TikTok & Meta Ad Specs Checker
This ad specs checker compares your video's aspect ratio, resolution, file size, and length against current TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Feed, and YouTube Shorts requirements. Built for media buyers and creators QA-ing creative before upload.
- Aspect ratio
- 9:16
- Resolution
- 1080×1920
- Max length
- 60s (up to 10 min)
- Sweet spot
- 21–34s
- Max file size
- 500 MB
- Captions
- Burned-in recommended
- Safe zone
- Keep text out of top 130px & bottom 480px
About the Ad Specs Checker
Check your video against 2026 TikTok, Reels, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts ad specs before upload. Free checker — try Creetr for pre-sized exports.
Every calculation and generation runs entirely in your browser - free, instant, nothing uploaded. The hard part is what comes next: filming it. Once your ad specs is ready, Creetr shoots it with an AI actor and exports a ready-to-post ad in about two minutes - no camera, no creator fees.
TikTok ad specs are the exact technical requirements — aspect ratio, resolution, max file size, video length, and safe zones — that a video ad must meet to run on TikTok's ad platform without getting rejected, cropped, or auto-compressed into a blurry mess. The same idea applies to every major ad placement, and each one has its own numbers.
What are ad specs?
Ad specs (short for advertising specifications) are the technical rules each platform enforces on video and image ads: aspect ratio, minimum and maximum resolution, max file size, minimum and maximum video length, frame rate, file codec, and safe zone — the area of the frame guaranteed not to be covered by native UI elements like the caption bar, profile icon, or CTA button. Miss a spec and one of three things happens: the ad gets rejected outright at upload, the platform auto-crops or re-encodes it (usually badly), or it gets approved but the CTA and key text end up sitting under UI overlay — killing performance even though the ad technically "ran fine."
Every platform updates its specs at least once a year as new placements roll out (Reels, Shorts, Feed, In-Stream), so specs pages go stale fast. Below is the 2026 rundown for the four placements performance marketers run UGC ads on most.
TikTok ad specs (2026)
| Spec | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 vertical, required — 1:1 and 16:9 are supported but underperform |
| Resolution | 720x1280 minimum, 1080x1920 recommended |
| Max file size | 500MB |
| Video length | 5-60 sec (9-15 sec recommended for Spark Ads/in-feed) |
| Frame rate | 23-60 fps |
| File format | .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, .avi |
| Safe zone | Keep key text/CTA inside the center 80% of frame — bottom ~150px and top ~100px are covered by caption/profile UI |
| Captions | Burned-in captions strongly recommended — most TikTok is watched sound-off |
Instagram Reels ad specs (2026)
| Spec | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 9:16, required for full-screen placement |
| Resolution | 1080x1920 minimum |
| Max file size | 4GB |
| Video length | 3-90 sec (15-30 sec recommended) |
| Frame rate | 30 fps minimum |
| File format | .mp4, .mov (H.264 codec, AAC audio) |
| Safe zone | Top ~250px and bottom ~320px reserved for profile info, caption, and like/comment/share icons |
| Captions | Auto-captions available; burned-in still preferred for stopping power in a sound-off feed |
Facebook Feed ad specs (2026)
| Spec | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 4:5 for Feed, 1:1 also accepted; 9:16 for Stories/Reels placement |
| Resolution | 1080x1080 minimum for Feed, 1080x1920 for Stories |
| Max file size | 4GB |
| Video length | 1 sec-241 min (15 sec recommended for Feed placements) |
| Frame rate | 30 fps |
| File format | .mp4 (H.264), .mov |
| Safe zone | Keep text out of the bottom 20% of frame — covered by the CTA button and page name |
| Captions | Effectively required — Feed defaults to sound-off autoplay |
YouTube Shorts ad specs (2026)
| Spec | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 vertical; 1:1 also accepted |
| Resolution | 1080x1920 recommended |
| Max file size | 256GB (effectively no practical limit) |
| Video length | Up to 60 sec to qualify as a Short |
| Frame rate | 30-60 fps |
| File format | .mp4 (H.264), .mov |
| Safe zone | Bottom ~300px covered by title/subscribe/like UI — keep the CTA above it |
| Captions | Auto-captions on by default; burned-in captions still boost watch time |
How the interactive checker works
Pick your platform and placement — TikTok Feed, Instagram Reels, Facebook Feed, or YouTube Shorts — from the dropdown, and the checker pulls up the full spec sheet for that placement: aspect ratio, resolution, file size limit, length window, and safe zone dimensions. Upload your video file (or just type in its resolution and duration) and it flags anything out of spec before you spend media budget getting it rejected or auto-cropped. It's built as a last-mile QA step: script's locked, edit's done, you're about to upload to Ads Manager or TikTok Ads Manager — run it through the checker first.
