Instagram ad sizes for 2026

Instagram has four places an ad runs (the Feed, Stories, Reels and the Explore home grid) and two shapes between them. Most size charts treat the Feed as one size for everything; Meta’s own pages give a different shape for Feed video than for Feed images, which is easy to miss.

Every value below was read from Meta’s Ads Guide on 27 October 2026, one page per placement, and each row links to its page.

Step 1Look up the image size for each placement

Images use two shapes on Instagram: portrait 4:5 where people scroll a grid or feed, and tall 9:16 where the ad fills the screen.

Meta gives the clear bands only on the tall placements. A 4:5 Feed image has no bands to keep, so its words can sit closer to the edges than a Story’s can.

Step 2Look up the video size for each placement

On Instagram, every video placement Meta lists is 9:16. Stories and Reels ask for 1440 × 2560; the Feed and Explore pages list 1080 × 1920.

Reels ads have a list of things they may not contain: Reels published before 15 October 2021, licensed music, a face or camera effect, a GIF and product tags. Meta suggests original sound or its Sound Collection instead.⁷

Step 3Keep Stories and Reels clear where Meta asks

On Stories and Reels the profile picture sits over the top of the ad and the call to action over the bottom. Meta’s advice is to keep about 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side free of text, logos and other key parts. In pixels:

The bottom band is the large one. A price, a button or a legal line placed where it looks natural on a 4:5 master usually lands inside it on the tall version, which is why the tall size needs its own layout.

Step 4Make the 4:5 and the 9:16, then lay the rest out

Two shapes cover Instagram. Which one to make first depends on where most of the budget runs:

Lay the second shape out again around the same parts rather than cropping the first. A crop from 4:5 to 9:16 keeps the middle of the picture and loses the top and bottom, which is where the logo, the price and the legal line usually sit.

The words and the export

The text that runs with the ad has its own recommendations on Meta’s Feed page: 125 characters of primary text, a 40-character headline and at most 30 hashtags.¹ Put the line that matters first, where it is read even if the rest is not.

For video, Meta’s Stories page asks for H.264 with square pixels, a fixed frame rate, progressive scan and stereo AAC sound at 128 kbps or more.⁶ Export every tall version with the same settings and none of them is rejected for its file rather than its content. Meta lists captions and sound as optional but recommended on these placements.

Before the set goes out

• A 4:5 and a 9:16 for every adEach laid out for its shape, not stretched.
• Nothing important in the tall bandsTop, bottom and both sides.
• Reels sound is original or royalty-freeNo licensed music on a Reels ad.
• The price and legal line match the masterOn both shapes.

Common mistakes

• Uploading the 4:5 Feed image as the Story.Instagram fits it with bars or a crop you did not choose.
• Keeping licensed music on the Reels version.Meta does not allow it in Reels ads.
• Putting the price low on the tall version, inside the band the call to action covers.