Video Ad Specs and Requirements for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube (2026)

Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube all accept video ads, but they don’t treat them the same way. Aspect ratios, duration limits, file sizes, and placement rules vary enough that one wrong export can lead to cropped visuals, muted audio, or failed approvals.

This post lays out the current video ad specs and requirements for each platform in one place, so you can build or adapt videos correctly the first time and avoid rework during upload.

Video Ad Specs and Requirements for Instagram

Below is a clean, structured Instagram section focused only on video ads, written for someone who wants specs fast, with just enough context to avoid mistakes. I’ve used bullets where scanning matters and short paragraphs where explanation helps.

Instagram Video Ad Specs and Requirements

Instagram supports video ads across multiple placements, including Feed, Reels, Stories, Explore, Profile Feed, and In-Stream. While these placements look different to users, they share a common set of technical constraints that affect how your video renders, crops, and gets approved.

At a base level, Instagram supports video aspect ratios from landscape (1.91:1) to full-screen vertical (9:16). For most advertisers, vertical formats perform best, but your export should always match the placement you’re targeting to avoid automatic cropping.

Instagram Reels Video Ads

Reels are Instagram’s highest-priority video placement and are designed to feel native to organic content. Ads appear in the Reels feed and should be built as full-screen vertical videos.

• Aspect ratio: 9:16

• Minimum resolution: 1080 × 1080

• Maximum file size: 4GB

• Video length: 0 seconds to 15 minutes

• Recommended length: Under 30 seconds for performance

• Formats: .mp4, .mov

Reels ads work best when they’re fast-paced, vertically framed, and structured to hook attention in the first few seconds.

Instagram Feed Video Ads

Feed video ads appear between organic posts as users scroll. These ads support the widest range of aspect ratios but still require careful formatting to avoid visual loss.

• Recommended aspect ratio: 4:5

• Supported ratios: 1.91:1 to 9:16

• Minimum resolution: 1080 × 1080

• Maximum file size: 4GB

• Video length: 1 second to 60 minutes

• Formats: .mp4, .mov, .gif

Only the first two lines of primary text are visible by default, so keep supporting copy tight. Captions and sound are optional but strongly recommended.

Instagram Stories Video Ads

Stories video ads are full-screen vertical videos that appear between user Stories. They’re skippable and rely heavily on immediate clarity.

• Aspect ratio: 9:16

• Minimum resolution: 1080 × 1080

• Maximum file size: 4GB

• Video length: 1 second to 120 seconds

• Formats: .mp4, .mov, .gif

Instagram recommends leaving:

• 14% (≈250 px) clear at the top

• 20% (≈340 px) clear at the bottom

This prevents UI elements from covering key visuals or text.

Instagram Explore Video Ads

Explore ads appear alongside organic discovery content and should blend in visually rather than feel overly produced.

• Recommended aspect ratio: 1:1

• Minimum resolution: 1080 × 1080

• Maximum file size: 4GB

• Video length: 1 second to 60 minutes

• Formats: .mp4, .mov, .gif

Primary text can be longer, but anything beyond ~125 characters may be truncated.

Instagram Profile Feed Video Ads

These ads appear when users scroll through a profile’s grid, inserted between organic posts.

• Recommended aspect ratio: 4:5

• Supported ratios: 1.91:1 to 9:16

• Minimum resolution: 1080 × 1080

• Maximum file size: 4GB

• Video length: 1 second to 60 minutes

• Formats: .mp4, .mov, .gif

Primary text is limited to 125 characters, with an optional headline up to 40 characters.

Instagram In-Stream Video Ads

In-stream video ads play between organic video content while users are actively watching.

• Recommended aspect ratios: 1:1 or 4:5

• Supported ratios: 1.91:1 to 9:16

• Minimum resolution: 1080 × 1080

• Maximum file size: 4GB

• Video length: 1 to 60 seconds

• Formats: .mp4, .mov, .gif

Captions, sound, and text overlays are optional but highly recommended to maintain clarity when videos autoplay without sound.

TikTok Video Ad Specs and Requirements

TikTok video ads are built for a mobile-first feed, so specs stay fairly consistent across ad types. What changes most is the placement you’re buying and how strict the duration rules are.

TikTok In-Feed Video Ads (Feed Ads)

This is the most common TikTok ad format. It appears in the For You feed and behaves like native content.

