Free tool · Facebook
For Facebook Stories, leave the top 14% and the bottom 35% clear: Meta gives 20% on one page and 35% on another, and 35% is the figure it uses everywhere else. Facebook Reels is 14% top, 35% bottom, 6% each side. Facebook Feed has no published safe zone at all. All of it is below with the page and the date.
Facebook Story placement around a 9:16 sample recruitment ad. Interface overlay on.
Sample: a recruitment ad made with RecruitmentAds.com
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Meta's own Ads Manager list, 34 buttons. Meta publishes availability by objective and destination, not by placement.
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Safe zone
Three placements, three different answers: Stories has two conflicting figures, Reels has one, Feed has none. Every published figure sits under Meta's “Design recommendations” heading rather than its technical requirements. The bands in the tool above are Meta's numbers; the interface around them is this mockup's drawing.
The Ads Guide's video and image pages disagree on the bottom reserve for the same placement, 20% against 35%, and only the image page states a side value. Both sentences, verbatim:
“Consider leaving roughly 14% (250 pixels) of the top and 20% (340 pixels) of the bottom of the video free from text and logos to avoid covering these elements with UI elements such as the call to action.”
“Consider leaving roughly 14% of the top and 35% of the bottom and 6% from each side of the image free from text, logos or other key creative elements to avoid covering them with UI elements such as the call to action.”
Follow 35%: it is the figure Meta uses on every other vertical placement page, and both readings were confirmed on the www. and en-gb. hosts, so the 20% is not a locale artefact. The overlay above offers both as selectable states rather than averaging them. That single video page is also the origin of the widely repeated “Facebook reserves 20%” claim.
Facebook Reels carries the same reserve as every Meta vertical placement except the Stories video page. Two things to know. The Ads Guide slug is doubled, facebook-facebook-reels, and the natural facebook-reels URL 404s, which is probably why this spec page is widely believed not to exist. And since June 2025 the Videos tab on Facebook is the Reels tab: all Facebook video posts are shared as reels.
There is no Facebook Feed safe zone at any aspect ratio, in pixels or percentages. Meta's dedicated safe-zone article names Instagram Feed twice and never uses the words “Facebook Feed” once (re-read 16 August 2026). Two sentences decide it, verbatim and in the order they appear:
“For ads with a 9:16 aspect ratio in Stories, Reels, Feed and Facebook in-stream reels, keep the edges (top, bottom and sides) free of key creative elements, text and logos.”
“For Instagram Feed ads using non-9:16 aspect ratios (such as 1:1 or 4:5), keep the bottom and side edges free of key creative elements, text and logos.”
The only mention that could cover this placement is the bare “Feed” in the first sentence, and that sentence is scoped to 9:16, a ratio Meta's own table does not tick for Facebook Feed. Its table gives four: 1.91:1, 16:9, 1:1 and 4:5, with 4:5 recommended for images and videos alike. The second sentence, the one that would apply to a 4:5 or 1:1 Facebook Feed ad, is scoped to Instagram Feed alone. So there is no Feed number to give you. Use the UI chrome overlay above instead, and read it as this mockup's drawing rather than a Meta figure.
There is one Feed-specific interface rule, and it is the opposite of a safe zone. For one objective and four performance goals, the whole footer below the video, headline, description and CTA button included, does not render on mobile:
“Note: If you select awareness as your video ad objective or select Maximise reach of ads, Maximise 2-second continuous video views, Maximise number of impressions or Maximise engagement with a post as your performance goal, then the ad footer on your video ad, including the headline, description and call-to-action button won't be displayed on Facebook Feed on mobile devices.”
That matters more than any safe zone if you are mocking up a Feed ad: for a very common class of campaigns there is no headline, no description and no button on mobile at all, so check your objective before you sign off a mockup that draws them. The rule is on Meta's en-GB and German hosts alike (read 5 August 2026, re-read 16 August 2026), so it is not a locale artefact. And any page stating “the Facebook Feed safe zone is X%” still did not get that from Meta.
One more sentence changes what a current Feed mockup should draw:
“We've updated how ads are labelled on Facebook and Instagram. Ads that were previously marked with a ‘Sponsored’ label will now display an ‘Ad’ label instead.”
The same page says the change is rolling out gradually and gives no completion date, so both labels are live at once. That is why a current Feed mockup can legitimately carry either one.
