Facebook Ad Specs & Sizes in 2021: an Updated Guide

How many characters of text can News Feed ads have again? What about image dimensions for the Right Column sidebar?

Between various image sizes and character requirements, figuring out how to optimize your Facebook ads for the various page spaces and ad objectives available to you can get pretty confusing.

To take the headache out of preparing to run a Facebook ad campaign, here's a handy cheatsheet of Facebook image ad sizes and dimensions for every type of ad you can purchase on Facebook -- no matter what your ad's objective or call to action is.

Paired with using an ads management tool, like HubSpot, you'll be armed to run excellent social media campaigns.

Whether you're running a campaign (or just thinking about it), this resource references everything you need to know to ensure that your ads will look their best across all placements and devices.

You can also look through this table of contents to find the ads you're interested in.

Table of Contents

• Facebook Ad Image Size/Dimensions
• Standard Facebook Ad Specs
• Facebook Stories
• Audience Network Native Ads
• Sponsored Messages
• Facebook Carousel Ad Type
• Standard Carousel Image Specs
• Instagram Stories Carousels
• Instagram Feed Carousels

Facebook Ad Image Size/Dimensions

Facebook ad images have a recommended resolution of 1,200 x 1,200 pixels for News Feed, Right Column, Instant Articles, Marketplace, Native Ads, and Sponsored Messages. The minimum image size is 476 x 249 px. Ad dimensions vary for Facebook Stories.

Most of the ads available to advertisers on Facebook share universal image dimensions, as explained above. However, there are specifics related to file type, character count, and image-to-text ratio that differ depending on where you place your ad.

The following is a bookmarkable key of Facebook image dimensions, sorted by the type of ad you might want to place.

Standard Facebook Ad Specs

Applies to: News Feed, Right Column, Instant Articles, Marketplace Ads

Standard Facebook image ads -- such as the one designed for News Feed, above -- should be uploaded as either JPG or PNG files with an image ratio of 9:16 or 16:9. In other words, the image's height should be nine-sixteenths its width, or vice-versa.

• Image-to-text: 5:1 -- If your image design includes text, keep it under 20% of the image to optimize the ad's audience potential.
• Maximum headline: 25 characters
• Maximum text: 125 characters
• Recommended image resolution: 1,080 x 1,080 px (476 x 249 px minimum)
• Maximum link description: 30 characters
• Maximum video length: 240 minutes
• Maximum video file size: 4GB

Facebook Stories

Image ads posted as Facebook Stories last a total of five seconds or until the viewer swipes away from the Story. Your ideal image ratio is 9:16, which means the image's height should be nine-sixteenths its width.

• Image-to-text: 5:1 -- If your Facebook Story includes text, keep it under 20% of the image to optimize the Story's audience potential.
• Minimum image resolution: Upload the highest resolution available
• Maximum video length: 120 seconds
• Maximum video file size: 4GB

Audience Network Native Ads

Native Ads on Facebook place your brand on the mobile News Feeds of users who have viewed sites and apps that are within your target audience's network. These ads' images should be uploaded as either JPG or PNG files with an image ratio of 16:9. In other words, the image's height should be nine-sixteenths its width.

• Image-to-text: 5:1 -- If your image design includes text, keep it under 20% of the image to optimize the ad's audience potential.
• Maximum headline: 25 characters
• Maximum text: 125 characters
• Recommended image resolution: Upload the highest resolution available (398 x 208 px minimum)
• Maximum link description: 30 characters
• Maximum video length: 120 seconds
• Maximum video file size: 4GB

Sponsored Messages

Applies to: Sponsored Messages and Messenger Inbox

Sponsored Messages on Facebook, such as the ad by Uber, above -- appear in your audience's private inboxes in Facebook Messenger. Images should be uploaded as either JPG or PNG files with an image ratio of 9:16 or 16:9. In other words, the image's height should be nine-sixteenths of its width, or vice-versa.

• Image-to-text: 5:1 -- If your image design includes text, keep it under 20% of the image to optimize the Sponsored Message's delivery potential.
• Maximum headline: 25 characters
• Maximum text: 125 characters
• Recommended image resolution: 1,200 x 628 px (254 x 133 px minimum)
• Maximum link description: 30 characters

Facebook Carousel Ad Size

Facebook carousel ads have a recommended image resolution of 1,080 x 1,080 pixels for News Feed, Right Column, Instant Articles, Marketplace, Native Ads, and Messenger Inbox ads. Advertisers can place between 2 and 10 image cards per carousel.

Facebook carousel ads allow viewers to click through a rotating "carousel" of images all designed to elaborate on a special offer by the company paying for the ad. These ads display in most of the same places as standard Facebook ads: a user's News Feed, the right column sidebar, through Instant Articles, and even in a user's Facebook Messenger inbox.

Standard Carousel Image Specs

Applies to: News Feed, Right Column, Instant Articles, Marketplace, Native Network Ads

Standard Facebook Carousel ads -- such as the one designed for News Feed, above -- allow you to display two to 10 images in rotation all in one ad placement. Images should be uploaded as either JPG or PNG files.

• Maximum headline: 25 characters
• Maximum text: 125 characters (excluding Right Column)
• Recommended image resolution: 1,080 x 1,080 px
• Maximum link description: 20 characters (excluding Right Column, Messenger Inbox)
• Maximum image file size: 30MB
• Maximum video length: 240 minutes per card in a carousel (excluding Messenger Inbox)
• Maximum video file size: 4GB (excluding Messenger Inbox)

Instagram Stories Carousels

Instagram Stories can use carousel ads to show between two and three images or videos all in the same Story on Instagram.

Recommended image resolution: 1,080 x 1,920 px

Maximum video duration: 15 seconds per card in a carousel

Instagram Feed Carousels

Just like Facebook's Carousel ad dimensions, Instagram Feeds can support between two and 10 cards per carousel, displayed on the homepage of a user's Instagram feed. Images should be uploaded as either JPG or PNG files.

• Maximum text: Two rows of text (the rest will be truncated)
• Maximum number of hashtags in text: 30
• Recommended image resolution: 1,080 x 1,080 px
• Maximum image file size: 30MB
• Maximum video length: 60 seconds per card in a carousel
• Maximum video file size: 4 GB

So many ad specs, so little time. Bookmark this Facebook ads key for later and get to drafting your next eye-catching advertisement designed for you audience.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.