Facebook Reels size, length and format (2026)

Facebook changed its video rules in 2025, and the rules for Reels now sit on several different Meta pages: the Facebook Help Center, the Meta Business Help Center, and Meta for Developers. They don't always say the same thing. This guide puts the numbers in one place as checked in October 2026, and explains the biggest gap: the Facebook app has no length limit for Reels, but the tools that schedule Reels still do.

In this guide, "in the Facebook app" means what you can do by hand in Facebook or Meta Business Suite. "From a scheduling app" means what Meta's Reels publishing API accepts, which is what every scheduler has to follow. That API only publishes Reels to Facebook Pages, not personal profiles.

Facebook Reels size and specs at a glance

The best size for a Reel: 1080 × 1920

The shape that meets every rule is vertical 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 pixels. It's the size Meta's Reels publishing docs recommend, and it's well above their 540 × 960 minimum. The Facebook Help Center says Reels can have any aspect ratio, so a square or horizontal video will upload from the app. A scheduling app, though, is held to the 9:16 shape the developer docs list.

Meta's tips for Reels go further than the file rules. They say to use vertical video and to avoid reels that are:

• Blurry because of low resolution.
• Visibly recycled from other apps, for example with a watermark.
• Uploaded with a border around the video.
• Horizontal.

Meta says this kind of content will be less discoverable on Facebook. So don't pad a horizontal video with bars to fake a vertical one, and post a clean file rather than a copy saved from another app. The same advice applies if you're posting one video everywhere; see how to post the same video on TikTok, Instagram and Shorts.

None of the Meta pages we checked give safe-zone margins for regular Reels. Facebook puts its buttons and your caption over the video, so keep text away from the edges and check the preview before you post. To see the safe zone Meta publishes for Reels ads on a frame of your own video, use the free safe zone checker.

How long can a Facebook Reel be?

In the Facebook app there is no limit. Meta's June 2025 announcement says all videos on Facebook are shared as reels and that Reels have no length or format restrictions. Its business help page agrees: there is no minimum or maximum length. Meta added that Facebook remains a home for short, long and live video, and that this rolled out gradually over the months after June 2025. The Help Center's September 2025 update says every video you post, except Stories and Live, is now a Reel.

Scheduling apps work with a different range. Meta's Reels publishing docs, last updated July 30, 2026, say a Reel must be 3 to 90 seconds long, and a Reel published as a Story on a Page can't pass 60 seconds. We couldn't find an official page that explains why the app and the API differ, so go by the one you're posting through.

In practice:

• Up to 90 seconds: any tool can post it as a Reel.
• Longer than 90 seconds: post it from the Facebook app, where Meta lists no limit, or send it from a scheduling app as a regular video instead of a Reel.
• Stories: keep video to 60 seconds.

Meta's Stories API docs use the same video rules and also say a photo or video used in a Story can't have been used in a post you already published.

File size, format and frame rate

Meta's Reels requirements page lists these settings for the Facebook app:

• MP4 recommended, at 1080p.
• H.264 or H.265 video recommended, and H.264, H.265, VP9 or AV1 supported.
• 24 to 60 frames per second, with a closed GOP (keyframe interval) of 2 to 5 seconds.
• Chroma subsampling 4:2:0, square pixels and progressive scan.
• Stereo AAC low complexity audio at 44.1 or 48 kHz, with a bitrate of 128 kbps or more.
• HDR video is recommended, though Meta says some creative effects don't work with HDR yet.

The developer docs list nearly the same settings, with two differences: audio is 48 kHz only, and there's a fixed frame rate. If you export your video as an H.264 MP4 at 1080 × 1920 with AAC audio at 48 kHz and 30 fps, it meets the main settings on both lists.

File size is the gap. Neither the Help Center nor the developer docs give a maximum file size for Reels, so we can't quote one. Meta also limits the Reels API to 30 API-published posts within a 24-hour moving period, which only matters if you schedule a lot of them.

Covers, captions and subtitles

Covers. On a computer, the Facebook app lets you select a cover image while you set up a Reel. In Meta Business Suite on desktop, a video Reel has a Thumbnail step where you choose one or upload an image. Through the API, a cover is a separate thumbnail upload of up to 10 MB, and Meta recommends the same aspect ratio as the video.

Captions. In the app, a description and hashtags are optional, and hashtags help people find your Reel in search. Through the API, the description can include hashtags and there's a separate title field. We couldn't find a character limit for Reel descriptions on Meta's pages.

Subtitles. In Meta Business Suite on desktop you can turn on closed captions, upload a subtitle file or have Meta AI translate your voice. These are settings inside Meta's tools.

Audience. Reels from Pages can only be posted publicly.

How to schedule a Reel in Meta Business Suite

Meta's own scheduler works like this on desktop, per its help page for Reels. You need full control of the Page or content permission for it.

1. Open Meta Business Suite and click Create reel.
2. Under Post to, choose your Facebook Page.
3. Click Add video, then choose a thumbnail or upload an image.
4. Add a caption under Reel details, and click Next.
5. Edit the audio, aspect ratio or length if you like, and click Next.
6. Choose to schedule in advance, share now or save a draft, and pick the date and time.

The Reels page doesn't give a scheduling window. Meta's page on scheduling Page posts says you can schedule between 20 minutes and 29 days ahead.

How Unisenda handles Facebook Reels

Unisenda posts to Facebook Pages (not personal profiles) and follows the API rules above:

1. Click Create post and add a video from the Media library. Upload MP4, MOV or WebM files of up to 500 MB.
2. Select your Facebook Page and open its tab. Choose Reel, Feed video or Story.
3. Write the caption in All networks, or give the Page its own caption in its tab.
4. Check the phone preview. Unisenda flags what a network would reject before you schedule.
5. Pick a date and time in Schedule for and click Schedule, or click Post now or Save draft.

What to know:

• Reel or feed video: Reels sent through Unisenda can be 3 to 90 seconds, so a longer cut goes to your Page as a feed video. Meta's developer pages don't say how a feed video is labeled now that all new videos are Reels, so look at your Page after the first post.
• Your file: Unisenda sends your original without compression where Facebook accepts it. Phone videos in MOV or HEVC get an H.264 MP4 copy automatically, and your original stays in your library.
• Words on screen: use Edit to trim the video or add text. The text becomes part of the picture.
• What it doesn't do: Unisenda doesn't set a cover for Facebook Reels, so Facebook picks one. It adds music only to Instagram Reels, and it doesn't upload subtitle files. Use Meta Business Suite if you need those.

You can try all of this with sample accounts in the demo, where nothing is ever published, and every plan starts with a 7-day free trial. Posting the same video to Instagram too? See our Instagram Reels size guide.