Core specs

• Aspect ratios: 9:16 (recommended), 1:1, 16:9

• Minimum resolution (by ratio):

  • 9:16 → 540 × 960

  • 1:1 → 640 × 640

  • 16:9 → 960 × 540

• Max file size: 500 MB

• Recommended formats: MP4, MOV (TikTok also supports formats like MPEG, 3GP, AVI for ads)

• Video length: 5–60 seconds (safe baseline for most ad placements)

• Minimum bitrate: 516 kbps

Ad descriptions can be up to around 100 characters. The exact limit can vary based on the ad placement and account configuration. Keeping copy concise reduces the risk of truncation.

TikTok TopView Ads

TopView is a premium placement that shows early in a session and plays more like a high-impact takeover.

• Aspect ratio: 9:16

• Minimum resolution: 540 × 960

• Max file size: 500 MB

• Formats: MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP

• Video length: 5–60 seconds

• Minimum bitrate: 2,500 kbps

YouTube Video Ad Specs and Requirements

YouTube supports multiple video ad formats, but the technical foundation stays the same across campaigns. As long as your video meets the core resolution, aspect ratio, and file requirements, YouTube will automatically adapt it to different devices without stretching or cropping.

General Video Requirements (All YouTube Ad Formats)

These specs apply across skippable, non-skippable, in-feed, bumper, and vertical video ads.

• Recommended resolution: 1920 × 1080 (horizontal), 1080 × 1920 (vertical), or 1080 × 1080 (square)

• Minimum resolution: 1280 × 720 (HD). Standard definition is accepted but not recommended.

• Aspect ratios supported: 16:9 (horizontal), 9:16 (vertical), 1:1 (square)

• Maximum file size: 256 GB

• Supported formats: MPG (MPEG-2 or MPEG-4), MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, FLV, WebM, ProRes, HEVC (h265)

• Audio-only files: Not supported

Video length limits vary by campaign and ad format, so those should be checked at the campaign level rather than treated as a universal rule.

Source

YouTube Thumbnail Specs

Thumbnails are required for many YouTube ad formats and play a major role in click-through.

• Recommended size: 1280 × 720 pixels

• Minimum size: 1280 × 640 pixels

• Aspect ratio: 16:9

• Formats: JPG, PNG, or GIF

• File size: Under 2 MB for video ads

Companion Banner Specs (Desktop Only)

Some YouTube campaigns support a companion banner alongside the video player on desktop.

• Dimensions: 300 × 60 pixels

• Formats: JPEG, PNG, or GIF

• Maximum file size: 150 KB

Safe Zones for YouTube Video Ads

YouTube overlays buttons, call-to-actions, and controls differently depending on device and ad format. To avoid logos, subtitles, or key visuals being covered, keep critical elements centered within a safe zone.

This applies to:

• Horizontal videos viewed on TV, desktop, and mobile

• Vertical videos viewed on mobile and tablet

• Square videos across mixed placements

• 
  

Source

Designing with generous margins ensures your message stays visible across screens without needing multiple edits.

How to Export Video Ads Without Re-Editing Everything

A good rule is to treat vertical video as the base, not the exception. A 9:16 master gives you the most flexibility across Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and even vertical YouTube ads. From there, you can safely crop or reframe into 4:5 or 1:1 without losing key visuals.

The bigger mistake is relying on auto-cropping. Platforms will accept a wide range of ratios, but that doesn’t mean they’ll preserve your composition. Text near the edges gets pushed out. Faces get clipped. CTAs end up under UI elements. Exporting “one size fits all” usually creates subtle problems that only show up after the ad is live.

Instead, lock one master export per orientation. Keep text and logos centered, leave extra padding around edges, and avoid baking platform-specific UI assumptions into the creative. This reduces rework, speeds up approvals, and keeps performance consistent when the same concept runs across multiple placements.

Create Winning Video Ads With Airpost

Understanding video ad specs is a necessary step. But once you start running ads at scale, specs become just one part of a much larger workflow.

You’re not only checking dimensions. You’re testing ad hooks, refining copy, adjusting framing for different placements, and reworking ideas that show promise. Doing that repeatedly takes time and coordination, and it gets harder to sustain without either growing a large team or slowing down testing.

Some teams turn to AI tools to increase output, but many of those tools shift the work instead of removing it. Prompting, reviewing, and fixing outputs can add friction rather than reduce it.

Airpost is designed for teams in this phase. It combines AI with experienced creative strategists, so variation, formatting, and platform requirements are handled as part of one system. 

Airpost automatically resizes every ad to vertical and square formats, repositions the text, and optimizes safe margins so you never have to worry about specs for each placement. You test more ideas without expanding your team or adding more manual steps.

Book a demo to see how Airpost can create video ads across platforms without added overhead.