TikTok Ad Specs 2026: Sizes, Formats, Lengths and File Limits

Almost every TikTok ads specs page you’ll find quotes safe zone margins in pixels.

TikTok does not publish safe zone pixel margins. Anywhere. They ship downloadable template files and state that the zone varies by ad dimension and caption length. Every specific number in circulation traces back to a blog, not to TikTok.

✅ Bottom Line Up Front

1. Video, auction in-feed: 9:16 at 540×960 minimum. .mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, .avi. Up to 500 MB. Bitrate 516 kbps or higher.
2. Duration has two conflicting TikTok answers. The spec page says up to 10 minutes. The ad policy page says 5 to 60 seconds. Build for 5–60.
3. Carousel: 2 to 35 images standard, 2 to 20 for Video Shopping Ads, up to 50 on Pangle.
4. Collection Ads are retired. Folded into Video Shopping Ads. If a spec sheet still lists them, it’s out of date.
5. Campaign, ad group and ad names: 512 characters each. Up to 999 ad groups per campaign.
6. Spark Ads cap at 10,000 per ad account, and Spark Pull ignores every resolution and duration restriction.

1. In-Feed Video Ads (Auction, Non-Spark)

The workhorse of all TikTok ad formats. Everything else is a variation on this.

Spec	Value
Vertical (recommended)	9:16, 540 × 960 px minimum
Horizontal	16:9, 960 × 540 px minimum
Square	1:1, 640 × 640 px minimum
File formats	.mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp, .avi
Max file size	500 MB
Min bitrate	516 kbps
Max duration	Up to 10 minutes (spec page)
Policy duration	5–60 seconds (ad policy page)
Ad caption	White, uniform font, not customisable
Caption restrictions	No clickable links, no @ symbols, no hashtags
Display name	1 line. 10 characters for Chinese, Japanese, Korean. 20 characters other languages
Profile photo	98 × 98 px, 1:1, .jpg/.jpeg/.png, under 50 KB

The duration conflict is real and it’s TikTok’s. Their video specs page permits ten minutes. Their ad format policy page says five to sixty seconds and adds that static images shouldn’t occupy more than 50% of the video, and that audio is required.

Build for 5 to 60 seconds. Treat ten minutes as a technical upload ceiling, not permission.

The character limit nobody can give you. TikTok publishes “maximum 4 lines displayed” for non-Spark captions, plus a recommendation of 100 characters or fewer. The hard cap isn’t published for auction in-feed. The 100-character limit is confirmed only for TopView, and 150 only for Spark Pull.

Call-to-action buttons

CTA text isn’t editable. You pick from TikTok’s list of 25.

1. Apply now, Book now, Contact us, Download, Experience now
2. Get quote, Get showtimes, Get ticket now, Install now, Interested
3. Join this hashtag, Learn more, Listen now, Order now, Play game
4. Pre-order now, Read more, Shoot with this effect, Shop now, Sign up
5. Subscribe, View now, View video with this effect, Visit store, Watch now

App download destinations get four: Download, Learn more, Listen now, Play game.

Dynamic CTA picks automatically from a pool of 20 to 40 candidates, showing 10 to 20 by default. Available on performance ads excluding GMV Max, plus Brand Auction Reach, manual Video Views and Traffic.

CTA appears in three places on non-Spark ads — in-feed bottom, comment panel, video end layer. Spark Ads get a fourth: the identity’s profile page.

2. TikTok Spark Ads: Pull vs Push

The most misunderstood distinction in TikTok advertising, and the specs differ completely.

Spec	Spark Pull	Spark Push
What it is	Promote an existing organic post	Authorisation code grants ad access
Formats	.mp4 or .mov	.mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp
Resolution	No restrictions	9:16 ≥540×960, 16:9 ≥960×540, 1:1 ≥640×640
File size	No restrictions	≤ 500 MB
Duration	No restrictions, up to 10 min eligible	5–60s, recommend 9–15s
Caption	Max 150 characters or blank	Max 4 lines displayed
Emoji, hashtags, @ tags	Allowed	Not allowed
Editable in Ads Manager	No — inherits the post	Yes

Spark Pull ignoring every technical restriction is the single most useful fact here. Anything already live on TikTok qualifies. No re-encoding, no resolution check, no file size limit.

Two hard rules. Maximum 10,000 Spark Ads per ad account. And a video must be un-authorised as a Spark Ad before you can delete it from the organic account.

What Spark Ads add that non-Spark can’t do: profile navigation, follow, music page link, translation toggle and anchor clicks. You also get extra metrics — music clicks, anchor clicks, paid profile visits, paid followers, and paid likes, shares and comments attributed within one day.

