Social Media Video Specs: 2026 Guide

Social media video specs for 2026: sizes, aspect ratios, lengths and safe zones for Meta, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, X and Pinterest, with sources.

Published 2026-10-21 · Video Marketing · Neverframe Team

Why social media video specs keep breaking good ads

Open the official ad spec pages of the five platforms a typical brand buys media on and you get five different answers to the same question. Meta recommends 4:5 for video in the Facebook Feed and 9:16 for Instagram Reels. LinkedIn marks 4:5 as its recommended vertical ratio. TikTok recommends 9:16. YouTube still treats 16:9 as the default on a computer. A single 30 second spot, delivered as one file, will be cropped, letterboxed or padded on at least three of them.

So what are the social media video specs in 2026? Plan for three master files. A vertical 9:16 master at 1080 x 1920 covers Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Stories and the vertical slots on LinkedIn, X and Pinterest. A 4:5 or 1:1 master covers the feeds (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X). A 16:9 master at 1920 x 1080 or 4K covers YouTube, horizontal LinkedIn ads and connected TV. Export MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, keep text inside each platform's safe zone, and burn in or attach captions.

This guide is written for the people who commission video: marketing directors, brand managers and agency producers who need to put the right deliverables list in a brief. It works as a spec sheet and a delivery plan; editing software is out of scope. Every figure below comes from the platform's own help center or ads guide, checked in October 2026, and cross-checked against the spec roundups published by Sprout Social and Hootsuite. Platforms change these pages a few times a year, so the links are there for you to recheck before a launch.

Social media video sizes at a glance (2026)

The table lists the recommended ratio and resolution for each major paid placement, the supported length range and where the number comes from. "Recommended" is the platform's own word; most placements accept other ratios too, but they crop or pad them.

Vertical is now the default for almost every mobile placement, and the feed is split between 4:5 and 1:1. The only placement where 16:9 is still the first choice is YouTube on a computer and the TV screen. For the creative side of short vertical edits, see the short-form video production guide.

Aspect ratio, resolution and file specs explained

Aspect ratio is the shape of the frame, width divided by height. LinkedIn's spec page puts it plainly: "Videos must meet height and width specifications, as well as aspect ratio specifications. You can calculate an aspect ratio by dividing the video width by height." A 9:16 frame gives 0.56, a 4:5 frame gives 0.8, a square gives 1 and a widescreen 16:9 frame gives 1.78. Platforms use that single number to decide whether your file fits a placement, which is why a nearly vertical export at 1080 x 1800 can still be rejected or cropped. LinkedIn gives its own example of a file that passes on pixels and fails on shape: "Although the maximum width allowed is 1920 pixels and the minimum height allowed is 360 pixels, a 1920 x 360 video or image is not tall enough for an ad." Hootsuite's roundup sums up the range on a single app: "Instagram supports three kinds of video: square (1:1), vertical (9:16 or 4:5) and landscape (16:9)."

Resolution is the pixel count. Most social placements are happy with 1080 pixels on the short side. Meta now recommends higher: 1440 x 2560 for Reels and 1440 x 1800 for Feed. YouTube lists every step up to 8K, and its help page says: "The standard aspect ratio for YouTube on a computer is 16:9. If your video has a different aspect ratio, the player will automatically change to the ideal size to match your video and the viewer's device." As a buyer, ask for masters at the highest resolution the production was finished in (4K for a film or spot) and let the platform downscale.

Container and codecs matter less than they used to, but they still cause rejected uploads. Meta asks for "H.264 compression, square pixels, fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC audio compression at 128 kbps+". LinkedIn accepts MP4 only and lists a short line that trips up post houses every month: "Apple ProRes not supported." X recommends "H264, Baseline, Main, or High Profile with a 4:2:0 color space." An MP4 with H.264 and AAC is the one export that every platform in this guide accepts.

File size is rarely the limit for a 15 or 30 second ad, but the caps differ widely: 4 GB on Meta, 500 MB on TikTok and LinkedIn, 1 GB on X and up to 256 GB on YouTube. X adds a performance note worth passing to your editor: "For optimal performance we strongly recommend to keep files under 30 MB."

Platform by platform: what the official spec pages say

Instagram Reels and Facebook Feed (Meta)

Meta publishes separate specs per placement, and the two that carry most video budgets ask for different shapes. The Instagram Reels ads page recommends 9:16 at 1440 x 2560 and explains where the ad sits: "These full-screen vertical video ads will be inserted in between organic Reels content." The Facebook Feed video page recommends 4:5 at 1440 x 1800 and gives a creative instruction that sits oddly well next to the technical list: "To capture attention quickly, use movement and sound to show the unique features of a product or tell your brand story."

