# Social media video sizes for every platform

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/social-video-sizes)

Four shapes cover almost every platform. Learn them, design for the tallest first, and one video can go everywhere without awkward crops.

## The short version

- Almost every social platform uses one of four video shapes: vertical 9:16, portrait 4:5, square 1:1 or landscape 16:9.
- The vertical 1080×1920 frame is used by Instagram Reels and Stories, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Stories, Snapchat and WhatsApp Status.
- Portrait 1080×1350 is the feed shape on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X and LinkedIn, and takes more screen than square or landscape.
- Length limits and file rules change often, so check each platform's help centre rather than relying on a list.
- Designing for 9:16 first, with the important content in the centre, makes it easiest to adapt one video to every other shape.

**Social media video sizes** come down to four shapes. Vertical 1080×1920 (9:16) is used for Reels, Stories, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat and WhatsApp Status. Portrait 1080×1350 (4:5) is the feed shape on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X and LinkedIn. Square 1080×1080 (1:1) works almost everywhere as a fallback. Landscape 1920×1080 (16:9) is for YouTube, websites and screens. Export at those exact pixel sizes as MP4 and the platforms have nothing to crop or rescale.

- Vertical 9:16: 1080 × 1920
- Portrait 4:5: 1080 × 1350
- Square 1:1: 1080 × 1080
- Landscape 16:9: 1920 × 1080

The four shapes to scale. On a phone held upright, the taller the frame, the more of the screen it fills.

## Video sizes by platform

| Platform | Format | Size (px) | Ratio |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Instagram | Reels and Stories | 1080×1920 | 9:16 |
| Instagram | Feed, portrait | 1080×1350 | 4:5 |
| Instagram | Feed, square | 1080×1080 | 1:1 |
| TikTok | Video | 1080×1920 | 9:16 |
| YouTube | Shorts | 1080×1920 | 9:16 |
| YouTube | Standard video | 1920×1080 | 16:9 |
| Facebook | Stories and Reels | 1080×1920 | 9:16 |
| Facebook | Feed, portrait | 1080×1350 | 4:5 |
| Facebook | Feed, square | 1200×1200 | 1:1 |
| LinkedIn | Feed, portrait | 1080×1350 | 4:5 |
| LinkedIn | Feed, square | 1200×1200 | 1:1 |
| X | Post, landscape | 1600×900 | 16:9 |
| X | Post, portrait | 1080×1350 | 4:5 |
| Threads | Post | 1080×1350 | 4:5 |
| Bluesky | Post | 1600×900 | 16:9 |
| Pinterest | Video pin | 1000×1500 | 2:3 |
| Snapchat | Story | 1080×1920 | 9:16 |
| WhatsApp | Status | 1080×1920 | 9:16 |
| Spotify | Canvas | 1080×1920 | 9:16 |

Recommended upload sizes. Platforms accept other sizes but crop, letterbox or rescale them.

Notice how often the same few sizes repeat. A vertical video made for Reels also suits TikTok, Shorts, Snapchat and WhatsApp with no changes beyond checking where each app places its buttons. For still images on the same platforms, see [social media image sizes](https://gradiently.design/guide/social-media-image-sizes).

Where a platform offers several shapes, choose by where the video will be seen. In a scrolling feed, portrait 4:5 takes the most room and is usually the better pick over square. On X and Bluesky, landscape 16:9 still sits naturally in the timeline, but a portrait 1080×1350 video takes more of a phone screen. Pinterest favours tall 2:3 pins, so a vertical design cropped to 1000×1500 usually works well there.

## Length limits and file rules

Platforms change their maximum lengths, file sizes and frame rate rules regularly, sometimes more than once a year, and they vary by account type and region. Any list you read elsewhere is likely to be out of date somewhere. Check the source when it matters: [Instagram Help](https://help.instagram.com/), YouTube's [recommended upload settings](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171) and [X's video help](https://help.x.com/en/using-x/x-videos) are the places to look.

