The Cheat Sheet: Updated LinkedIn Ad Specs for 2026
Don’t let blurry images or cut-off text ruin your campaign. Here are the correct sizes you need to know to look professional.
You spent hours coming up with a great idea for an ad. You wrote a catchy headline. You picked a great picture. You hit "publish" and feel great.
But then, you check your phone. The image is blurry. The headline is cut off in the middle of a sentence. It looks amateur.
This happens all the time. LinkedIn changes its layout often, and it can be hard to keep up with the rules. When your ad looks "broken," people scroll right past it. They assume your product is broken, too.
To help you look your best, we put together this expanded guide to the most important ad specs for 2026.
1. The "Single Image" Ad (The Standard) This is the most common ad type. It appears directly in the newsfeed and looks just like a normal post from a connection.
File Type: JPG or PNG. (Avoid GIF, they often don't work well for ads).
The Golden Ratio: 1:1 (Square).
Why? In the past, people used landscape (rectangle) images. But today, most people use LinkedIn on their phones. A square image takes up more vertical space on a phone screen. The more space you take up, the more attention you get.
Resolution: 1080 x 1080 pixels.
File Size: Keep it under 5MB. If it is too big, it loads slowly, and people will scroll past before it appears.
2. The Carousel Ad (The Slider) Carousel ads allow you to show multiple images in a row that users can swipe through. These are great for telling a story or showing different features of your product.
Ratio: 1:1 (Square) is still the best choice here.
Quantity: You can have 2 to 10 cards. We recommend using 3 to 5 cards. If you use too many, people won't swipe to the end.
Important Note: Make sure your first card hooks the reader immediately so they want to swipe to see the second one.
Text Limits (Don’t Get Cut Off) You can write a lot of text in the caption, but LinkedIn will hide most of it behind a "...see more" button.
Intro Text: You have about 150 characters before the text is hidden. Put your biggest benefit or most important question in that first sentence.
Headline: This is the bold text right under the image. Keep it under 70 characters. If it is longer, it might get cut off on mobile devices.
The "Safe Zone" Rule When designing your image, try not to put important text or logos right on the very edge of the picture. Different phones might crop the edges slightly. Leave a little bit of "breathing room" around the borders of your design to be safe.
Never Worry About Specs Again Memorizing pixel numbers is boring. You have a business to run.
When you use Stirling, you don't need to worry about ratios or safe zones. Our platform automatically builds your ads to fit LinkedIn’s requirements perfectly, every single time.
Get It Right the First Time Ensure your ads look crisp on every device. Create perfectly sized ads instantly at TryStirling.com.
