Facebook video sizes in 2026 break down by placement. Feed video performs best at a 1:1 square (1080x1080 pixels) or a 4:5 vertical (1080x1350 pixels) because both formats take up more screen on a mobile phone. Stories and Facebook Reels use a full-screen 9:16 vertical at 1080x1920 pixels. In-stream (mid-roll) and other landscape ad placements use 16:9 at 1920x1080 pixels. Across every placement, keep videos to MP4 or MOV with H.264 video and AAC audio, aim for 15 to 60 seconds for ads, stay under the 4GB upload ceiling, and add burned-in captions because most Facebook video is watched on mobile with the sound off.
That is the short version. The longer version matters because Facebook is not one surface — it is a dozen placements, each with its own ideal shape, length, and safe zone. Upload a single 16:9 landscape file everywhere and it will look tiny in the feed, get letterboxed in Stories, and crop your text out of Reels. This cheat sheet walks through every video placement on Facebook with exact pixel dimensions, aspect ratios, recommended length, and file limits, plus the captions, thumbnails, and common mistakes that decide whether your video actually performs.
The Quick Reference: Every Facebook Video Size at a Glance
Here is the whole map in one place, then we will go placement by placement. Feed video: 1:1 at 1080x1080 or 4:5 at 1080x1350. Facebook Reels: 9:16 at 1080x1920. Stories: 9:16 at 1080x1920. In-stream (mid-roll) ads: 16:9 at 1920x1080, or 1:1 and 4:5 also accepted. Carousel video: 1:1 at 1080x1080. Marketplace: 1:1 at 1080x1080 or 4:5 at 1080x1350. Right-column ads: 16:9 at 1280x720 (desktop only). Cover and banner video: 16:9 landscape, roughly 1250x463 displayed. The single most flexible, mobile-first choice if you only want to make one version is 4:5 vertical (1080x1350) for the feed and 9:16 (1080x1920) for Stories and Reels. The rest is detail — and the detail is below.
Facebook Feed Video Size (1:1 and 4:5)
The Facebook feed is where most organic and ad video lives, and it is overwhelmingly viewed on phones. Two aspect ratios win here. A 1:1 square at 1080x1080 pixels is the safe, universally supported default — it looks identical on desktop and mobile and never gets awkwardly cropped. A 4:5 vertical at 1080x1350 pixels is the more aggressive, mobile-optimized choice: it occupies more vertical screen real estate than a square, which means a bigger thumbnail and a stronger scroll-stopping presence on a phone.
Facebook still accepts 16:9 landscape (1920x1080) in the feed, but it is the weakest option for mobile because it renders as a small horizontal strip surrounded by feed chrome. For recommended length, feed video ads perform best between 5 and 15 seconds for top-of-funnel awareness, and up to 60 seconds works when you have a genuine story to tell. Organic feed video can run longer, but engagement drops sharply after the first 30 to 60 seconds. The minimum resolution Facebook recommends is 1080x1080; going lower makes your video look soft on modern high-density phone screens. If your source footage is horizontal, use a crop video tool to reframe it into a square or vertical instead of shipping the letterboxed landscape file.
Facebook Reels Size (9:16 Full Screen)
Facebook Reels is the platform's short-form vertical video product and Meta's biggest current distribution bet, so getting the size right matters more here than almost anywhere else. Reels are full-screen 9:16 vertical at 1080x1920 pixels. Anything narrower than 9:16 gets pillarboxed with black bars or a blurred fill, which looks amateurish and hurts watch-through.
Recommended length for Reels is 15 to 60 seconds, with the algorithm currently favoring tight, punchy clips that hold attention from the first second. Because the Reels interface overlays UI elements — the caption, the like and share buttons on the right, the account handle and audio info along the bottom — you must keep your important content inside the safe zone. Leave roughly the top 14 percent and the bottom 35 percent of the frame clear of any text or critical visuals, and keep about 6 percent clear on each side. Put your hook text in the middle third of the screen so the on-screen UI never covers it. A 9:16 file made for Reels also works natively in Stories, which is why vertical is the format to master first.
Facebook Stories Size (9:16 Vertical)
Stories use the same shape as Reels: 9:16 vertical at 1080x1920 pixels, full screen, viewed almost entirely on mobile. The difference is duration and safe zones. Each Story card plays for up to 15 seconds before advancing, and longer videos are automatically split into multiple 15-second cards. For Story ads specifically, keep the total to 15 seconds or under so the message lands in a single card.
The safe zone discipline is even stricter in Stories because the profile icon and Story name sit at the top and the call-to-action and reply bar sit at the bottom. Reserve the top 14 percent and the bottom 20 percent of the frame for the interface, and center anything you actually need the viewer to read. The biggest Stories mistake is uploading a square or landscape clip and letting Facebook auto-fit it — you end up with a tiny video floating in a sea of background color. Always export a true 1080x1920 file. If you only have horizontal footage, a free video resizer will convert it to vertical with smart framing so your subject stays centered rather than cropped out.