What doesn't change is the practical advice. Export **MP4** with H.264 video, at the exact frame size, at a steady frame rate such as 30 fps, with good quality settings. Platforms re-encode everything you upload, so a clean, sharp original is the best way to make the compressed version look right. The format choice is covered in [MP4 vs WebM](https://gradiently.design/guide/mp4-vs-webm).

| Setting | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Container | MP4 |
| Video codec | H.264 |
| Frame rate | 30 fps for designed motion; match the camera for footage |
| Colour | sRGB, standard dynamic range unless you know the platform supports HDR |
| Audio | AAC, or no audio track for silent loops |

Settings every platform accepts. For frame rate choices, see [frame rate explained](https://gradiently.design/guide/frame-rate-explained).

## Safe zones: where the app covers your video

Vertical apps draw their interface on top of the video: names and captions at the bottom, buttons down the right, progress bars and account details at the top. Your video still fills the frame, but anything placed under those overlays is hidden. Keep words, logos and faces in the centre of the frame and treat the edges as background.

Vertical event video frame announcing an open studio on Saturday, text centred in the safe area

Vertical: the words sit in the middle band, clear of the top bar and the bottom caption area.

Portrait feed version of the same open studio announcement at four by five

The same design at 4:5 for the feed. Because the content was centred, nothing important is lost.

Exact overlay positions differ between apps and move with redesigns. [Social media safe zones](https://gradiently.design/guide/social-media-safe-zones) keeps the current map, and [Instagram Story size](https://gradiently.design/guide/instagram-story-size) shows the bands for stories in pixels.

## How to plan one video for every platform

1. **Design the 9:16 version first** It is the tallest and the one most platforms favour. Keep everything important inside the central square of the frame.
2. **Derive 4:5 and 1:1 from it** Because the key content sits in the centre, the feed versions are mostly a reframe rather than a redesign.
3. **Make 16:9 separately when it matters** Landscape is a different composition. For YouTube or a website hero, rearrange the words side by side instead of cropping.
4. **Check each one at full size** Look for words near the edges, a logo under the buttons and a background that now crops awkwardly.
5. **Export each at its exact size** Upload 1080×1920 to vertical formats and 1080×1350 to feeds, never one stretched into the other.

### Avoid

- A landscape video uploaded to Reels with black bars
- Text placed right at the bottom of a vertical frame
- One file cropped by each platform however it likes
- Low resolution exports that get blurrier after upload

### Do

- A version made for each shape you publish
- Words in the middle band, clear of the interface
- Exact pixel sizes so nothing is rescaled
- A sharp MP4 original at 1080 px or more

This is the part Gradiently takes off your hands. On Pro you can resize a design to every size in one step, and the Mark behind it is rendered fresh for each frame rather than cropped, so the calm area still lands behind your words in 9:16 and in 4:5. Then export each version as video. If your clips are mostly backgrounds with words, [Reels and TikTok backgrounds](https://gradiently.design/guide/reels-tiktok-backgrounds) has ideas to start from.

## FAQ

### What is the best video size for social media?

1080×1920 (9:16) is the most widely used, covering Reels, Stories, TikTok, Shorts and more. For feed posts, 1080×1350 (4:5) takes the most screen space.

### What size is an Instagram Reel?

1080×1920 pixels, a 9:16 vertical frame. Keep words away from the bottom and right edge, where Instagram places captions and buttons.

### Can I use one video size for every platform?

You can upload 1080×1920 to all vertical formats, but feeds and YouTube need other shapes. Design the vertical version with content centred, then make 4:5, 1:1 and 16:9 versions from it.

### What is the maximum video length on each platform?

Platforms change their limits often and they can differ by account. Check each platform's help centre for the current figures before planning a long video.

### What format should I upload social videos in?

MP4 with H.264 video. Every major platform accepts it, and it gives the platform a clean original to re-encode.