The Reels page also carries the most specific safe zone guidance of any platform:

"Consider leaving at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% on each side of your asset free from text, logos or other important creative elements. This will help ensure that key parts of your design are not cropped, covered by the profile icon or call to action, or placed too close to the edges of devices with screens taller than a 9:16 aspect ratio."

On a 1080 x 1920 frame that means roughly the top 270 pixels and the bottom 670 pixels belong to the interface. Your logo, price and product shot live in the middle band. Meta also flags music: Reels ads should avoid licensed tracks, and the page says "We recommend using original audio or royalty-free music available in our Meta Sound Collection instead." If your spot uses a licensed track cleared for TV, check the social rights before you assume the same mix can run in Reels. More on Meta placements in our Facebook video ads production guide.

TikTok In-Feed ads

TikTok's In-Feed spec page lists three shapes for non-Spark ads, with vertical marked as recommended: "Vertical (recommended): 9:16, more than or equal to 540*960px." Horizontal 16:9 and square 1:1 are accepted. Duration goes up to 10 minutes, files up to 500 MB, and the accepted formats include MP4 and MOV.

The caption field changes how you plan the edit: TikTok renders ad captions itself, "Displayed in white with a uniform font that can't be customized," and the same field "Does not support any clickable links, symbols (@), or hashtags." Any styled text must be part of the video. Safe zones vary by case, and TikTok spells out what drives them: "The safe zone size is determined by the dimension (vertical, horizontal, or square), ad caption length, and any additional formats used." TikTok publishes downloadable safe zone overlays for each case and warns that "There might be slight differences between the preview and the live version since the ad preview is not specific to a device." Ask your editor to check the final export against the overlay, not against the Ads Manager preview. Hooks and pacing for this placement are in the TikTok video production guide for brands.

YouTube, YouTube Shorts and YouTube ads

On YouTube, 16:9 is still the default. Its resolution page lists 1920 x 1080 for 1080p and 3840 x 2160 for 4K, and it warns against a habit that many teams carry over from TV deliveries:

"For best results, avoid adding padding or black bars directly to your video. Padding interferes with YouTube's ability to change the player dynamically to your video size and the viewer's device."

Shorts follow different rules. The help page announces the change in one line, "You can now create YouTube Shorts up to three minutes in length," and YouTube's Shorts help page is explicit about how a file is classified: "Any videos uploaded on or after this date with a square or vertical aspect ratio up to three minutes in length will be categorized as Shorts on YouTube." In practice, a vertical cut of your spot uploaded to the channel becomes a Short automatically.

For paid placements, the Google Ads spec page lists 1920 x 1080 for horizontal, 1080 x 1920 for vertical and 1080 x 1080 for square, and accepts 4:5 and 2:3 as vertical alternatives. It also explains why one master can travel further on YouTube than elsewhere: "YouTube dynamically adjusts your video to fit the viewer's device without stretching or cutting off your content." Safe zones still apply, because "Overlays, call-to-actions, and buttons may appear in different places depending on the format, campaign type, and screen." The YouTube ads production guide goes deeper on skippable and bumper formats.

The same Google page now opens with a note that matters to any brand using AI in production:

"AI regulations in the European Union, India, and New York require that ads with certain AI-generated or edited assets include disclosures and/or labels that inform consumers that the ads were made with AI."

Google adds that its own labeling setting is a tool, not legal cover: "Use of the AI label setting in Google's advertising products doesn't guarantee your compliance with specific regulations." If your spot was made or edited with generative tools, the label decision belongs in the delivery plan alongside the ratios.

LinkedIn video ads

LinkedIn is the platform where buyers most often deliver the wrong shape. The video ads spec page marks 4:5 at 720 x 900 as the recommended vertical ratio, with a maximum of 1080 x 1350, and also accepts 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16. Length runs from three seconds to 30 minutes, but the page recommends a much shorter window:

"We recommend uploading videos that are 15-30 seconds long, so they can qualify for all possible placements across the LinkedIn Feed and the Audience Network."

Short edits behave differently on LinkedIn because of looping: "Videos under 30 seconds will loop until there are at least 30 seconds of playback." A 10 second cut plays three times, so the last frame has to lead cleanly back into the first. LinkedIn also refuses links to hosted video, stating that "Video ads must contain a video file uploaded directly to LinkedIn, not a link to a third-party site like YouTube or Vimeo." Captions go in as a separate SRT file. Sound behaves in a way worth knowing when you mix the audio: "If a member unmutes the video in their desktop feed and scrolls down immediately (in less than two seconds), the video will continue playing even if less than 50% of the video is visible on screen." B2B creative for the format: LinkedIn video ads production guide.

