Video Sizes for TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Every Platform
Use 1080x1920 for TikTok, Reels, Shorts and Stories; 1920x1080 for a standard YouTube video; and 1080x1080 for a square feed post. Those three cover almost everything. Getting the shape right matters far more than the resolution.
Below is every size worth knowing, then the part that actually ruins videos: the safe zones, where the platform's own buttons sit on top of your footage.
The three shapes that matter
| Shape | Pixels | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical 9:16 | 1080 x 1920 | TikTok, Reels, Shorts, all Stories |
| Landscape 16:9 | 1920 x 1080 | YouTube main videos, TVs, presentations |
| Square 1:1 | 1080 x 1080 | Feed posts on Instagram and Facebook |
If you only remember one thing: vertical for anything watched on a phone held upright, landscape for anything watched on a screen sitting still.
Platform by platform
| Platform | Size | Max length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TikTok | 1080 x 1920 | 10 min (up to 60 for some) | Vertical only in practice |
| Instagram Reels | 1080 x 1920 | 3 min | Cropped to 4:5 in the feed preview |
| Instagram feed video | 1080 x 1350 | 60 min | Portrait 4:5 gets the most screen space |
| Instagram Story | 1080 x 1920 | 60 sec per card | Splits automatically past 60 sec |
| YouTube | 1920 x 1080 | 12 hours | 4K is 3840 x 2160 |
| YouTube Shorts | 1080 x 1920 | 3 min | Must be vertical or square |
| Facebook feed | 1080 x 1350 | 240 min | Portrait outperforms landscape |
| Facebook Story | 1080 x 1920 | 20 sec per card | |
| X / Twitter | 1280 x 720 | 2 min 20 | Landscape or square |
| 1920 x 1080 | 10 min | Landscape still normal here | |
| 1000 x 1500 | 15 min | 2:3 is the native pin shape | |
| WhatsApp status | 1080 x 1920 | 30 sec | Heavily compressed |
Safe zones — the part that ruins videos
Every vertical platform puts its own interface on top of your video. Text placed in those areas is covered, and you will not notice until after you post.
Top of a vertical video: roughly the first 250 pixels of a 1920-pixel-tall frame carry the account name, the follow button and story progress bars.
Bottom of a vertical video: roughly the last 400 pixels carry the caption, the sound name and the reply box. On TikTok this area is especially crowded.
Right edge of a vertical video: roughly 200 pixels on TikTok and Reels carry the like, comment, share and profile buttons stacked vertically.
The practical rule: keep anything that must be read inside the central portion of the frame, leaving 250 pixels clear at the top, 400 at the bottom and 200 on the right. That is a smaller area than most people expect, and it is why professional vertical video keeps text in the middle third.
Why you should export separately per platform
Exporting one landscape video and letting each platform crop it is the most common mistake. Automatic cropping takes the centre, which is frequently not where the subject is, and it will cut the top off heads and the bottom off text.
Exporting the same footage three times at three shapes takes a few extra minutes and looks deliberate rather than reused. If you only have time for one, make it vertical — that is where the majority of watch time now is.
Does resolution matter?
Less than people think. 1080p is the practical ceiling for social video, because every platform re-compresses uploads and the difference between a 1080p and a 4K source largely disappears in that process.
Where 4K helps is if you plan to crop or zoom in editing. Shooting at 4K and exporting at 1080p lets you reframe without softening the image. Uploading 4K directly to a phone-first platform is mostly wasted bandwidth.
Frame rate matters more than resolution for how a video feels. 30fps is standard, 60fps looks smoother for motion, 24fps looks more filmic. Match your export to what you filmed — converting between frame rates causes stutter.
File size and format
Format: MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio. Every platform accepts it. There is no reason to use anything else for an upload.
Bitrate: 8 to 12 Mbps for 1080p. Higher gains you nothing after the platform re-encodes.
Keep the file under 500MB where possible. Larger files fail more often on mobile uploads and take longer to process.
Getting the shape right for a birthday video
A birthday video is almost always watched on a phone, sent in a message, or played on a story. That means vertical, 1080 x 1920, with the name in the middle third of the frame where no interface element will cover it.
If it is going on a television at a party instead, that is the one case where landscape 1920 x 1080 is correct.
Common questions
What size should a TikTok video be? 1080 x 1920, vertical 9:16. Keep text in the middle of the frame — the bottom 400 pixels and right 200 pixels are covered by the interface.
What is the best video size for YouTube? 1920 x 1080 for standard videos, 1080 x 1920 for Shorts. Upload 4K only if you filmed in 4K.
Can I use the same video on TikTok, Reels and Shorts? Yes, all three use 1080 x 1920. Just check the safe zones, as each puts its buttons in slightly different places.
Does 4K matter for social media? Rarely. Platforms re-compress everything, so 1080p is the practical ceiling. 4K is useful for cropping in editing, not for uploading.
Why is my video cropped after uploading? You uploaded the wrong shape and the platform cropped it centrally. Export at the platform's native aspect ratio rather than letting it crop.
What frame rate should I use? 30fps is the safe default. Match whatever you filmed at — converting between frame rates introduces visible stutter.