TikTok Ad Specs and Safe Zones: 2026 Guide

TikTok's spec page for In-Feed ads fits on one screen. The part people search for, the safe zone, is not on it as numbers: it is a set of picture files to download.

This guide reads TikTok's Auction In-Feed Ads page and its creative best practices page as they stood on 28 October 2026, and measures the safe zone files linked from the first. Everything below is from TikTok's pages unless it says it is our measurement or our arithmetic.

We are a small studio that makes short product films for software and apps. The last section says how we work; everything before it stands on its own.

The short answer

How TikTok words its specs

Unlike Meta and Google Play, TikTok's spec page does not split its list into requirements and advice. It gives limits (minimum size, file size, bitrate, length) and marks one choice as recommended: vertical 9:16. In this guide, TikTok spec marks a line from the Auction In-Feed Ads page, and TikTok recommends marks a line from its creative best practices page, which describes itself as "general best practices that have worked well for advertisers."

The spec page covers two kinds of In-Feed ad. Spark Ads run an existing organic TikTok post as the ad. Non-Spark Ads are videos uploaded in Ads Manager, which is the case for a film made for the ad. Most of the numbers below are for Non-Spark Ads.

Sizes, length and files

TikTok spec From TikTok's Auction In-Feed Ads page as read on 28 October 2026. The page says it was last updated in June 2026.

In TikTok's words, the sizes are "Vertical (recommended) : 9:16, more than or equal to 540*960px", "Horizontal : 16:9, more than or equal to 960*540px" and "Square : 1:1, more than or equal to 640*640px". The minimum is low; the best practices page asks for "at least 720P resolution", and a 1080 x 1920 export is the usual choice for a 9:16 ad.

The length limit is generous. "Video duration : up to 10 minutes" for Non-Spark Ads, and "Video duration : No restrictions" for Spark Ads. The best practices page does not set a length, but its advice on the first 3 and 6 seconds (below) is what decides how a short ad is built.

The safe zone, in pixels

TikTok spec TikTok's page says: "The safe zone size is determined by the dimension (vertical, horizontal, or square), ad caption length, and any additional formats used. Downloadable safe zone files are available below." It offers four zip files: standard and Arabic (right to left), each with and without an anchor. It adds that "All regions, except the Arabic region, should download the standard safe zone file," and warns: "There might be slight differences between the preview and the live version since the ad preview is not specific to a device."

Our measurement. The standard file holds one picture, 2880 x 5120 pixels, labelled as a 720 x 1280 frame. We measured its coloured areas pixel by pixel on 28 October 2026. On that 720 x 1280 frame the clear areas are 160 px at the top, 440 at the bottom and 80 at each side, plus a column 120 px wide on the right, inside the side margin, from 560 px down to the bottom band. That column is where TikTok's like, comment and share buttons sit.

The same areas at the three sizes a 9:16 ad is usually made at (our arithmetic: TikTok's 720 x 1280 file scaled):

On 1080 x 1920 that leaves a safe area 840 px wide from 240 to 1260 px down, narrowed to 660 px wide below 840 px. In plain terms: headlines and the product belong in the upper middle of the frame, and nothing that matters goes in the bottom third or by the right edge.

With an anchor, by caption length

TikTok spec An anchor is the small link label that can sit above the ad text (the files show it as a product link). TikTok's page says: "If using anchors in the video ads, please download the safe zone files with the anchor." The anchor zip has twelve pictures, four each for vertical, square and horizontal video, and a note: "The 4 versions of in-feed safe zone show how safe zone varied when clients provide different lines of copy. From one line to 4 lines."

Our measurement. The vertical pictures are labelled on a 540 x 960 frame. We read the labels and checked them against the drawn edges. The top band is 126 px, each side 60 px, and the right margin widens to 120 px from 180 px down. The bottom band depends on the ad text:

On 1080 x 1920 with an anchor that means 252 px clear at the top, 120 at the left, 120 at the right down to 360 px and 240 below that. With four lines of ad text, the safe area is 654 px tall: about the top half of the screen, minus the band at the top. Short ad text buys picture space.

The anchor zip's square and horizontal pictures show the same idea for 1:1 and 16:9 video, which the files draw inside a 9:16 phone screen with the interface around it. We have not turned those into pixel tables here.