For getting the aspect ratio and crop right at the edit stage, rather than checking after the fact, use the aspect ratio calculator to convert your dimensions before export. And to make sure your CTA and captions aren't sitting under TikTok's UI overlay, run your final export through the TikTok safe zone checker.
Why getting specs right matters
Ads that violate safe zone guidelines see meaningfully lower CTR because CTAs and key on-screen text get physically covered by platform UI (2025 platform data). This isn't a minor polish issue — it's the difference between a creative converting and a creative silently underperforming while the team assumes the messaging itself is the problem. The same logic applies to aspect ratio: a 16:9 video force-cropped to 9:16 by the platform loses the parts of the frame that actually matter — product in hand, face, on-screen text — and most marketers never realize the crop happened because the ad still "ran."
Specs discipline matters even more when testing multiple creative variants at once. If half your test set gets soft-rejected or auto-cropped, your CTR and CPA comparison across variants is comparing apples to broken oranges. Checking specs before every upload keeps your test data clean and your rejection rate near zero. For the full breakdown of TikTok ad account setup, targeting, and creative strategy beyond specs, see the TikTok ads guide.
Generate ads already sized right
Creetr exports UGC ad videos pre-formatted to each platform's current spec — 9:16 for TikTok/Reels/Shorts, safe-zone-aware caption placement, correct resolution and file size out of the box — so the manual spec-checking step is already handled before you download. Try Creetr free and export your next ad ready to upload.
Turn this into a real UGC video ad
Paste a product link, pick an AI actor, and Creetr generates a ready-to-post ad.
Frequently asked questions
What aspect ratio should TikTok ads be?+
TikTok ads should be 9:16 vertical for optimal performance. This aspect ratio is crucial because it fills the entire screen on mobile devices, mirroring the natural way users consume content on the platform. By using 9:16, you ensure your ad is immersive and captures attention without distracting letterboxing. While TikTok does support 1:1 and 16:9, the vertical format consistently delivers better engagement as it aligns with user expectations and the platform's core viewing experience. Aim for a resolution of 1080x1920 for clarity.
What happens if my video doesn't match the platform's aspect ratio?+
If your video doesn't match the platform's aspect ratio, Creetr will likely auto-crop it to fit, add black bars (letterboxing), or reject the upload. Auto-cropping is the most frequent result and poses the biggest risk because it can silently remove crucial elements like product visuals or text overlays without any notification. Always check the recommended aspect ratios for each platform to ensure your creative content is fully visible and impactful, preventing unintended edits that could dilute your message or obscure important details.
What is a safe zone and why does it matter?+
A safe zone is the area of your video that will always be visible, free from platform-specific user interface elements. This matters because if you place crucial information, like your main message or call to action (CTA), outside this designated safe zone, it will be obscured by things like the caption bar, profile icon, or like/comment buttons. This means viewers won't see your most important content, even though your ad has successfully run and generated impressions. Ensuring your key elements are within the safe zone guarantees they are seen by your audience.
What's the max file size for TikTok ads?+
TikTok's ad platform accepts video files up to 500MB, well above what most 15-60 second ads need at 1080x1920 resolution with standard compression. If a file is approaching that limit, it's usually a sign the bitrate or frame rate is higher than necessary and can be reduced without a visible quality loss.
Do I need burned-in captions or does auto-caption work?+
Auto-captions meet the technical spec on most platforms, but burned-in captions perform better in practice because they're always visible regardless of a viewer's caption settings and render reliably across every placement. Since most short-form video is watched sound-off, captions of some kind are effectively mandatory for retention, not just accessibility.
How long should a TikTok ad be?+
TikTok's platform accepts 5-60 second video ads, but 9-15 seconds is the recommended sweet spot for in-feed and Spark Ads placements. Shorter ads match native TikTok content length and viewing habits, giving the hook less competition from a viewer's thumb before they scroll past.