On this page
Shorts, TikToks and Reels all fill a phone held upright. So they share one shape, and one size is enough for all three. Here it is, with the few details that differ from app to app.
one size for all three apps
The one size to use
Export your shorts at 1080 × 1920 pixels, a shape of 9:16. The ratio only describes the shape: 9 parts wide for every 16 parts tall, like a phone screen.
Other 9:16 sizes work too. 720 × 1280 is smaller and a little softer; 2160 × 3840 (4K) is sharper but much heavier to upload. For talking videos, 1080 × 1920 is the sweet spot.
Sizes for each app
The size is the same everywhere. What differs is how long a video can be, and how you set its cover.
YouTube Shorts
- Shape
- 9:16, or square (1:1)
- Best size
- 1080 × 1920
- Longest
- 3 minutes
- Cover
- Pick a frame; custom images rolling out to partners
TikTok
- Shape
- 9:16
- Best size
- 1080 × 1920
- Longest
- 10 minutes in the app; up to 60 when uploaded, on many accounts
- Cover
- Pick a frame, add text on it
Instagram Reels
- Shape
- 9:16
- Best size
- 1080 × 1920
- Longest
- 3 minutes for most; up to 20 minutes rolling out
- Cover
- Pick a frame, or upload an image
Safe zones: where the buttons sit
Each app lays its own buttons and text over your video: a bar at the top, likes and shares down one side, your name and caption at the bottom. Anything under them is hard to see, so keep faces and on-screen words in the middle.
Keep clear, on a 1080 × 1920 video
| Top | about 12% | ≈ 230 px |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom | about 25% | ≈ 480 px |
| Button side (usually right) | about 18% | ≈ 190 px |
| Other side | about 6% | ≈ 65 px |
Covers and thumbnails
The cover is what people see on your profile and in search, so it should say what the short is about in a few big words.
- YouTube: pick a frame from the Short. Since July 2026, custom images have been rolling out to Partner Program creators.
- TikTok: pick a frame and add text on it.
- Instagram: pick a frame, or upload an image from your phone.
Make the cover 1080 × 1920 too, and keep its words near the middle: profile grids often show a cropped version of it.
Got a wide video? Make it 9:16
Most long videos are 16:9. To turn a piece of one into a short, you have three choices:
For talking videos, crop and follow the speaker: faces stay big and easy to read. Fit-with-blur keeps everything in the shot but makes it small. Split screen works well when two people talk.
Free · Tool Vertical video converter Turn any clip vertical in your browser: crop, fit or blur. Free, no watermark, nothing uploaded.Export settings that keep the quality
Before you upload, check these. They are YouTube’s recommended upload settings, and they suit TikTok and Reels just as well.
- An MP4 file
- H.264 video
- AAC audio at 48 kHz
- The frame rate you filmed in (e.g. 30 or 60)
- About 8 Mbps at 30 fps, 12 Mbps at 60 fps
- 1080 × 1920, filling the whole frame
Sources