Facebook In-Stream (Mid-Roll) Ad Size (16:9)
In-stream ads are the video commercials that play before, during, or after other publishers' videos on Facebook — the closest thing the platform has to a traditional TV-style spot. These are one of the few placements where 16:9 landscape at 1920x1080 pixels is the recommended primary format, because the host video is usually horizontal and the ad needs to match the player. Facebook also accepts 1:1 and 4:5 here, but 16:9 is the native fit.
Length rules are specific for in-stream: the ad must run at least 5 seconds, and mid-roll placements work best between 5 and 15 seconds because they interrupt content the viewer is already watching, so a long ad invites a skip the moment it becomes skippable. Sound is more likely to be on for in-stream than for feed (the viewer is already watching video with audio), but you should still caption it — never assume sound. Keep your branding in the first 3 seconds, because in-stream viewers have the least patience of any placement.
Facebook Carousel Video Size (1:1)
A carousel ad shows two to ten cards the viewer can swipe through, and each card can be an image or a video. Carousel video should be 1:1 square at 1080x1080 pixels — every card in a carousel must share the same aspect ratio, and square is the format Facebook recommends because it displays cleanly across both the feed and Instagram (carousels frequently run cross-platform). Each video card can run up to 240 seconds technically, but in practice you want 5 to 15 seconds per card so the viewer keeps swiping rather than dropping off on one slow card.
Mixing aspect ratios inside a single carousel is one of the most common rejections in Ads Manager — if card one is square and card two is vertical, Facebook will either reject the set or crop everything to match the first card. Build every card to the same 1080x1080 spec from the start. Because all cards share a headline and primary text but each has its own thumbnail and link, treat the carousel as a sequence and design the first card to earn the swipe.
Facebook Marketplace Video Size (1:1 and 4:5)
Marketplace is a high-intent shopping surface, and video ads placed there follow the feed conventions: 1:1 square at 1080x1080 or 4:5 vertical at 1080x1350. Because Marketplace browsing is almost entirely mobile and listing-focused, vertical and square both perform well, and you generally want to reuse your feed creative rather than make a separate Marketplace cut. Keep these short — 5 to 15 seconds — and front-load the product, the price point feel, and the offer, since Marketplace viewers are scanning quickly for something to buy. The same captions and safe-zone rules as the feed apply.
Facebook Cover and Banner Video Size (16:9)
A Page cover video is the looping clip that sits at the top of a Facebook Page or a Group. It uses a 16:9 landscape orientation and displays at roughly 1250x463 pixels on desktop, though Facebook recommends uploading a larger 1920x1080 source so it stays sharp when scaled and re-cropped for different screen sizes. Cover video should run between 20 and 90 seconds, loops automatically, and plays muted by default — so it must work as a silent, looping visual with no critical audio and no important text near the edges, because Facebook crops the cover differently on mobile versus desktop. Keep your subject and any branding centered, and treat the cover as ambiance rather than a message that has to be read.
Facebook Right-Column Ad Size (16:9, Desktop)
Right-column ads appear only on the desktop version of Facebook, in the rail beside the main feed. They are small, so they use a 16:9 landscape format at around 1280x720 pixels and render at a fraction of feed size. Right-column placements are best treated as a low-cost retargeting and reminder surface rather than a primary creative destination — the format is too small to carry a complex message. If you run video here, keep it extremely simple: one clear visual, big legible branding, and no fine text, because it will be displayed tiny. Many advertisers exclude right-column from video campaigns entirely and reserve it for static retargeting, which is a perfectly valid choice in 2026.
File Specs, Formats, and Length Limits That Apply Everywhere
Regardless of placement, a few rules hold across all Facebook video. Use MP4 or MOV as the container — these are the recommended formats and the most reliably processed. Encode video with the H.264 codec (H.265/HEVC is accepted but H.264 is the safest universal choice) and audio with AAC at 128 kbps or higher, stereo. The maximum upload file size is 4GB, and the maximum video length Facebook supports is 240 minutes — but practical ad lengths are a tiny fraction of that, almost always between 5 and 60 seconds. Aim for a frame rate of 30fps and a bitrate high enough to keep your 1080-wide footage crisp; Facebook re-encodes everything on upload, so giving it a clean, high-bitrate source produces a better final result than trying to pre-compress. If you want a single deeper reference on how aspect ratios map to placements, our video aspect ratios guide covers the math behind 9:16, 4:5, 1:1, and 16:9 and when to use each.
Captions and Safe Zones: Why Most Facebook Video Is Watched Muted
The single most important non-dimension fact about Facebook video in 2026: the large majority of it is watched on mobile, and a very large share of that plays with the sound off, at least at first. Autoplay in the feed is muted by default. That means a video that relies on spoken audio to make its point will lose most viewers before they ever tap to unmute. Burned-in captions are not optional — they are how the message lands. Open captions (text rendered into the video itself) are more reliable than uploaded SRT caption files, because they always display regardless of the viewer's settings and survive being re-shared.