Meta's dedicated safe-zone article carries no figure at all: it defines the concept and points at the “Safe zone guardrail” toggle in Ads Manager. It does add a 40% bottom rule for Reels ads carrying disclaimers, which appears nowhere in the Ads Guide. With the Stories split above, Meta's published bottom reserve now ranges from 20% to 40% depending on which of its pages you open, and no page reconciles them. See the conflicts
Published specs
The Stories table keeps Meta's video and image pages side by side, because merging them would hide the disagreement. Feed has its own tables below: Meta publishes a full spec for the placement, the same across five objectives and two locales, just not a safe zone for it.
| Field | Video page | Image page | Type | Source | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safe zone, top | 14% (250 px) | 14% | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Stories video · Ads Guide, Stories image | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Safe zone, bottom | 20% (340 px) The conflict | 35% | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Stories video · Ads Guide, Stories image | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Safe zone, each side | Not stated | 6% | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Stories video · Ads Guide, Stories image | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 | 9:16 | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Stories video · Ads Guide, Stories image | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2560 px | 1440 x 2560 px | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Stories video · Ads Guide, Stories image | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Duration | 1 second to 3 minutes Conflicting figure | n/a | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Stories video | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Max file size | 4 GB | 30 MB | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Stories video · Ads Guide, Stories image | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Primary text | 125 characters | 125 characters | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Stories video · Ads Guide, Stories image | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Headline | 40 characters | 40 characters | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Stories video · Ads Guide, Stories image | 5 Aug 2026 |
The two bottom reserves are not a typo: both pages were confirmed on two hosts. The video page is also the only Meta page giving pixel values alongside percentages, and those pixels do not match its own stated resolution. Both are settled further down. See the conflicts
| Field | Value | Type | Source | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File type | MP4, MOV, GIF | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2560 px | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Video settings | H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, stereo AAC audio | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Safe zone | 14% top, 35% bottom, 6% each side | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Primary text | 40 characters | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Headline | 55 characters | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Video duration | No maximum limit | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Max file size | 4 GB | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Facebook Reels | 5 Aug 2026 |
The text caps here, 40 primary and 55 headline, differ from the Stories caps of 125 and 40. That is Meta's own per-placement difference, not an error, so write to the placement you are running. On the date this page was read it geo-served in German, with identical numerals to Meta's English pages.
| Field | Value | Type | Source | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended format | .mp4 | Design recommendation | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Recommended resolution | 1080p | Design recommendation | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Video codec | Recommended H.264, H.265; supported H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1 | Technical requirement | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Recommended frame rate | 24-60 FPS | Design recommendation | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Closed GOP | 2 s to 5 s recommended | Design recommendation | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Chroma subsampling | 4:2:0 | Technical requirement | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Audio | Stereo, AAC Low Complexity, 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, 128 kbps+ | Technical requirement | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Length and orientation | “Reels can be any length or orientation” | Guideline | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Safe zone | Not published on this page | Not classified | Help Centre, Facebook Reels requirements | 5 Aug 2026 |
Ads and organic are specified separately and differently: the ads page recommends 1440 x 2560, the organic page recommends 1080p, and only the ads page carries a safe zone.
| Field | Value | Type | Source | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File type | JPG or PNG | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Aspect ratio | 4:5 | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Resolution | 1440 x 1800 px | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Primary text | 50 to 150 characters | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Headline | 27 characters | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Description | Not published for this placement | Not classified | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Maximum file size | 30 MB | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Minimum width | 600 px | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Minimum height | 750 px (4:5 ratio) | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Aspect ratio tolerance | 3% | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Safe zone | Not published on this page | Not classified | Ads Guide, Feed image | 16 Aug 2026 |
The character counts here hold whatever your objective is: 50 to 150 and 27 were the same on awareness, traffic, leads and sales, and on two hosts. That is worth knowing because on Meta's vertical placements the counts do move with the objective. The 3% tolerance is per-placement too, not Meta-wide: the vertical placements carry 1%.
| Field | Value | Type | Source | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File type | MP4, MOV or GIF | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Aspect ratio | 4:5 | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Resolution | 1440 x 1800 px | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Video settings | H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan, stereo AAC audio at 128 kbps+ | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Captions | “Optional, but recommended” | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Sound | “Optional, but recommended” | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Primary text | 50 to 150 characters | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Headline | 27 characters | Design recommendation | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Description | Not published for this placement | Not classified | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Video duration | 1 second to 241 minutes | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Maximum file size | 4 GB | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Minimum width | 120 px | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Minimum height | 120 px | Technical requirement | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Aspect ratio tolerance | Not stated on this page (the image page gives 3%) | Not classified | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Safe zone | Not published on this page | Not classified | Ads Guide, Feed video | 16 Aug 2026 |
Two figures look wrong and are not. 241 minutes appears on three Ads Guide variants and again in Meta's cross-placement length table. And the minimum dimensions really are 120 x 120 for video against 600 x 750 for image on the same placement: separate requirements on separate pages, not a contradiction. One real disagreement: Meta's carousel page for this placement gives 240 minutes (Ads Guide, Facebook Feed carousel, 16 August 2026), a minute apart, with nothing reconciling them.
