Social Media Video Size Guide (2026)

If you post video anywhere, you have hit this problem: every platform wants a slightly different size, and getting it wrong means black bars, cropped faces, or captions buried under interface buttons. This guide collects the current 2026 video specifications for the nine biggest platforms — aspect ratio, recommended resolution, maximum length, maximum file size, and the safe zones that decide whether your text survives the platform's overlays. Use the filter above to jump to a single platform, or read on for the rules that tie them all together.

The one aspect ratio that works almost everywhere

For short-form video, 9:16 vertical is the format to master. At 1080 x 1920 pixels it fills the screen on TikTok, Instagram Reels and Stories, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Reels, Snapchat Spotlight, and vertical Pinterest Pins. That is six discovery surfaces from a single export. If you only produce one shape of video, make it 9:16 — it is the default of the modern feed, and every algorithm now favors full-screen vertical for reach.

When to use 1:1 and 4:5 instead

Vertical dominates short-form, but in-feed posts on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X reward a taller-than-wide-but-not-full-screen shape. A 1:1 square (1080 x 1080) is the safest all-rounder because it looks identical on every feed. A 4:5 portrait (1080 x 1350) takes even more vertical real estate on mobile without triggering the full-screen Reels player, which is why it consistently earns more in-feed attention than a landscape clip. Save 16:9 landscape (1920 x 1080) for standard YouTube, connected-TV viewing, and any video where the tweet or post caption carries the context.

Resolution: why 1080 x 1920 is the standard

Almost every vertical placement recommends 1080 x 1920 pixels. That is 1080p, the sweet spot where files stay small enough to upload fast but sharp enough to look crisp on modern phones. You can shoot and upload in higher resolutions — 4K vertical is 2160 x 3840 — and platforms will happily accept it, but they re-encode everything down for delivery, so the practical target is 1080p. The one rule that never changes: upload the highest-quality source you have and let the platform compress it. Uploading an already-compressed file compresses it twice and looks noticeably worse.

Safe zones — the mistake that quietly kills good clips

Every platform layers its interface on top of your video: the creator handle, the caption, the like, comment and share buttons, the progress bar, and the audio label. On a vertical video, roughly the top 10 percent and the bottom 15 to 20 percent — plus the right edge on TikTok and Reels — can be covered. If your headline text or a face sits in those zones, viewers never see it. Keep every critical element inside the center of the frame. This single habit separates clips that read clearly from clips where the hook is hidden behind a comment count.

Length and file-size limits change — verify before big uploads

Maximum lengths and file sizes move around as platforms chase watch time. TikTok now accepts uploads up to 60 minutes, YouTube Shorts stretched to 3 minutes, and X gives longer allowances to Premium accounts. The numbers in the table above reflect the widely documented 2026 limits, but they are ceilings, not targets — short-form still performs best well under a minute regardless of what the platform allows. When you are about to publish something unusually long or large, double-check the current limit in the app, since these are the specs that change most often.

Frequently asked questions