Safe zones matter just as much. Every vertical placement overlays interface elements, so any text or key visual placed in the top 14 percent or bottom 20 to 35 percent of a 9:16 frame risks being covered by the caption, the buttons, or the reply bar. The fix is simple: keep captions and important visuals in the central band of the frame, and design vertical video as if a strip across the top and bottom does not exist. Test your export inside the real placement preview in Ads Manager before you spend money — that preview shows you exactly where the UI sits.
Thumbnails and Cover Images
Every Facebook video needs a thumbnail (also called a cover image), and it should match the video's aspect ratio: 1080x1080 for square video, 1080x1350 for 4:5, and 1080x1920 for 9:16 Reels and Stories. The thumbnail is the still frame people see before autoplay kicks in and in places where the video does not auto-play, so it is effectively your ad's poster. Facebook recommends keeping text overlay on the thumbnail minimal — historically the platform penalized images with more than 20 percent text coverage, and while that hard rule has relaxed, text-heavy thumbnails still tend to underperform because they read as cluttered and ad-like. Choose a clean, high-contrast frame with a clear focal point and little to no text, and let the video itself do the talking.
Common Facebook Video Mistakes to Avoid
Five mistakes account for most of the wasted spend. First, the wrong aspect ratio — uploading one 16:9 landscape file to every placement so it renders tiny in the feed and letterboxed in Stories. Make the right shape per placement, or at minimum a 4:5 feed cut and a 9:16 vertical cut. Second, no captions — assuming viewers will turn the sound on. They will not; caption everything. Third, text-heavy thumbnails — cramming a slogan into the cover image so it reads as spam and underperforms. Fourth, ignoring safe zones — letting the platform UI cover your hook text in Reels and Stories. Fifth, a slow first 3 seconds — front-load the hook, because Facebook's autoplay gives you barely a second to stop the scroll. Avoid those five and your creative is already ahead of most of what runs on the platform.
How Vidpal Fits Into Your Facebook Workflow
The dimension chart above is the easy part to read and the tedious part to execute, because one campaign often needs the same video in three or four shapes — 4:5 for feed, 9:16 for Reels and Stories, 1:1 for carousel, 16:9 for in-stream — each captioned and safe-zoned. That is exactly the repetitive work Vidpal removes. It turns a long video, a script, or even a raw idea into captioned, ready-to-post vertical clips, and it can resize the same video between aspect ratios so you get a feed cut, a Reels cut, and a square cut from one source without re-editing each by hand. The captions are burned in by default, which solves the muted-autoplay problem, and the framing stays on your subject when the aspect ratio changes. You still control the creative; Vidpal just handles the format multiplication so you are not manually exporting the same clip five times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Facebook video size in 2026? It depends on placement. For the feed, the best size is 4:5 vertical (1080x1350) or 1:1 square (1080x1080) because both maximize mobile screen space. For Reels and Stories, use 9:16 vertical (1080x1920). For in-stream and other landscape ads, use 16:9 (1920x1080). If you can only make one version, make a 4:5 feed cut and a 9:16 vertical cut.
What aspect ratio should a Facebook ad be? Match the aspect ratio to the placement: 1:1 or 4:5 for feed and carousel, 9:16 for Reels and Stories, and 16:9 for in-stream and right-column. Facebook accepts a range of ratios from 16:9 (1.91:1) to 4:5 across most placements, but the recommended ratio per placement is the one that fills the most screen for that surface.
How long can a Facebook video ad be? Technically Facebook supports videos up to 240 minutes and 4GB, but effective ad lengths are far shorter. Feed and Reels ads perform best at 5 to 15 seconds for awareness and up to 60 seconds when there's a real story. Stories cap each card at 15 seconds, and in-stream ads work best at 5 to 15 seconds.
What file format and size should I use for Facebook video? Use MP4 or MOV with the H.264 video codec and AAC audio. Keep the file under the 4GB maximum and export at 1080p or higher with a clean, high bitrate. Facebook re-encodes on upload, so a high-quality source produces the best final result.
Do I need captions on Facebook videos? Yes. Most Facebook video is watched on mobile, and feed autoplay is muted by default, so a large share of viewers never turn the sound on. Burned-in (open) captions ensure your message lands regardless of the sound setting and survive being re-shared. Caption every video.
Why was my Facebook video ad rejected for the wrong size? The most common size-related rejection is mixing aspect ratios inside a single carousel, or uploading a file whose ratio falls outside the supported range for that placement. Build every carousel card to the same 1:1 (1080x1080) spec, and verify each placement's preview in Ads Manager before publishing. Meta occasionally updates its specs, so double-check the current requirements in Facebook Business Help when something gets rejected.
The Bottom Line
Facebook video sizing in 2026 comes down to one principle: match the shape to the placement. Use 4:5 (1080x1350) or 1:1 (1080x1080) for the feed, 9:16 (1080x1920) for Reels and Stories, and 16:9 (1920x1080) for in-stream and landscape ads — all in MP4 or MOV, under 4GB, captioned, and inside the safe zones. Specs do shift, so confirm the current numbers in Ads Manager and the Facebook Business Help center before a big spend. When you need the same clip in every shape without re-editing each one, let Vidpal resize and caption your video for any Facebook placement so your creative is always the right size, the right length, and readable with the sound off.
