3, 9:16 | 1080 x 1080 |
| Facebook and Instagram Stories | 9:16 | 1.91:1, 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 | 1440 x 2560 recommended in the Ads Guide |
| Facebook and Instagram Reels | 9:16 | 1.91:1, 16:9, 1:1, 4:5, 2:3 | Design at 1080 x 1920 or larger |
| Facebook Marketplace | 1:1 | 16:9, 9:16 | 1200 x 1200 |
| Facebook right column | 1.91:1 | 1:1 | 1200 x 1200 |
| Audience Network (native, banner, interstitial) | None marked | 16:9, 4:5, 9:16 | 398 x 208 |
Two limits apply almost everywhere: JPG or PNG, up to 30 MB per image. Meta's aspect ratio tolerance is also tight (3% for Facebook Feed, 1% for Instagram Stories), so crop to the exact ratio instead of close enough.
Feed: why 4:5 beat the square
Meta's Ads Guide lists 4:5 at 1440 x 1800 as the design recommendation for Facebook Feed image ads, and its aspect ratio table marks 4:5 as recommended for feed images on both Facebook and Instagram. The reason is simple: on a phone, a 4:5 image is 25% taller than a square at the same width, so your ad fills more of the screen while someone scrolls.
Feed text limits
- Primary text: Meta recommends 50 to 150 characters. On phones, longer text folds behind "See more", so put the reason to buy in the first line.
- Headline: Meta recommends 27 characters. Think "Roasted Monday, shipped in 48h", not a full sentence.
- Minimum size: 600 px wide and, at 4:5, 750 px tall. Below that Meta stretches your image and the product goes soft.
The square is still accepted in every feed and is the recommended shape for Marketplace, so it stays a useful second file. Landscape 1.91:1 is accepted in feed but shows as the smallest version of your ad on a phone. Keep it for the right column and for Google.
Stories and Reels: design for the safe zone
Stories and Reels are full-screen 9:16. Meta's Ads Guide recommends 1440 x 2560 for Instagram Stories images and suggests leaving roughly 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% on each side free of text, logos and other key elements. That is where the profile name, the call-to-action button and the reply bar sit.
| On a 1080 x 1920 canvas | Keep clear |
|---|---|
| Top (14%) | About 270 px |
| Bottom (35%) | About 670 px |
| Each side (6%) | About 65 px |
That leaves a middle band of roughly 950 x 980 px for the product, the headline and the price. It feels tight, but every good Story ad already lives inside it. Reels add like and comment buttons down the right edge, so treat the side margins as mandatory there.
For Stories, Meta recommends about 125 characters of primary text. Many viewers never read it, so the image has to carry the message on its own.
Right column, Marketplace and Audience Network
Facebook right column
Desktop only and shown small. Meta recommends 1.91:1 for images here (1:1 also works) and lists 1200 x 1200 as the recommended minimum. One product and one short line is all that will be read.
Facebook Marketplace
Square is recommended, with 1200 x 1200 as the recommended minimum. Your ad sits between phone photos of secondhand furniture, so a clean background and a visible price help it read as a product, not a listing.
Audience Network
Your ads shown inside other apps. It accepts 16:9, 4:5 and 9:16 images. Check placement results after a couple of weeks; quality varies a lot by category.
Five mistakes that waste budget
- Stretching a square into a Story. The empty space gets filled or blurred and your layout floats in the middle. Make a real 9:16 version.
- Putting your button in the bottom 35% of a Story. Meta draws its own call to action there, on top of yours.
- Uploading small files. 600 px wide passes the check, but it looks soft on a modern phone. Start from 1080 px wide or more.
- Treating the old 20% text rule as law. Meta stopped rejecting ads for image text in 2020, but its creative guidance still favors less text on the image. Use the words you need and no more.
- Close-enough crops. A 1080 x 1100 image is not a square to Meta. Crop exactly, or Ads Manager crops for you and may cut your headline.
How StoreToAds sizes your ads
Every StoreToAds ad comes as five files: 4:5 at 1080 x 1350, 1:1 at 1080 x 1080 and 9:16 at 1080 x 1920 for Meta, plus 2:3 for Pinterest and 1.91:1 for Google. The 4:5 is designed and checked first, then the layout is placed in each other size, so a Story is not a stretched feed ad.
Honest note: our Meta files are 1080 px wide. That is above Meta's technical minimums and sharp on phones, but smaller than the 1440 px Meta lists as its top recommendation for feed and Stories.
On Growth, Pro and Scale you can send ads to Meta as paused drafts, so nothing spends until you publish. For a one-page version of this table, see Meta ad sizes.