LinkedIn ad specs and sizes for every format, checked against LinkedIn

LinkedIn's recommended single image ad size is 1200 x 628 pixels (1.91:1), with 1200 x 1200 for square and 720 x 900 for vertical, and carousel cards are 1080 x 1080. Intro text shows 150 characters before it cuts off and headlines show 70, and every number below was checked against LinkedIn's own spec pages on November 7, 2026.

LinkedIn ad specs for every format#

1 row per format, plus Lead Gen Forms. "Shown" is where the feed truncates text and "max" is the most a field accepts. Each format name links to the LinkedIn page its numbers come from.

Single image ad specs#

LinkedIn's single image Help page is the fullest source. The single image spec page repeats most of it, and its 2 differences are in the table near the end.

Sizes and ratios#

The spec page calls 1:1 the recommended ratio for desktop and mobile. A 1:1.91 vertical image (628 x 1200) uploads but gets borders on both sides, which 4:5 avoids. Files can be JPG, PNG or GIF up to 5 MB, with animated GIFs capped at 250 frames.

LinkedIn scales oversized images down for you. An image under 401 pixels wide shows as a thumbnail instead.

Text limits#

The 150 includes spaces, emojis and punctuation, and a link over 23 characters in the intro text gets shortened. The description shows only when the image is under 200 pixels wide or the ad runs on the LinkedIn Audience Network.

1200 x 627 or 1200 x 628?#

The Ads Guide says 1200x627 pixels, while the spec page and the Help page say 1200 x 628. Both round to 1.91:1 and sit far inside the 640 x 360 to 7680 x 4320 range. Use 1200 x 628, the number on 2 of LinkedIn's 3 pages.

Call to action buttons#

The button is optional, and the spec page lists 10 labels: Apply, Download, View Quote, Learn More, Sign Up, Subscribe, Register, Join, Attend and Request Demo. The API spells them as values like LEARN_MORE (see the last section).

Video ad specs#

The video Help page and the video spec page agree on sizes and file limits. They part ways on the intro text maximum and the frame rate.

Sizes#

The spec page allows a 5% aspect ratio tolerance. Nothing wider than 16:9 is accepted, and the Help page's example is a 1920 x 360 file that "is not tall enough for an ad."

File, length and sound#

• MP4 from 75 KB to 500 MB. Apple ProRes isn't supported.
• 3 seconds to 30 minutes, with 15 to 30 seconds recommended. A video under 30 seconds loops until it reaches 30 seconds of playback.
• H.264 or VP8, under 30 frames per second, with AAC or MPEG4 audio under 64 kHz.
• Captions as an SRT file, plain text only.
• An optional thumbnail, JPG or PNG up to 2 MB, at the video's own ratio and resolution.
• 25 uploads per 24 hours in Campaign Manager, from a desktop only.

Text limits#

Intro text shows 150 characters and the headline 70, with a 200-character headline maximum. For the intro text maximum, the Help page says 3,000 and the spec page says 600. Write under 600 and both are satisfied.

The same Help page contradicts itself on emojis. It allows 10 in the intro text, then warns further down that an ad "might be rejected" for non-standard text, including more than 4 emojis. Keep it to 4.

Carousel ad specs#

A carousel holds 2 to 10 cards at 1080 x 1080, up to 4320 x 4320 and 10 MB a card (carousel Help page). The feed shows each card at 312 x 312, so keep type on the cards large. Video cards aren't supported.

Intro text shows 150 characters and stops at 255. Card headlines get 45 characters whether the ad links to a URL or a Lead Gen Form, and they truncate after 2 lines. The Help page accepts JPG, PNG and non-animated GIF, while the carousel spec page says JPG or PNG.

Check every card before you save the ad, because the cards can't be edited after that. Buttons only appear on carousels that use a Lead Gen Form (Sponsored Content specifications).

Document ad specs#

Document ads take PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT or PPTX up to 100 MB, 300 pages or 1 million words, and up to 5 documents per upload. With the lead generation objective only PDF works. The document spec page recommends staying under 10 pages.