Non-Spark ads support exactly five interactions: CTA, profile photo, nickname, caption, swipe-left.

Objectives supported: Reach, Traffic, Video Views, Community Interaction, App Promotion, Conversions, Lead Generation and Sales on auction. Reach, Traffic and Video Views on Reach & Frequency.

3. Carousel Ads

Two different carousel products with different limits. People conflate them constantly.

Spec	Standard Carousel	Video Shopping Ads Carousel
Image count	2 to 35	2 to 20
Formats	.jpg, .jpeg, .png	Catalog product images
File size	100 KB suggested	—
Vertical	720 × 1280 px (most recommended)	Same
Square	640 × 640 px	Same
Horizontal	1200 × 628 px	Same
Caption and CTA	One of each, for all images	One of each
Destination	One URL for all images	Unique product link per image
Images clickable	No — only the CTA	Yes, via product tag
Spark Ads support	Yes	No, non-Spark only
Music	Required — CML or upload	Upload only

1. Music specs: minimum 2 seconds. .mp3, .wav, .m4a, .flac. Upload up to 10 MB.
2. TikTok’s own recommendation: use 3, or 7 to 9 images. Not 35.
3. Objectives for standard carousel: Traffic, Web Conversions, App Promotion, Lead Generation, Product Sales – Catalog, Brand Auction Reach.

One placement trap. Automatic placement filters out Pangle and Global App Bundle traffic for carousels. And Commercial Music Library tracks don’t work on Pangle — those ads play silent unless you upload your own audio.

That 100 KB file size suggestion looks wrong next to Pangle’s 100 MB allowance. It’s what TikTok publishes on both its spec page and its own carousel playbook, so I’m reproducing it as published.

4. Collection Ads Are Gone

If your spec sheet lists Collection Ads, throw it out.

TikTok’s own page carries the notice:

The old URL now redirects to Smart+ Catalog Ads content.

The successor is Video Shopping Ads for TikTok Shop:

Instant Page, the landing experience that used to pair with Collection Ads, still exists:

Asset	Formats	Max size
Images	.jpg, .jpeg, .png	2 MB
Videos	.mov, .mp4	100 MB
Carousels	.mov, .mp4	100 MB

5. Image Ads and Pangle

Image ads don’t run on the TikTok in-feed placement at all. They’re a Pangle and Global App Bundle format, and they use a completely different text model.

Global App Bundle image ads:

Spec	Value
Vertical (recommended)	9:16, 720 × 1280 px minimum
Horizontal	16:9, 1280 × 720 px minimum
Square	1:1, 640 × 640 px minimum
Formats	.jpg, .jpeg, .png
File size	Within 100 MB
App name	4–40 Latin / 2–20 Asian characters
Brand name	2–20 Latin / 1–10 Asian characters
Ad description	1–100 Latin / 1–50 Asian characters

Emoji aren’t supported in app name or brand name. The description bans {, }, # and emoji. Punctuation and spaces count toward every limit.

Pangle ad assets:

Asset	Resolutions	Format	Max size
Video	1280×720, 720×1280, 720×720	.mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .avi	500 MB
Image	1200×628, 640×640, 720×1280	.jpg, .jpeg, .png	100 MB
Banner only	600×500, 640×200, 640×100	.jpg, .jpeg, .png	100 MB
Carousel	1200×628, 640×640, 720×1280	.jpg, .jpeg, .png	100 MB, up to 50 images
Playable	1280×720, 720×1280	.zip	5 MB

Global App Bundle video wants higher minimums than TikTok in-feed: 720×1280 vertical, 5 to 60 seconds with 21 to 30 recommended, within 500 MB, bitrate 516 kbps or higher. It adds .avi and drops .3gp.

6. TopView and Reserved Formats

Spec	Non-Spark & Spark Push	Spark Pull
Duration	5–60s, recommend 9–15s	No restriction
Resolution	9:16, 540 × 960 px minimum	—
Formats	.mp4, .mov, .mpeg, .3gp	.mp4, .mov
File size	500 MB	—
Bitrate	2,500 kbps minimum	—
Ad caption	Max 100 characters, 4 lines displayed	—

Note the bitrate jump. Reserved formats demand 2,500 kbps against auction’s 516. Nearly five times higher. Encode separately for reserved buys or you’ll fail the check.

TopView creatives require pre-approval, and TikTok reviews assets within 2 days. Build that into your launch timeline.

CTA background colour auto-matches the creative and can’t be customised.

Reservation In-Feed and Reach & Frequency use the same numbers, with a display name recommendation of 2–5 characters for CJK or 4–10 for other languages.