X video ads

X's creative ad specs recommend short ads ("15 seconds or less is recommended. Up to 2:20 is supported.") and supports six aspect ratios, from 1.91:1 to 9:16. Its guidance on square video is the clearest statement any platform makes about feed real estate:

"1:1 is recommended as it will always render as square on desktop and mobile, timeline and profile. This and 9:16 (vertical) will take up the same amount of real estate, which is more than 16:9."

That line appears in the Amplify Pre-roll section, and the same page recommends 9:16 for Vertical Video Ads in the immersive viewer. On branding, X is specific about placement: "if using a logo, it should be persistent in the upper left hand corner." Captions are "strongly recommended," and videos under 60 seconds loop. For feed video the page recommends 1200 x 1200 for square and 1920 x 1080 for widescreen, with a note on why bigger files help: "Larger videos will be better optimized for when users click to expand videos." Creative examples sit in the X video ads production guide.

Pinterest video ads

Pinterest's ad spec guide accepts video from four seconds to 15 minutes, recommends 6 to 15 seconds for ads, and steers toward tall or square frames: "We recommend making your videos square (1:1) or vertical (2:3, 4:5, or 9:16)." For static Pins the platform recommends 2:3 at 1000 x 1500, and the same page warns: "Pins with an aspect ratio greater than 2:3 might get cut off in people's feeds." If Pinterest is a priority channel for your category, a 2:3 or 4:5 cut is worth adding to the deliverables list.

The delivery matrix: three masters, every placement

The spec table helps at upload time. For a brief, map each master file to the placements it covers. A production that delivers these three shapes, plus short cut-downs, can run on every placement in this guide without anyone cropping a frame in Ads Manager.

Length is the second decision. Most platforms reward short ads in feed and vertical placements, and the recommendations line up closely: X recommends 15 seconds or less, LinkedIn recommends 15 to 30 seconds, Pinterest recommends 6 to 15 seconds. A cut-down plan for one campaign might look like this:

• Hero length: the full 30 to 90 second film or spot, in 16:9 and 9:16, for YouTube, landing pages and organic posts.
• 15 second cuts: two or three versions with different opening hooks, in all three shapes, for paid feed and vertical placements.
• 6 second bumpers: a single product moment with a short line, for YouTube bumper slots, Pinterest and retargeting.
• Caption files: SRT for LinkedIn and YouTube, plus a burned-in version for placements that autoplay muted.

The edit logic for turning one shoot into this set of files is in the video repurposing guide.

Composing for every crop: safe zones and framing

Supporting three shapes costs least when they are planned before anything is filmed or generated. Directors call this protecting for a crop: the important action sits in a centre area that survives in 9:16, 4:5 and 16:9 alike. Here is the framing checklist we use on vertical deliveries, built from the platform rules quoted above:

In AI-assisted production this is easier than on a traditional set, because a scene can be generated or re-framed natively in each ratio instead of cropped from a widescreen plate. It still has to be planned: a shot designed for 16:9 and then cropped to 9:16 looks cropped, whatever tool made it. The versions themselves are built in finishing, described step by step in the video post-production guide.

How to write the deliverables list in your brief

Spec problems usually trace back to the brief. We need a 30 second video for social leaves the shape, length and caption decisions to whoever is editing at 11 pm before launch. A deliverables list that answers six questions removes most of that risk:

If you are drafting the brief from scratch, our video production brief guide has a full template. The music line deserves care: Meta's Reels page steers advertisers away from licensed music, and usage terms for TV and social are often negotiated separately.

Common spec mistakes we see on handover

These are the issues that most often send an ad back to the edit suite after delivery, in rough order of frequency:

• Black bars baked into the file. A 16:9 spot letterboxed into a 9:16 frame wastes most of the screen and runs against YouTube's own advice on padding.
• One vertical export for all placements. A 9:16 file uploaded to the Facebook Feed is cropped to 4:5, and whatever was at the top and bottom disappears.
• Text in the interface zones. Prices and URLs placed in the bottom third of a Reels or TikTok ad sit under the caption and the call to action button.
• ProRes masters sent to LinkedIn. LinkedIn rejects Apple ProRes; deliver H.264 MP4 for upload and keep ProRes for archive.
• Captions as an afterthought. X calls captions "strongly recommended," Meta marks them recommended, and most feed placements autoplay muted.
• No loop planning. Short LinkedIn and X ads loop, so a hard cut to black at the end shows twice or three times in a row.
• Music cleared for TV only. A broadcast licence does not automatically include paid social; check before the media plan goes live.

