Carousel ad
A carousel ad is a single ad made of several cards that people swipe or click through. Each card is its own image or video with its own headline, description, link and call to action. On Meta a carousel holds 2 to 10 cards, usually square. Advertisers use it to show several products, several features of one product, or a story told in steps.
How does Meta define a carousel ad?
Meta's About carousel ads page:
The carousel format lets you show 2 or more images and videos in a single ad, each with its own headline, description, link and call to action. To scroll through a carousel, people swipe on their mobile device or click the arrows on their computer screen.
Its suggested uses include featuring "multiple products that link to different landing pages", highlighting "multiple features of a single product", telling a story and explaining a process. Meta's carousel best practices set the limit: "You can include up to 10 cards in each carousel ad."
What size are carousel ad cards?
| Placement | Shape | Other specs |
|---|---|---|
| Facebook Feed | 1:1, at least 1080 × 1080 | primary text 80, headline 20, description 18 characters |
| Instagram Feed | 4:5 for images only, 1:1 once any card is a video | at least 1080 × 1080, video 1 second to 2 minutes |
Meta's pages don't fully agree on 4:5. The ads guide's Instagram Feed carousel page lists it for image carousels. The best-practices page says: "The 4:5 aspect ratio is only available for Advantage+ catalog ads that are created using the carousel format and with product images from your catalog." On video they agree: "we recommend the square (1:1) aspect ratio for each video."
TikTok uses the same name for something different. Its carousel ads are image ads in the feed, 2 to 35 images, covered in TikTok's specs.
Does Meta change a carousel ad after you publish it?
It can, in three ways Meta's pages name:
- As a video. "Your carousel ad may appear as a slideshow video automatically when this format is likely to improve your ad performance."
- A different first card on Instagram. Custom positioning "starts the carousel on a card based on people's preferences, while card order and creative remains the same."
- Optimizations you opt into. The best-practices page lists "Automatically show the best performing cards first", "Display carousel cards as a video", an end card with your Page picture, music and a map card.
So the card you designed as the opener is not always the one people see first.
What it means for your ads
- Make every card work alone. Any one of them can be the first card, so none can depend on the card before it.
- Keep the set visually consistent. Meta asks for images "from the same shoot or that feel similar to each other", and its aspect ratio page for consistent ratios "to prevent automated adjustments".
- Give each card its own link when cards show different products.
- Design square. Meta's pages disagree on 4:5 for image carousels, and one video card turns an Instagram carousel square either way.
Common mistakes
- Quoting "1.75 cards seen on mobile". The figure circulates on third-party spec guides and isn't on any Meta page cited here.
- Running a catalog carousel on a small product set. "If the number of available items in the set ever falls to less than 2, your carousel ad turns into a single image ad or stops running."
Sources
- About carousel ads — Meta Business Help Center: the definition, suggested uses, the automatic slideshow and Instagram custom positioning (rendered in a browser, accessed 2026-10-16)
- Best practices for carousel ads — Meta Business Help Center: the 10-card limit, 1:1 for video, the 4:5 catalog note, carousel optimizations and the product-set rule (rendered in a browser, accessed 2026-10-16)
- Best practices for aspect ratios — Meta Business Help Center: consistent carousel ratios "to prevent automated adjustments" (rendered in a browser, accessed 2026-10-16)
- Meta Ads Guide: carousel ads on Facebook Feed — Meta: at least 1080 × 1080 and the text lengths (rendered in a browser, accessed 2026-10-16)
- Meta Ads Guide: carousel ads on Instagram Feed — Meta: 4:5 for image carousels, 1:1 with video, video duration (rendered in a browser, accessed 2026-09-19)
- Specifications for Carousel Ads — TikTok Ads Manager help: 2 to 35 images (accessed 2026-09-15)
Meta's help pages are client-rendered and show no date; they were read in a real browser. The Instagram carousel specs come from this site's spec page, checked on 19 September 2026. Meta revises these pages without notice, so check the source before acting on any of it.
Terrads makes square and 4:5 image ads composed for their frame, so each card can be a finished ad rather than a crop of one.