7. TikTok Search Ads

Keyword-driven, serving on TikTok’s search results page.

Item	Value
Supported creative	Video, carousel image ads, catalog product ads
Spark Ads	Supported
Per creative	One video or one carousel per creative
Default display	Only one video shows by default
Interactive add-ons	Display Cards only
Dynamic CTA	Supported

Search Ads have no unique specs. They reuse standard in-feed video and carousel dimensions. TikTok publishes no search-specific dimension, duration or headline limits.

On measurement: autoplayed ads count as both views and impressions. Still images count as impressions only. Video views track at 25, 50, 75 and 100%.

8. TikTok Shop Ads and GMV Max

TikTok Shop ads are videos only. No images, no carousels, no LIVE creative. Every video needs a product anchor link to be eligible.

Five eligible creative sources:

1. TikTok official account connected to the shop
2. TikTok business account connected to the shop
3. Authorised account connected to Shop Business Center
4. Authorised Spark Ads posts in the ad account running the campaign
5. ACA — Affiliate Creatives for Ads

You can set videos to appear in ads only, keeping them off your public profile.

Three account rules that catch people:

Dynamic CTA isn’t available on GMV Max. TikTok publishes no GMV Max-specific dimensions, so standard in-feed video specs apply.

9. Interactive Add-Ons, In Full

The most underused feature on the platform, and the hardest specs to find. Here they are.

Standard add-ons

Add-on	Specs
Display Card	Upload 1920 × 1080 px, displays at 750 × 421 px. .jpg/.jpeg/.png. Must be rectangular with a visible CTA button. Pop-up timing is automatic and fixed
Download Card	Shows app rating, review count, industry. Safe-zone templates downloadable. TikTok publishes no pixel values
Voting Sticker	Title up to 65 EN / 32 CJK characters. Options A and B up to 16 EN / 8 CJK each. Two options only. Colours: red, light blue, dark blue
Gift Code Sticker	Title up to 20 characters / 10 CJK. Code up to 21 / 10 CJK. Colours: grey or blue. Ad must include a URL
Countdown Sticker	Title up to 54 characters / 27 CJK. Text only, no #. Colours: orange, black, blue, pink. Auto-translates and auto-calculates to the viewer’s time zone. Ad must include a URL

Premium add-ons

Add-on	Specs
Pop-out Showcase	Element 448 × 448 px, .png, 100–500 KB. CTA text up to 27 EN / 13 CJK. Position X 125–515, Y 200–710. Set 3s after start, 5s before end. Video 8s minimum, 15s+ suggested
Gesture	Card 620 × 788 px, ≤3 MB, .jpg/.jpeg/.png/.gif. CTA area 620 × 168 px. Guidance text 27 EN / 13 CJK. Music required: 6 seconds, ≤100 KB, .mp3. Video 8s minimum, 15s+ preferred
Super Like	Floating image 196 × 196 px (min 160×160), output 200 × 200 px, .png, ≤50 KB. Rectangles need 24 px rounded corners, 2 px trim. Optional card 620 × 788 px, ≤3 MB
Shake Surprise	TopView only. Max 3 images, at least 2 different assets recommended. Message must land in 2–3 seconds
Story Selection	1 main video + 2 sub-videos. Main 5s min (6s for Focused View), 60s max. Sub-videos 30s max. Topic within 40 EN / 20 CJK characters. Cover images 144 × 192 px

The countdown sticker is the one I’d start with. It auto-translates, auto-calculates against the viewer’s time zone, and costs nothing extra. On a genuine deadline offer it’s close to free performance.

On the Gesture add-on, note the background music requirement: exactly 6 seconds, under 100 KB, .mp3. That’s oddly specific and it will fail your upload if you miss it.

10. Playable Ads

Spec	Value
Format	.zip with index.html in the root
Max size	Under 5 MB compressed
Config	config.json with orientation: 0 flexible, 1 portrait, 2 landscape
Pangle resolution	1280 × 720, 720 × 1280 px
Objective	App Promotion only
Optimisation goals	MAI, AEO, VBO

11. Every Character Limit in One Table

Field	Limit
Campaign name	512 characters
Ad group name	512 characters
Ad name	512 characters
Ad groups per campaign	999
Display name, in-feed	10 CJK / 20 other. One line, no emoji, no { }
Display name, recommended	2–5 CJK / 4–10 other
Ad caption, Spark Pull	150 characters, or blank
Ad caption, TopView	100 characters, 4 lines displayed
Ad caption, non-Spark	4 lines displayed. Recommended ≤50 CJK / ≤100 other
Ad description, Pangle/GAB	1–100 Latin / 1–50 Asian
App name, Pangle/GAB	4–40 Latin / 2–20 Asian
Brand name, Pangle/GAB	2–20 Latin / 1–10 Asian
CTA	Not free text. 25 fixed options
Spark Ads per account	10,000
Landing page URL	Not published

Counting rules TikTok states: punctuation and spaces count. On Pop-out Showcase and Gesture, half-width characters count as 1 and full-width as 2.

