There are five types of Instagram ads by format: image, video, carousel, collection and flexible. Each one can show in up to six Instagram placements: Feed, profile feed, Explore home, Stories, Reels and search results. Which format and placement you get depends on the objective you pick first in Meta Ads Manager.
Every spec and rule on this page comes from Meta's own Ads Guide and Business Help Center, read as of October 2026. Meta updates this table, so the limits below are the October 2026 version.
What most guides leave out is that the three choices lock each other. Pick the Leads objective and choose Calls as your conversion location, and Instagram Reels disappears as a placement. Pick Reels and add a video card to a carousel, and it won't deliver there. You can't choose a format in isolation.
The five Instagram ad formats
| Format | What you get | Instagram limit to know |
|---|---|---|
| Image | One photo with your text and a call to action | Meta recommends 4:5 for Feed images |
| Video | One video, from a few seconds up to an hour depending on placement | Reels ads stop at 15 minutes |
| Carousel | 2 to 10 swipeable cards, each with its own link | Only image carousels run in Reels |
| Collection | A large cover image or video with smaller product images from your catalog; tapping the cover opens a full-screen Instant Experience | Supported in Instagram Feed, Stories and Reels |
| Flexible | Up to 10 images and videos in one ad, and Meta decides whether to show them as a single image, video or carousel | Only for Traffic, Engagement, Sales and App promotion campaigns |
The six Instagram placements
- Instagram Feed: the home feed, in the app and on desktop and mobile web.
- Instagram profile feed: ads inside the feed view of public profiles of people 18 and over.
- Instagram Explore home: a tile in the Explore grid with your logo and an Ad label.
- Instagram Stories: full-screen vertical ads between people's Stories.
- Instagram Reels: full-screen ads in the Reels tab.
- Instagram search results: ads in the results when someone types a search in the Instagram app.
One change from early 2026: Meta removed the separate Instagram Explore placement from Ads Manager in January 2026. People who tap an Explore tile now land in a Reels viewer, so your Reels ads show there instead. Instagram Explore home, the grid itself, is still a placement you can choose.
The six objectives and what they change
| Objective | Use it to | Instagram detail from Meta's table |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Reach as many relevant people as possible | Instagram search results only appears if you choose placements yourself |
| Traffic | Send people to a website, app or chat | Flexible format available |
| Engagement | Get messages, video views, likes or event responses | Reels isn't available if the conversion location is On your ad or your Facebook Page |
| Leads | Collect contact details or calls | Reels isn't available if the conversion location is Calls |
| App promotion | Get installs or in-app actions | Explore home video ads only support 9:16 |
| Sales | Drive purchases or catalog sales | Every format, including collection, works in Instagram Feed |
For video specifically, Meta says single video ads work with all six objectives, and it recommends Awareness if you want the video remembered by as many people as possible.
Format limits by Instagram placement
These are the quiet rules from Meta's formats-by-objective table that decide what can run where:
- In Instagram Reels, carousels must be image only.
- In Instagram Explore home, carousels must be 1:1.
- In Instagram profile feed, video ads for Engagement and Leads only support 4:5 tall and 1.91:1 wide videos.
- In Instagram Feed, carousels with any video card must be 1:1.
- For Awareness campaigns, Instagram search results only appears if you pick placements yourself.
How to choose a format in Ads Manager
- Click + Create campaign and pick your objective first, because it decides which formats you'll see.
- Set your audience, budget and placements in the ad set.
- In the Ad setup section, choose Flexible, Single image or video, Carousel or Collection. If one is missing, click More options.
- If Collection doesn't appear in Ad setup, look in the Ad creative section under Format display options, where Meta says you can still select it.
- Preview the ad in each Instagram placement before you publish.
Other Instagram ad types you'll hear about
Some names describe what an ad does rather than its format. Lead ads use an instant form so people can send their details without leaving Instagram. Stories ads are getting a call-to-action sticker that Meta places at the bottom automatically. And partnership ads run through a creator's handle with your brand on it, which this guide to Instagram partnership ads explains. If you're comparing the Instagram list with Facebook's, Meta's collection ads format is the one that works most differently between the two.
Before you choose, it's worth knowing roughly what you'll spend: what Instagram ads cost covers what to budget.
Which type should you start with?
If you're new to Instagram ads, I'd start with one objective that matches the result you can measure, usually Traffic or Leads, and run an image ad in 4:5 next to a 9:16 video. Leave placements on Advantage+ for the first test so Meta can find where your ad works, then cut placements that don't pay. Carousels come next, once you know which products or messages people click.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
This guide is part of my Instagram Help: 81 Guides to Followers, Hashtags, Money, Accounts and Fixes.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main types of Instagram ads?
By format there are five: image, video, carousel, collection and flexible. They run in Instagram Feed, profile feed, Explore home, Stories, Reels and search results.
Which Instagram ad objective should I choose?
Pick the result you can measure. Meta's six objectives are Awareness, Traffic, Engagement, Leads, App promotion and Sales, and each one changes which placements and formats are available.
Can carousel ads run in Instagram Reels?
Only carousel image ads are supported in the Instagram Reels placement.
Is Instagram Explore still an ad placement?
Instagram Explore home, the grid, is still a placement. Meta removed the separate Explore feed placement in January 2026, and Reels ads now show where that feed used to be.
What is the flexible ad format on Instagram?
You add up to 10 images and videos to one ad and Meta decides whether to show a single image, video or carousel to each person. It's only available for Traffic, Engagement, Sales and App promotion campaigns.
