What Are Meta's Recommended Character Limits for Facebook and Instagram Ad Text?

Meta's recommended character limits for Facebook and Instagram ads are about 125 characters for primary text, 40 characters for the headline, and 25 characters for the description, based on Meta's own ad specifications. The technical maximum for primary text is far higher, at 2,200 characters, but text beyond roughly 125 characters gets cut off behind a "See more" link on most feed placements.

Recommended vs. Technical Maximum

• Primary text — around 125 characters recommended to display in full on mobile feed; up to 2,200 characters technically accepted.
• Headline — around 40 characters recommended before it risks getting cut off in the ad unit.
• Description — around 25 characters recommended; this field appears below the headline on some placements and is dropped entirely on others.

Why 125 Characters Is the Number That Matters

Meta's feed ad unit on mobile — where most Facebook and Instagram ad impressions are served — only displays roughly the first 125 characters of primary text before truncating it and showing a "See more" link. Anything written past that point still exists in the ad and is technically readable, but it requires an extra tap from the viewer, which is friction most advertisers would rather not add to their core message. Meta's own guidance describes primary text as working best across 1 to 3 lines, which lines up with the 125-character practical cutoff.

Limits Vary by Placement

The 125-character cutoff applies to the standard Feed placement, but Stories, Reels, and the right-column placement each crop primary text differently, and some show less room than the main Feed unit does. Because Meta serves the same ad creative across placements automatically through Advantage+ placements, text that reads cleanly in Feed can still get cut off somewhere else in the rotation — Meta's own ad preview tool inside Ads Manager is the way to check each placement individually before publishing.

Headline and Description Are Secondary to Primary Text

Not every placement shows the headline and description fields at all — link ads in Feed show all three, but some Stories and Reels formats drop the description, and a few formats drop both and rely on primary text alone. Writing your core message into primary text rather than splitting it across all three fields protects against losing part of your message on placements that don't render every field.

Bottom Line

Write your primary text to deliver its full message within about 125 characters, keep the headline under roughly 40 characters, and check the ad preview for each placement you're running before assuming your full text will display everywhere.

Source: Meta Business Help Center ad specifications and creative guidance for Facebook and Instagram ads.