Best Aspect Ratio and Size for Reels, YouTube Shorts and TikTok

Use 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 for Reels, Shorts and TikTok, and 4:5 at 1080 × 1350 for the Instagram feed. That covers most cases. Below is the full table, plus the safe zones that keep your captions from hiding under buttons.

Quick reference table

Platforms change limits on length and upload size from time to time, so check the current help pages before a big campaign. The ratios above have been stable for years.

Why 9:16 wins on phones

A vertical frame fills the whole phone screen, so nothing else competes for attention. Horizontal 16:9 video shown in a vertical feed shrinks to a thin strip with black bars, which looks like a repost and usually gets less watch time.

Safe zones: keep text away from the buttons

Each app places its own buttons, captions and profile info over your video. As a rule of thumb, keep important text and faces inside the middle of the frame:

• Leave roughly the top 10–15% clear for the app header.
• Leave the bottom 20–25% clear for captions, music and the account name.
• Keep a margin on the right side, where the like and share buttons sit.

One edit, every format

You don't need to re-edit for each platform. Edit once, then switch the output between 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 and 16:9. In Pixtale Edits your crops, captions and layers adapt when you change the format, so the same clip works everywhere.

How long should each format be?

Aspect ratio is only half the picture; length matters as much. On every short-video platform, the clips that do best are usually the ones people finish. That favours 15–45 seconds for punchy moments and up to 60–90 seconds for stories that keep paying off. Instagram and YouTube have both raised their maximum lengths over the last two years, but a higher limit doesn't mean longer clips perform better. Edit to the point where the idea ends.

For feed videos in 4:5, people scroll past faster, so the first frame matters even more. Use a strong still image or a bold text hook as the opening frame.

Resolution, frame rate and file type

• Resolution: 1080 × 1920 for vertical. Upload at 1080p even if your source is 4K; the apps compress everything anyway.
• Frame rate: keep the frame rate of your source, usually 24, 25 or 30 fps. Converting between them can cause stutter.
• File type: MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio is accepted everywhere and uploads quickly.
• Bitrate: around 8–12 Mbps for 1080p is plenty for talking-head content.

Covers and thumbnails

The cover image of a Reel shows in a 4:5 crop on your profile grid, while the video itself is 9:16. Keep your cover's important text in the centre so it isn't cut off. YouTube Shorts lets you pick a frame as the thumbnail; choose a clear face with an expression that hints at the payoff.

Mistakes that make clips look like reposts

• Black bars above and below a 16:9 video.
• Captions from another app burned in at the wrong size.
• A watermark from a different platform.
• Text placed under the like and share buttons.

Each of these tells viewers (and the algorithm) that the clip wasn't made for this app. Reframing to the right aspect ratio and placing text inside the safe zone fixes most of them.

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