| Field | Value | Type | Source | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended minimum, 1:1 | 1080 x 1080 px | Design recommendation | Help Centre, minimum image pixels | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Recommended minimum, 4:5 | 1440 x 1800 px | Design recommendation | Help Centre, minimum image pixels | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Supported aspect ratios | 1.91:1, 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 | Guideline | Help Centre, aspect ratios by placement | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Recommended aspect ratio | 4:5, for both images and videos | Design recommendation | Help Centre, aspect ratios by placement | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Primary text, “most placements” | 125 characters | Design recommendation | Help Centre, text in ads | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Headline, “most placements” | 40 characters | Design recommendation | Help Centre, text in ads | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Description, “most placements” | 25 characters | Design recommendation | Help Centre, text in ads | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Primary text line count | “1-3 lines at most” | Guideline | Help Centre, text in ads | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Character position where text is cut | Not published | Not classified | Help Centre, text in ads | 16 Aug 2026 |
Two things to take from this table. The “most placements” figures, 125 and 40, are not the Facebook Feed figures: write to the Ads Guide's 50 to 150 and 27, which appear on five URLs for this placement. And there is no flat 1080 x 1080 Feed minimum, because Feed is the only placement with two rows on the minimum-pixel page, and its 4:5 row now matches the Ads Guide exactly. One practical note if you re-check these pages: they are client-rendered, so a plain curl returns a title and no body, and every figure here was read from the fully rendered page.
Every character count above is a recommendation. Meta publishes no hard maximum for Facebook Feed primary text or headline, and no position at which the text is cut. This is the closest it comes, verbatim:
“Text in your ad may be truncated if it exceeds the character limitation. The recommended text length for most placements is 125 characters for the Primary text field, 40 characters for the Headline field and 25 characters for the Description field. However, your text may be further truncated across various placements and devices. We recommend keeping your text as short as possible to limit truncation.”
So: a recommended length, an explicit warning that the cut point moves by placement and by device, and no position, because Meta's position is that there is no fixed one. The phrase “See more”, which third-party spec pages routinely attach to a character number, appears nowhere in Meta's documentation, including a site-restricted search of facebook.com and developers.facebook.com on 16 August 2026. Any figure of the form “Facebook cuts primary text at N characters” did not come from Meta.
Meta gives no figure for any of these. If a spec sheet hands you one, it did not come from Meta. Feed has a full spec above; what it still lacks is a safe zone, a truncation point and a description count.
| Not published | Pages checked | Accessed |
|---|---|---|
| Any safe zone for Facebook Feed, at any aspect ratio, in pixels or percentages | Ads Guide Feed image and video across five objectives; Meta's dedicated safe-zone article | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Any character position at which Facebook Feed primary text is cut, or any hard maximum character count for it | Help Centre, text in ads; Ads Guide Feed image and video | 16 Aug 2026 |
| The phrase “See more” anywhere in Meta's own documentation | The same pages, plus search restricted to facebook.com and developers.facebook.com | 16 Aug 2026 |
| A description character count for Facebook Feed single image and video ads, though the footer renders one | Ads Guide Feed image and video, five objective variants | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Aspect ratio tolerance for Facebook Feed video (the image page gives 3%) | Ads Guide, Facebook Feed video, three objectives | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Desktop versus mobile rendering behaviour for Facebook Feed 4:5 creative | Ads Guide, Facebook Feed video; the Help Centre article on ratios across placements, which would not render | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Pixel dimensions of the Facebook Feed UI chrome, or a named list of which elements sit over Feed creative | Every Meta page in the source list below | 16 Aug 2026 |
| Whether the “Ad” label has fully replaced “Sponsored”, or any completion date for that rollout | Help Centre, About text overlays and the safe zone for ads | 16 Aug 2026 |
| A side reserve on the Facebook Stories video page (the image page gives 6%) | Ads Guide, Facebook Stories video | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Safe zones expressed in pixels anywhere except the Facebook Stories video page | Ads Guide, Help Centre | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Which UI element consumes which part of the reserved bottom area | Ads Guide placement pages, dedicated safe-zone page | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Any numeric value on Meta's dedicated safe-zone page | Help Centre, About text overlays and the safe zone for ads | 5 Aug 2026 |
| A Facebook Reels row in Meta's cross-placement video-length table | Help Centre, video length specifications | 5 Aug 2026 |
Which number to use
Facebook has the widest spread of any platform here. Each of these sits between two Meta-owned pages. Here is the number to build to, with the sources under it.
Meta publishes two bottom reserves for Facebook Stories.
Follow 35%. It is the figure Meta uses on every other vertical placement page.
The sources, side by sideMeta's percentages and pixel values on the Facebook Stories video page do not describe the same frame.