12. Profile Image and Logo

Spec	Value
Dimensions	98 × 98 px
Ratio	1:1
Formats	.jpg, .jpeg, .png
File size	Under 50 KB
Safe zone	Keep key elements in the centre 66 × 66 px
Required	Optional on auction in-feed

That centre 66 × 66 px is one of only three safe zone figures TikTok publishes numerically anywhere.

13. What TikTok Actually Recommends

From TikTok’s own creative best practices page — these are guidance, not limits.

Guidance	Value
Aspect ratio	9:16 vertical
Minimum resolution	At least 720p
Hook window	First 6 seconds
Core proposition delivered by	First 3 seconds
Text overlay pace	5–10 words per second
Creatives per ad group	3–5
Ad groups per campaign	3–5 diversified

Recommended durations by format:

1. Reservation in-feed and TopView: 9–15 seconds
2. Global App Bundle: 21–30 seconds
3. Automotive and Travel Ads: 21–34 seconds
4. Auction in-feed: TikTok publishes no recommendation

The 3-to-5 creatives per ad group figure is the one most people ignore. Smart Creative and Smart+ both need variety to optimise between. Two videos gives the system nothing to work with.

14. TikTok Creative Center and the Ads Library

Creative Center is free. TikTok describes it as a public home for creative resources — trends, ad examples, best practices and tools.

Current sections: Inspiration and Top Ads, Trends (hashtags, songs, creators, videos), Creative Tools (Symphony Creative Studio, Symphony Automation, Symphony API), Influencer Marketing via TikTok One, and the Commercial Music Library.

One live discrepancy worth knowing. TikTok’s help article states that a login isn’t required. The live Creative Center now gates Top Ads, Trends and the creative tools behind a login prompt. Expect to sign in.

Top Ads is where TikTok ads examples live — high-performing auction ads, filterable by region, objective, ad language, ad format and a likes threshold. Sort by For You, Reach or CTR.

The Commercial Content Library at library.tiktok.com is the TikTok ads library people actually mean. Two sections:

1. Ad Library gives advertiser identity and registered location, first-shown and last-shown dates, estimated unique reach, targeting criteria including age, gender, location and interests, plus geographic distribution and view counts by country.
2. Other Commercial Content covers creator username, brand sponsor, publication date and view counts for content disclosed as promotional.

Coverage is the EEA, Switzerland and the UK. Ad Library data is retained one year after last view. No TikTok account needed to search it.

If you’re doing competitive research, that’s where the real intelligence sits — targeting criteria and reach estimates, straight from TikTok.

15. The Specs TikTok Does Not Publish

This is the section that makes this page worth bookmarking. If someone quotes you a number for any of these, they invented it or copied someone who did.

1. Safe zone pixel margins. The widely-circulated figures — 130px top, 483px bottom, 44px left, 140px right — appear on no TikTok property. TikTok ships template files and says the zone varies by ad dimensions and caption length.
2. Hard caption character limit for auction in-feed non-Spark ads. Only “4 lines displayed” plus a recommendation.
3. Landing page URL character limit. Not published.
4. Minimum video duration for auction in-feed. The spec page states none. The policy page implies 5 seconds. TikTok’s own sources conflict.
5. Carousel ad caption character limit. Not on any carousel page.
6. Search Ads keyword count limits and budget minimums. Not published.
7. GMV Max creative dimensions, duration, file size or bitrate. Not published — assume standard in-feed.
8. Download Card, Shake Surprise and Super Like character limits. Not published.
9. Shake Surprise image dimensions, formats and file sizes. Not published.
10. Pangle text limits, app name, brand name and app icon specs. The Pangle asset page covers media only.
11. How many interactive add-ons can combine on one ad. Not published.

I’d rather tell you a number doesn’t exist than repeat one I can’t source. That’s the whole point of a reference page.

FAQs

Build to the Policy Page, Not the Spec Page

Where TikTok’s own documentation contradicts itself — and it does, on duration and on caption limits — the policy page is what gets your ad reviewed.

Encode at 1080 × 1920 and keep it under 60 seconds. Stay above 2,500 kbps if you’re touching reserved inventory.

Upload three to five variants per ad group.

Everything else on this page is detail you can look up. Those four things decide whether your ad runs.

Bookmark this. Specs change quarterly.