What Are the Video Ad Specs for Meta, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn in 2026?

Four exports cover almost every paid video placement in 2026: 9:16 vertical at 1080 by 1920, 1:1 square at 1080 by 1080, 4:5 vertical at 1080 by 1350, and 16:9 landscape at 1920 by 1080. Make one master, then resize from it rather than re-editing for each platform. The specs below were checked against Meta, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn ad guidance in October 2026. Platform limits change, so confirm the current numbers before a large upload.

Updated October 2026.

The four exports that cover every platform

Every major ad platform accepts one of these four shapes, and most accept several. If you plan for these from the start, you avoid re-framing a finished edit later.

Export	Pixel size	Where it wins
9:16 vertical	1080 × 1920	TikTok, Reels, Stories, Shorts
1:1 square	1080 × 1080	Feed placements, carousels, some LinkedIn slots
4:5 vertical	1080 × 1350	Meta Feed, LinkedIn mobile feed
16:9 landscape	1920 × 1080	YouTube in-stream, desktop feeds, LinkedIn

Shoot or generate the master in the widest shape that contains everything you need, then crop inward. Going the other way, from vertical to landscape, usually cuts off heads and products. The framing rules are covered in more depth in our AI video aspect ratio guide.

Meta (Reels, Feed, Stories) specs

Meta splits its placements by shape, and the recommended numbers differ more than most advertisers expect.

Feed: 4:5 is the recommended vertical-feed ratio, at 1440 by 1800 pixels. Square 1:1 and landscape 16:9 are accepted. MP4 or MOV, up to 4 GB.
Reels: 9:16 at 1080 by 1920. Reels ads run up to about 90 seconds, though a short cut is usually the better test.
Stories: 9:16 at 1080 by 1920, with a practical cap of about 60 seconds. Treat the top and bottom of the frame as reserved for interface elements.

Meta’s guide lists these as recommendations rather than hard limits, which means an off-spec file may still upload and then get cropped or letterboxed. Check the preview in Ads Manager for each placement before you publish.

TikTok In-Feed specs

Ratio and size: 9:16 at 1080 by 1920 is the standard. Square and landscape files are accepted but take up less of the screen.
Length: in-feed ads commonly run from 5 to 60 seconds. Auction placements can allow longer, but 9 to 15 seconds suits a single message.
File: MP4 or MOV, H.264 video and AAC audio. The usual cap is 500 MB; a smaller file processes faster.
Text: caption and call-to-action copy have short limits, and the call-to-action is chosen from TikTok’s preset list.

TikTok publishes overlay templates that show exactly where the interface covers the video. Download the current template for your placement and keep text, logos and faces out of those zones.

YouTube (Shorts, in-stream, Discovery) specs

Shorts: 9:16 at 1080 by 1920, up to three minutes, and the whole Short plays in the Shorts feed. Front-load the hook, because the opening seconds still carry most of the decision.
Skippable in-stream: 16:9 or 9:16, no maximum length, under three minutes recommended. The skip button appears after five seconds, so the hook has to work before it.
Non-skippable in-stream: 15 to 60 seconds depending on the campaign subtype. Bumper ads are six seconds.
In-feed (Discovery): 16:9 thumbnail-led, no maximum length. The first frame and the thumbnail carry most of the decision.

YouTube accepts large files, but a giant master is slow to process. Export a delivery copy at a sensible bitrate rather than uploading the edit project’s maximum-quality render. Shorts safe areas are tighter than they look; our YouTube Shorts aspect ratio guide covers the framing.

LinkedIn video ad specs

Ratios: 16:9 landscape at 1920 by 1080, 1:1 square at 1080 by 1080, 4:5 vertical at 1080 by 1350, and 9:16 vertical at 1080 by 1920. LinkedIn recommends 4:5 for mobile feed.
Length: 3 seconds to 30 minutes. LinkedIn recommends 15 to 30 seconds to qualify for all placements; in-stream ads cap at 90 seconds.
File: MP4, H.264, AAC audio, under 500 MB, frame rate under 30 fps. Captions can be uploaded as an SRT file.
Thumbnail: JPG or PNG, under 2 MB, matching the video ratio.

LinkedIn’s audience watches with sound off more often than a consumer feed, so burned-in captions or a clear text hook do a lot of work here.

How to make all four sizes from one master with the Ad Resize Pack

The Ad Resize Pack takes one creative and produces the sizes each placement needs, so you are not rebuilding the same ad by hand. Generate the master in the widest useful ratio, keep the subject centred, and check each export in the platform preview before uploading. For static ad creative, the Ad Pack covers the still-image side, and the advertisement tool handles the video version.

Do not treat resizing as a pure crop. A 9:16 frame has room for a taller subject and a text block above or below; a 16:9 frame does not. Adjust the layout for each ratio rather than zooming the same composition. The credit cost for any generation is shown on screen before you run it, and failed generations are refunded. Pack prices are on pricing.

Safe zones, captions and file-size traps.

Every vertical platform covers part of the frame with buttons, captions and navigation. Keep the subject and any text inside the middle band of the screen. A useful working rule is to leave roughly the top and bottom sixth clear, plus a margin on the right for action buttons; the exact template differs by placement, so check the platform’s overlay.

Captions should be burned in, not left to auto-generation in the ad interface. Many viewers start muted, and a caption that appears a second late reads as a mistake. Keep each caption line short, use a plain font with a solid outline or background, and place it above the bottom interface zone.

File-size problems usually come from three places: exporting at an unnecessarily high bitrate, uploading a file with an unusual codec, or letting the platform re-encode a vertical video that was letterboxed into a landscape frame. Export the native ratio, use H.264 and AAC, and keep the delivery bitrate sensible for the resolution. If a platform rejects a file, the codec is the first thing to check.

Frequently asked questions

What is the safest single ratio for paid social?

9:16 vertical at 1080 by 1920 covers TikTok, Reels, Stories and Shorts. Add a 16:9 cut for YouTube in-stream and desktop placements.

Does Facebook Feed prefer 4:5 or 1:1?

Meta’s guide recommends 4:5 at 1440 by 1800 for Feed, with 1:1 and 16:9 accepted. Check the placement preview after upload.

How long should a YouTube in-stream ad be?

Under three minutes is the recommendation for skippable in-stream. Non-skippable ads run 15 to 60 seconds, and bumpers are six seconds.

Can I upload the same file to every platform?

Usually not without cropping. Export each platform’s native ratio from the same master, then check safe areas and length limits.

Do I need captions if the ad has a voice-over?

Yes. Many viewers start with sound off, and captions also make the ad readable in noisy places.

Build the master in the advertisement tool, then resize it with the Ad Resize Pack and check the stills route in the Ad Pack. Credit costs appear before every generation and failed jobs are refunded. New accounts start with 10 free credits and no card; one-time packs and their prices are listed on pricing.