Follow the percentages. They are the figures Meta uses consistently on its other vertical placement pages, and the page never says which frame its pixel values describe.
The sources, side by sideFacebook Stories video duration: 3 minutes or 120 seconds.
Meta publishes no reconciliation. The narrower figure, 120 seconds, satisfies both pages; an asset built to the Ads Guide's 3 minutes may exceed the Help Centre's limit.
The sources, side by sideMeta's dedicated safe-zone page carries no numbers, and adds a 40% rule found nowhere else.
Use the placement pages' figures. Treat 40% as the operative bottom reserve only for Reels ads that carry disclaimers; that rule appears on this one page.
The sources, side by sideSource conflict
Same guide, adjacent pages, same placement.
| Source | Value | Type | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads Guide · Facebook Stories, video | 20% (340 px) | Design recommendation | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Meta Ads Guide · Facebook Stories, image | 35% | Design recommendation | 5 Aug 2026 |
What to use
Follow 35%. It is the figure Meta uses on every other vertical placement page. Confirmed on the www. and en-gb. hosts, so it is not a locale artefact.
Last checked 5 Aug 2026
Source conflict
One page, three numbers that cannot all be about the same canvas. A designer following the pixels and one following the percentages produce different layouts.
| Source | Value | Type | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads Guide · Facebook Stories, video: safe zone | 14% (250 px) top · 20% (340 px) bottom | Design recommendation | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Meta Ads Guide · Facebook Stories, video: resolution | 1440 x 2560 px | Design recommendation | 5 Aug 2026 |
What to use
Follow the percentages. They are the figures Meta uses consistently on its other vertical placement pages, and the page never says which frame its pixel values describe.
Last checked 5 Aug 2026
Source conflict
The Ads Guide and the Help Centre disagree by a full minute.
| Source | Value | Type | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads Guide · Facebook Stories, video | 1 second to 3 minutes | Technical requirement | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Meta Business Help Centre · Video length specifications across placements | 1-120 seconds | Technical requirement | 5 Aug 2026 |
What to use
Meta publishes no reconciliation. The narrower figure, 120 seconds, satisfies both pages; an asset built to the Ads Guide's 3 minutes may exceed the Help Centre's limit.
Last checked 5 Aug 2026
Source conflict
The page that exists to explain safe zones is qualitative; the figures live on the placement pages it never cites.
| Source | Value | Type | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads Guide · Placement pages (Reels, Stories) | 14% top · 35% bottom · 6% each side | Design recommendation | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Meta Business Help Centre · About text overlays and the safe zone for ads on Facebook and Instagram | None published | Not published | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Meta Business Help Centre · Same page, Reels ads carrying disclaimers | 40% bottom | Design guideline | 5 Aug 2026 |
What to use
Use the placement pages' figures. Treat 40% as the operative bottom reserve only for Reels ads that carry disclaimers; that rule appears on this one page. Three bottom figures (20%, 35%, 40%) circulate across Meta's own documentation with no page reconciling them.
Last checked 5 Aug 2026
Instagram's placement pages agree with each other on 14 / 35 / 6 for Reels and Stories; their disagreement is about resolution, not the safe zone. See the Instagram page · All platforms on the hub
Each figure above carries its source inline with the date it was read. Stories and Reels were read 5 August 2026; the Feed figures and the four cross-placement Help Centre tables were read 16 August 2026. The full list:
Last verified 16 August 2026 for Facebook Feed and the cross-placement Help Centre tables, 5 August 2026 for Stories and Reels. Meta's minimum-pixel table changed between those two reads, from one Facebook Feed row to two, so the later reading governs. Volatile figures (safe zones, character limits, resolutions) are re-checked quarterly; stable ones (aspect ratios, file caps, codecs) annually.
Other platforms
Each page carries that platform's published specs and its safe zone, sourced and dated. Instagram is the natural next stop: same company, and its pages agree with each other where Facebook's do not.
Reels · Story · Feed
3 placements in the tool
Safe zone published
For You
1 placement in the tool
No published figure
Feed
1 placement in the tool
No safe zone published
In-Stream
1 placement in the tool
Safe zone published in pixels
Snapchat
1 placement in the tool
Figures on two pages disagree
Feed
1 placement in the tool
No published figure
FAQ
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Instagram, Facebook and Meta are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. TikTok is a trademark of ByteDance Ltd. LinkedIn is a trademark of LinkedIn Corporation. YouTube is a trademark of Google LLC. Snapchat is a trademark of Snap Inc. X is a trademark of X Corp. RecruitmentAds.com is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of these companies. The placement previews on this page are illustrative recreations built from published specifications. They are not screenshots of the apps and may differ from the current product. Specification figures are quoted from each platform’s own documentation with the date they were read.
