Vertical video ad specs for mobile boil down to one frame size you should default to — 1080×1920 pixels, a 9:16 aspect ratio, 30 frames per second — plus a handful of rules about safe zones, captions and sound that decide whether your ad actually looks right on a phone or gets cropped, pixelated, or ignored. Get the frame size wrong and every placement from TikTok to Instagram Reels will crop or letterbox your footage before a single person judges the creative.
What "vertical video ad specs for mobile" actually means
When people search for vertical video ad specs for mobile, they're usually trying to answer one of two questions: what size should I film or export at, and will this file actually play correctly once it's uploaded. Mobile vertical ads are built around how a phone is held — upright, in one hand — which is why the industry settled on 9:16 as the default aspect ratio rather than the 16:9 landscape shape built for TV and desktop.
A 9:16 frame fills the entire phone screen without black bars on the sides, which matters because every pixel of empty space is a pixel not showing your product. The practical spec that maps to 9:16 is 1080×1920 — 1080 pixels wide, 1920 pixels tall. That resolution is sharp enough for most phone screens without producing an unnecessarily large file.
The core specs every mobile vertical ad needs
Platforms vary slightly on maximum file size and bitrate recommendations, but the specs below are safe defaults that satisfy nearly every mobile ad placement running today.
| Spec | Recommended setting | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 | Fills the full phone screen with no letterboxing |
| Resolution | 1080×1920 | Standard HD vertical frame, sharp on current phone displays |
| Frame rate | 30 fps | Smooth playback without inflating file size unnecessarily |
| File format | MP4 (H.264 codec) | Broadly supported across ad platforms and devices |
| File size | Well under the platform's stated maximum | Large files can fail to upload or get compressed harder by the platform |
| Captions | Burned-in or platform captions, word-by-word where possible | Readable on mute and in noisy environments |
| Safe zone | Keep key text and logos inside the middle 80% of frame | Avoids being hidden behind usernames, buttons and captions UI |
If you're also deciding between formats for different placements, our guide to vertical video ad dimensions for social media breaks down how 9:16 compares with 4:5 and 1:1 across more platforms.
Platform-by-platform vertical specs for mobile
Most major platforms converged on the same core frame size, but duration limits and recommended lengths still differ. Treat the numbers below as starting points to confirm against the platform's current upload screen before you publish, since limits are occasionally adjusted.
| Placement | Aspect ratio | Typical duration to design for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TikTok in-feed | 9:16 | Short, usually under a minute | Full-screen native feel performs better than resized landscape footage |
| Instagram/Facebook Reels | 9:16 | Short, similar range to TikTok | Captions are especially important since autoplay often starts muted |
| Instagram/Facebook Stories | 9:16 | A few seconds to roughly 15-30 seconds per card | Tap-through behavior means the hook needs to land in the first second |
| YouTube Shorts | 9:16 | Short-form, roughly under a minute | Treat the bottom third as a safe zone — UI elements sit there |
| Meta feed video (mobile) | 9:16 or 4:5 | Flexible, often matches Reels length | 9:16 still outperforms square in most tests for mobile feed real estate |
If you're weighing whether to shoot square or vertical in the first place, square vs vertical video ads for social media walks through when each shape earns its keep. And if duration is the part you're unsure about, video ad length for Stories ads covers runtime by goal rather than by platform limit alone.
Safe zones and text placement for mobile screens
A spec sheet tells you the frame size. It doesn't tell you that a phone's interface — profile name, caption text, like and share buttons, progress bar — sits directly on top of your video. If your product name, price or call-to-action button sits too close to any edge, it will be covered.
- Keep your logo and primary call-to-action text inside the middle 80% of the frame, both vertically and horizontally.
- Avoid placing critical information in the bottom 15% of the frame on Reels, Shorts and TikTok — that's where UI elements like captions, usernames and action buttons typically sit.
- Leave the top 10% relatively clear too, since status bars and sometimes ad labels appear there.
- Test your export on an actual phone inside the native app before launching, not just in a desktop preview — emulators don't always reproduce the real overlay.
