ReelVideo size and safe zones for Shorts, Reels and TikTok
Export vertical video at 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16) as an H.264 MP4 at 30 fps. Keep text and faces inside the central safe area, away from the top, the bottom and the right edge, where the app draws its buttons and captions. Use 1920 × 1080 (16:9) for a normal YouTube video.
Video size by platform
| Platform | Aspect ratio | Recommended pixels | Max length | Max file size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Shorts | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | 3 minutes (square or vertical) | Check the platform's upload help |
| Instagram Reels | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | Check the platform's upload help | Check the platform's upload help |
| TikTok | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | Check the platform's upload help | Check the platform's upload help |
| YouTube (16:9) | 16:9 | 1920 × 1080 (3840 × 2160 for 4K) | Up to 12 hours for verified accounts | Up to 256 GB |
| Instagram feed | 4:5 | 1080 × 1350 | Check the platform's upload help | Check the platform's upload help |
| X | 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 | Check the platform's upload help | Check the platform's upload help | Check the platform's upload help |
YouTube Shorts length from YouTube Help; the 12-hour and 256 GB limits for 16:9 uploads from YouTube Help: upload videos longer than 15 minutes. Length and size limits change often and differ by account type, so where the table says to check, the platform's own upload help is the source to trust.
Safe zone
As a rule of thumb, keep key text and faces about 10% from the top edge and about 20% from the bottom edge, where the caption, the account name and the progress bar sit. Leave an extra margin on the right edge for the like, comment and share buttons. On a 1080 × 1920 frame that is roughly 190 px at the top and 380 px at the bottom.
The exact overlay differs by app and changes with updates. Preview the video in the app before you post it, and move anything that a button covers.
Make a video at exactly this size
ReelStyles kits give your coding agent a film style to animate in code, and 46 of the 126 styles render in 9:16. Your agent writes an MP4 at the size above on your own computer. Browse the styles, see the formats, or the price.
Need other numbers? The aspect ratio calculator converts any width and height, and the video file size calculator turns a bitrate and length into a file size.
More free tools: all tools.