Intro text shows 150 characters (3,000 maximum) and the headline 70 (200 maximum). The headline starts out as the file name, so upload deck_final_v7.pdf without renaming it and that is what members read under your ad. LinkedIn asks for layered PDFs to be flattened and every page fitted to 1 size. Video and animation show as stills, and links work only after a download.

Thought leader ad specs#

A thought leader ad sponsors a member's own post, so the post's format decides the specs (Thought Leader Ads Help).

Which posts qualify#

Public text, single image, video, document, article and newsletter posts qualify, whether they come from employees or from members at any connection degree. Collaborative posts count too, as do attendee posts about a LinkedIn Live event your Page created. Celebrations, polls and multi-image posts aren't eligible, and a repost can't be sponsored, so you'd ask the original author instead.

The author's profile has to show their full name, and image and video posts must meet the specs above.

Add-ons for a sponsored post#

The thought leader spec page still says you can't add a headline or intro text and that there's no URL field or button. Links in the author's own text stay clickable, and event thought leader ads do get a button.

LinkedIn's Help page for authors approving a request, updated in early November 2026, describes 4 additions to the sponsored version of an approved post: a headline, a call to action button, a destination link and a Lead Gen Form. LinkedIn says it is "gradually making this feature available," so check your own Campaign Manager before planning around it.

Event and article ad specs#

Event ads promote a LinkedIn Event page and pull their 4:1 image from it, so there's nothing to upload. Intro text runs to 600 characters and the optional event name to 255. The URL has to point to a LinkedIn Event page (event ad spec page).

Article and newsletter ads sponsor an article or newsletter already published on LinkedIn. They follow the single image specs and take no headline, intro text or URL of your own. With the lead generation objective, which works for articles but not newsletters, the ad gets an "Unlock Article" button, and other objectives show none (article and newsletter spec page).

Connected TV ad specs#

Connected TV ads run on streaming platforms, and a video has to meet the specs below to be eligible.

Some inventory may not take 75 or 90 seconds, so keep a 60-second cut ready. The Help page puts the minimum bit rate at 1.2 Mbps and the connected TV spec page at 12 Mbps, and 15 Mbps or more clears both.

Conversation and message ad specs#

Both are Sponsored Messaging formats. A message ad is a single message, while a conversation ad opens with a message whose buttons lead to more messages.

Members in the European Economic Area and Switzerland only receive either format if they opted in to Sponsored Messaging in their inbox.

Text, spotlight and follower ad specs#

All 3 run in the right rail, and each has its own Help page: text ads, spotlight ads and follower ads.

Lead Gen Form specs#

A Lead Gen Form takes a 60-character headline, 160 characters of details and an optional image at 552 x 200. It can ask up to 12 questions, up to 3 of them custom at 100 characters each.

Privacy policy text runs to 2,000 characters, each of up to 5 disclosure checkboxes to 500, and the thank-you message to 300. The landing page URL after the form takes up to 2,000 characters.

Where LinkedIn's own pages disagree#

LinkedIn publishes specs in 3 places: Help Center articles, the spec pages on business.linkedin.com and the Ads Guide. On November 7, 2026 they conflicted in 12 places, 1 of them inside a single Help page. Where they differ, use the stricter number and the ad passes whichever page Campaign Manager follows.

Each time LinkedIn changes a number, a new row goes in with the date it was checked.

Creating ads through the API#

Campaign Manager's labels aren't the API's field names. In the Posts API, intro text is commentary, the destination is contentLandingPage and the button is contentCallToActionLabel. The post schema takes 13 button values: the 10 Campaign Manager labels, SEE_MORE, and BUY_NOW and SHOP_NOW from version 202504.

The ad format is fixed when the ad set, which the API calls a campaign, is created. Every creative has to match it, and video, carousel and dynamic ad sets need it set at creation (Campaigns API). Campaign Manager won't change it after launch either (Edit an ad set).

If you edit a live ad's post through the API, the change doesn't show in Campaign Manager's editor, so new copy goes out as a new ad (Adwarp's ad tools).

By Stan Rymkiewicz, maintainer of adwarp. Published November 7, 2026.