What is the best size for YouTube Shorts?

1080 × 1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio. It fills a phone screen with no bars. Square 1080 × 1080 videos also count as Shorts but leave empty space above and below.

How long can a YouTube Short be?

Up to three minutes. Square and vertical videos up to three minutes are categorized as Shorts; anything longer is a regular video.

Can a 16:9 video be a Short?

No. Only square or vertical videos count as Shorts. Convert a horizontal clip to 9:16 first, by cropping it or fitting it over a blurred background.

Is the Shorts size the same as Instagram Reels and TikTok?

Yes: all three use 1080 × 1920 at 9:16, so one export works everywhere. The apps cover slightly different parts of the screen, so keep captions in the middle area that is clear in all of them.

Should I upload Shorts in 4K?

You can. YouTube accepts 2160 × 3840 Shorts, and a higher-resolution upload can look a little sharper after YouTube’s compression on large screens. For most phones, 1080 × 1920 looks the same and uploads faster.

YouTube Shorts size, 2026.

The frame, the length rule, and the parts of the screen YouTube covers, so your Short looks right the first time.

By Divy Yadav, founder of Cutmallow. Facts checked 23 October 2026.

The short answer

The YouTube Shorts size is 1080 × 1920 pixels, a vertical 9:16 aspect ratio. YouTube treats any video with a square or vertical aspect ratio that is up to three minutes long as a Short; wider videos, such as 16:9, are treated as regular videos whatever their length. Export an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound at the frame rate you filmed (24 to 60 fps), and keep captions out of the bottom 18% of the frame, where YouTube shows the title, channel name and music.

YouTube Shorts specs
Spec	Value	Notes
Frame size	1080 × 1920	Full HD vertical; fills the phone screen
Aspect ratio	9:16 (or 1:1)	Square or vertical counts as a Short; 16:9 does not
Longest Short	3 minutes	Videos over 3 minutes are regular videos
4K	2160 × 3840	Accepted; plays at the viewer’s screen size
Frame rate	24 to 60 fps	Keep the rate you filmed at
File	MP4, H.264 + AAC	Also accepts MOV, WebM and HEVC

What makes a video a Short

YouTube decides by two things only: the shape and the length. A video that is square or vertical and is up to three minutes long is categorized as a Short when you upload it. YouTube made three minutes the limit on 15 October 2024; before that it was 60 seconds. There is no separate upload form: upload the vertical video from the YouTube app or YouTube Studio and it appears in the Shorts feed.

A 16:9 video is never a Short, even if it is 20 seconds long. If you filmed horizontally, convert it to 9:16 before uploading, by cropping to fill the frame or by fitting it over a blurred background. The free video resizer does that on your device, and its 9:16 output is the same frame Shorts use.

Shorts safe zones: what YouTube covers

The Shorts player draws the title, channel name, subscribe button and music line at the bottom, and the like, dislike, comment, share and remix buttons down the right side. These are the zones Cutmallow’s editor marks on a 1080 × 1920 Short, kept on the cautious side because the layout varies by phone:

Bottom: about 346 pixels (the lowest 18%). Keep captions above it.
Right edge: about 151 pixels wide (14%), in the lower half. Keep faces and text to the left of it.
Top: about 154 pixels (8%), where the search and menu icons sit.

Captions about two thirds of the way down the frame sit clear of all of it. In Cutmallow, auto captions can be dragged anywhere on the frame, and the safe-zone overlay shows where they stay readable.

Length: when to go past 60 seconds

Three minutes is the limit, not a target. Shorts are swiped away in a second or two, so the first sentence carries the video. A longer Short works when every second earns its place: a tutorial with steps, a story with a payoff. The fastest way to tighten one is to cut the pauses between sentences, which often removes 20 to 30% of a talking-head take without losing a word. The free silence remover does it in one tap.

One rule to know: YouTube’s help center says Shorts longer than one minute that have an active Content ID claim (usually from copyrighted music) are blocked globally. Use music you have rights to, or keep the Short under a minute.

Export settings for Shorts

Resolution: 1080 × 1920. 720 × 1280 is accepted but looks soft on large phones.
Format: MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound, which YouTube processes fastest.
Bitrate: about 10 to 12 Mbps at 30 fps, or 15 to 16 Mbps at 60 fps for 1080 × 1920.
Frame rate: the one you filmed at. Converting 30 fps to 60 adds nothing.

Cutmallow’s editor starts every project as a 1080 × 1920 frame and exports H.264 MP4 at those bitrates, with no watermark. Your video never leaves your device.

Thumbnail and title

In the Shorts feed, people see the video itself, not a thumbnail. Thumbnails matter on your channel page and in search, where YouTube shows a frame you choose. In the YouTube app you can pick that frame while uploading; pick one with a clear face or the main object in the middle. Keep titles short and specific: they show over the bottom of the video, and only the first line is visible.

Questions people ask

What is the best size for YouTube Shorts?: 1080 × 1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio. It fills a phone screen with no bars. Square 1080 × 1080 videos also count as Shorts but leave empty space above and below.
How long can a YouTube Short be?: Up to three minutes. Square and vertical videos up to three minutes are categorized as Shorts; anything longer is a regular video.
Can a 16:9 video be a Short?: No. Only square or vertical videos count as Shorts. Convert a horizontal clip to 9:16 first, by cropping it or fitting it over a blurred background.
Is the Shorts size the same as Instagram Reels and TikTok?: Yes: all three use 1080 × 1920 at 9:16, so one export works everywhere. The apps cover slightly different parts of the screen, so keep captions in the middle area that is clear in all of them.
Should I upload Shorts in 4K?: You can. YouTube accepts 2160 × 3840 Shorts, and a higher-resolution upload can look a little sharper after YouTube’s compression on large screens. For most phones, 1080 × 1920 looks the same and uploads faster.

Instagram Reels size: the Reels numbers and cover crops.
Remove silence: tighten a Short in one tap.
Resize to 9:16: turn a horizontal clip into a Short.
All guides and all free tools.

Sources

Platform limits change. These were checked on 23 October 2026 against the pages above. Instagram, YouTube and the other products named here are trademarks of their owners; Cutmallow is not affiliated with them.