Ad text, profile photo and name

TikTok spec The rest of TikTok's page covers what sits around the video:

• Ad text, Non-Spark. "Displayed in white with a uniform font that can't be customized. Does not support any clickable links, symbols (@), or hashtags."
• Ad text, Spark. "Extracted directly from the organic video captions." Up to four lines are shown.
• Profile photo. Optional, 98 x 98 px, .jpg, .jpeg or .png, under 50 KB. "The key element should be in the center of the 66px*66px-sized image to prevent it from being cropped." Without one, Non-Spark Ads get a default picture.
• Account name. One line, up to 20 characters (10 in Chinese, Japanese and Korean). For app ads it is taken from the App Store or Google Play.
• Download card. For app ads only, "Automatically generated and shown immediately after the appearance of the call-to-action content or background color."

TikTok's creative advice

TikTok recommends From the creative best practices page (last updated June 2025, read 28 October 2026). These are recommendations, not limits, and TikTok says "every campaign is different."

• The basics. "Ensure that you have the basics, such as using sound/ music, orienting vertically at 9:16, shooting at least 720P resolution, and keeping your content visible within the UI safe zone as per ad specifications."
• The first seconds. "Prioritize your hook in the first 6 seconds to boost engagement and increase watch time." And: "Introduce your content proposition in the first 3 seconds for better recall and awareness."
• Words on screen. "We recommend displaying 5-10 words per second when using text."
• Structure. "Have a hook, highlight your unique selling points, and end with a clear call-to-action."
• How many versions. "We suggest between 3-5 different creatives per ad group and 3-5 diversified ad groups per campaign." And: "it is always better to use creatives with big differences, especially when testing."
• The look. "In terms of aesthetics, go for a DIY or not overly polished style so that it fits in with the user-generated content on TikTok." TikTok also recommends featuring people such as creators, employees or customers.

The last point is worth stating plainly, because it does not match what we make. Our films are designed motion built around a product's screens, which is a polished look. TikTok's advice favours footage that looks like ordinary posts, often with a person on camera. A designed film can still run as an In-Feed ad; it is one of the three to five different creatives TikTok suggests testing, not a replacement for them.

One frame for TikTok and Meta

The same 9:16 film usually runs on TikTok and on Instagram and Facebook. Our Meta video ad specs guide works out Meta's safe zone on 1080 x 1920 as 269 px clear at the top, 672 at the bottom and 65 at each side. Putting the two together (our arithmetic, standard TikTok file, no anchor):

• Sides. TikTok's 120 px is the stricter; keep everything between 120 and 960 px across.
• Top. Meta's 269 px is the stricter.
• Bottom. Meta's 672 px is the stricter by 12 px; keep everything above 1248 px down.
• The right column. Only TikTok has it: keep the area from 780 to 960 px across and below 840 px down clear as well.

So a frame laid out in the box from 120 to 960 px across and 269 to 1248 px down, with that lower right block left clear, sits inside both platforms' safe zones. With a TikTok anchor and more than one line of ad text, TikTok's bottom band is larger again, so plan for the table above.

Where other guides differ

We read two roundups that rank for this topic on 28 October 2026. Where they differ from TikTok's pages:

• The safe zone numbers. One gives the In-Feed standard safe zone as 80 px at the sides, 160 at the top and 440 at the bottom, without the frame size. Those are the numbers on TikTok's 720 x 1280 file; on a 1080 x 1920 export they are 120, 240 and 660. The same guide leaves out the column by the buttons on the right.
• Length. One gives In-Feed video length as 5 to 60 seconds. TikTok's page gives up to 10 minutes for Non-Spark Ads and no restriction for Spark Ads.
• Caption length. Neither turns the anchor files into numbers, so neither shows that each extra line of ad text takes about 33 px more of a 540 x 960 frame.

The checklist

Before you edit

• Download TikTok's safe zone files: the anchor set if the ad will carry an anchor.
• Decide the ad text first; every line moves the bottom band up.
• Write the proposition into the first 3 seconds and the hook into the first 6.
• Plan three or more versions that differ a lot, not one.

Exporting

• 9:16 at 1080 x 1920, .mp4 or .mov, under 500 MB, 516 kbps or more.
• Words and product inside 240 px top, 660 bottom, 120 sides, and out of the 180 px column by the buttons.
• For Meta as well, keep inside 120 to 960 across and 269 to 1248 down.
• Sound on, with words on screen at a pace of 5 to 10 words a second or slower.

Before it runs

• Check the preview in Ads Manager, and remember TikTok's note that the preview is not specific to a device.
• Profile photo 98 x 98 px under 50 KB, logo inside the middle 66 x 66.
• No links, @ or hashtags in Non-Spark ad text.

Sources

Every page below was read in full on 28 October 2026, and the safe zone files were downloaded and measured the same day.

• TikTok Business Help Centre, TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads (last updated June 2026), with its safe zone files In-Feed Standard and In-Feed with Anchor Standard
• TikTok Business Help Centre, Creative best practices for performance ads (last updated June 2025)