Sound, captions, and designing for mute
Mobile feeds are unpredictable environments for audio — some viewers will have sound on, many won't, and you can't control which. The safest approach is to design the ad so it communicates the offer and the hook visually, then treat sound as an enhancement rather than a requirement.
That means burning captions into the video itself rather than relying only on platform-generated captions, which can be inconsistent or absent. Word-by-word captions timed to the voiceover tend to hold attention better than full sentences appearing all at once, since they mimic the pacing of speech and give the eye something to track. Font choice matters here too — thin or low-contrast fonts disappear against busy backgrounds. Our guide on subtitle font choices for mobile video ads goes deeper on legible font pairings for small screens.
For the visual side of a mute-first approach, visual storytelling for silent video ads has concrete techniques for carrying a narrative without relying on dialogue.
Common mistakes that get vertical ads rejected or cropped
Most spec-related problems are avoidable once you know what to look for before export.
- Uploading a landscape 16:9 file and letting the platform auto-crop it — this usually cuts off the sides of the frame and often clips the subject or logo.
- Exporting at a non-standard resolution (for example 1080×1900) that gets stretched or padded by the platform's encoder.
- Placing the call-to-action text too close to the bottom edge, where it's covered by UI buttons on most apps.
- Using a frame rate far below 30fps, which can make motion look choppy on modern phone displays.
- Oversized files that get aggressively re-compressed by the platform, losing sharpness in exactly the frames meant to sell the product.
- Forgetting to also export 4:5 or 1:1 versions when a campaign also runs in placements that don't support 9:16, leading to a scramble to reformat later.
A simple pre-upload checklist
Run through this list before you publish any mobile vertical ad, regardless of platform.
- Confirm the export is 1080×1920, 9:16, 30fps, MP4.
- Check the file size against the platform's current limit for that placement.
- Preview on an actual phone, inside the native app if possible, to check for UI overlap.
- Confirm captions are legible against every background in the video, not just the opening frame.
- Watch the full ad muted — if the message doesn't land without sound, add on-screen text or adjust pacing.
- Export backup versions in 4:5 and 1:1 in case the campaign expands to other placements.
How FrameNotion fits into this
Getting specs right is table stakes, not a competitive edge — which is why FrameNotion handles the technical side automatically rather than leaving it to a checklist. Paste a product or website link into FrameNotion, and FrameNotion AI writes a 30-second vertical ad from scratch and renders it at 1080×1920, 30fps, ready for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Reels and Meta ads. Captions are word-by-word and burned in, voiceover and music are cut to the beat, and every ad is built to work with sound on or off.
Every finished ad also comes bundled as 4:5, 1:1 and 16:9, so you're not re-exporting for a placement that doesn't take 9:16. If you want to see how this looks on real products before trying it, browse example ads or check how it works and the plans to find the right fit for how many ads you need each month.
Frequently asked questions
What is the standard resolution for vertical video ad specs on mobile?+
1080×1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio is the standard default. It fills a phone screen edge to edge without letterboxing and is accepted across nearly every major mobile ad placement.
Can I use the same vertical video file across TikTok, Reels and Shorts?+
In most cases yes. All three generally accept a 9:16, 1080×1920, 30fps MP4. Where they differ is typical duration and where safe zones for UI overlays fall, so double-check placement of text near the top and bottom edges.
Do I need a different file for Stories versus in-feed placements?+
Usually not for the frame itself — both are commonly 9:16 — but Stories often work better as shorter, punchier cuts since viewers can tap through. Treat duration as a creative decision layered on top of the shared spec.
Why does my vertical ad look cropped after uploading?+
This almost always means the source file wasn't exported natively in 9:16. If you upload a 16:9 or square file, the platform's auto-crop can cut off parts of the frame, including logos or product shots positioned near the edges.
Should I design vertical ads assuming sound will be on or off?+
Design for sound off first. Make sure the hook, offer and call to action are understandable from visuals and captions alone, then add voiceover, music and sound effects as a layer that strengthens the ad rather than carries it.