How a studio like Neverframe delivers for social

Neverframe is an AI video production studio in Miami that makes four formats for brands and agencies: films, spots, social ads and avatars. Each one is delivered with the platform versions built in, so the delivery matrix above is part of the job rather than an extra.

A first version arrives within a few days (72 hours for agencies), and final delivery takes two weeks, or three to four weeks for a film. Because scenes are generated and composed per ratio, the vertical and square versions are framed for their own screen instead of cut out of a widescreen plate. If you need a shape outside the standard set, such as a 4:5 feed version for LinkedIn or Meta, include it in the brief. Agencies can run the same formats white label through the partner program.

See the four formats on the brands page, or tell us about your campaign and we will reply with a deliverables plan for your placements.

A quick pre-launch spec check

Before any file goes into Ads Manager, run through this list. It takes ten minutes and catches most of the problems in the section above.

• Shape: every placement has a master in its recommended ratio, with no bars baked in.
• Resolution: at least 1080 on the short side; 1440 for Meta Reels and Feed if available.
• Format: MP4, H.264 video, AAC audio; ProRes kept for archive only.
• Length: feed and vertical cuts within each platform's recommended window (15 seconds or less on X, 15 to 30 seconds on LinkedIn, 6 to 15 seconds on Pinterest).
• Safe zones: final export checked against the TikTok overlay files and the Meta Reels margins.
• Captions: burned in where autoplay is muted; SRT uploaded where supported.
• Music: rights cover paid social in every market where the ad runs.
• AI disclosure: label decision made for each market where the ad runs.

For a broader view of how ad creative is tested once it is live, see our performance creative video ads guide and the video captions and subtitles production guide.

FAQ

What is the best video size for social media in 2026?

For most mobile placements the safest size is 1080 x 1920 pixels in a 9:16 vertical frame. It is the recommended shape for Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and X vertical ads, and it is accepted on LinkedIn and Pinterest. Feeds are different: Meta and LinkedIn recommend 4:5 (1440 x 1800 on Facebook, up to 1080 x 1350 on LinkedIn) and X favours 1:1 for pre-roll. YouTube long-form still expects 16:9 at 1920 x 1080 or 4K. Plan three masters (9:16, 4:5 or 1:1, and 16:9) rather than one file for everything.

What aspect ratio should I use for social media video ads?

Use the ratio each platform recommends for the placement you are buying. Instagram Reels and TikTok In-Feed recommend 9:16. Facebook Feed and LinkedIn recommend 4:5. X recommends 1:1 in Amplify Pre-roll and 9:16 for Vertical Video Ads. YouTube in-stream works best in 16:9, although vertical and square are accepted for ads. Uploading a single shape everywhere means the platform crops or pads it, which is how logos and prices disappear. A three-master delivery covers every placement in this guide.

How long should social media video ads be?

The platforms publish their own recommendations, and they cluster around short lengths. X recommends 15 seconds or less and supports up to 2 minutes 20 seconds. LinkedIn recommends 15 to 30 seconds so the ad qualifies for every placement, and loops anything under 30 seconds. Pinterest recommends 6 to 15 seconds. Meta allows up to 15 minutes in Reels but most performance ads run far shorter. For most campaigns that means a 30 second hero, two or three 15 second hook variants and one 6 second bumper per campaign.

Do I need a separate edit for each platform?

You need separate exports, and usually separate framing, but not a separate creative idea for each platform. One concept can be produced in three shapes (9:16, 4:5 or 1:1, and 16:9) and in a few lengths, and that set covers Meta, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, X and Pinterest. What changes per platform is the safe zone, the caption treatment and the end card layout. Plan those at the storyboard stage so the vertical version is composed for vertical, instead of being cropped from widescreen after the fact.

What file format do social media platforms accept for video?

MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio is accepted by every platform in this guide, which makes it the default export. Meta also takes MOV and recommends H.264 with stereo AAC at 128 kbps or higher. TikTok accepts MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP and AVI. LinkedIn accepts MP4 only and does not support Apple ProRes. X accepts MP4 or MOV and recommends files under 30 MB for performance. YouTube accepts a long list, including ProRes and HEVC. Keep high-bitrate masters for archive and send MP4 for upload.