YouTube Shorts — Video Specs
YouTube Shorts accepts 1080 × 1920 recommended (1080p is the maximum shorts resolution) at 9:16 vertical or 1:1 square — any square/vertical clip ≤ 3 min is auto-classified as a short, up to 3 minutes (expanded from 60 s in Oct 2024) per upload. Use this page as a quick reference before exporting from your editor — every value is sourced from the official platform documentation.
Specs at a glance
- Resolution
- 1080 × 1920 recommended (1080p is the maximum Shorts resolution)
- Aspect ratio
- 9:16 vertical or 1:1 square — any square/vertical clip ≤ 3 min is auto-classified as a Short
- Max duration
- 3 minutes (expanded from 60 s in Oct 2024)
- Max file size
- 256 GB (inherits the standard upload limit)
- Framerate
- 24–60 fps
- Video bitrate
- 8–12 Mbps recommended (1080p)
- Video codec
- H.264 High Profile in MP4 (inherits standard upload encoding)
- Audio codec
- AAC-LC or Opus, stereo
- Audio bitrate
- 128–384 kbps
- Max title chars
- 100
- Max description chars
- 5,000
How it compares
YouTube Shorts side-by-side with the platforms creators most often weigh against it.
| Platform | Resolution | Aspect ratio | Frame rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Shorts | 1080 × 1920 recommended (1080p is the maximum Shorts resolution) | 9:16 vertical or 1:1 square — any square/vertical clip ≤ 3 min is auto-classified as a Short | 24–60 fps | Vertical short-form |
| Instagram Reels | 1080 × 1920 recommended (1080p is the maximum Reels resolution) | 9:16 (vertical) | 23–60 fps (30 recommended) | Vertical short-form |
| TikTok Feed videos | 1080 × 1920 recommended | 9:16 (vertical); 1:1 and 16:9 supported with letterbox | 23–60 fps (30 fps standard, 60 fps for high motion) | Vertical short-form |
| YouTube Standard videos | Up to 7680 × 4320 (8K) supported; 1920 × 1080 recommended (min 1280 × 720 for 16:9) | 16:9 (standard); other ratios pillar- or letter-boxed by the player | 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60 fps (encode at the recorded rate; deinterlace first) | Long-form |
How to choose for YouTube Shorts
Always export at 1080 × 1920 — Shorts uploaded under 1080p look noticeably soft on the swipe feed, and 1080p is the ceiling Shorts will store. 9:16 vertical is ideal; 1:1 square also qualifies as a Short, but a 16:9 clip will be published as a regular video instead. 30 fps is plenty for talking-head Shorts; reserve 60 fps for fast-motion gameplay or sports.
Best practices
- 01Compose for the vertical safe area — the bottom ~250 px and right ~100 px are covered by the title, like button, and channel handle on most viewports.
- 02Hook in the first 1–2 seconds; the Shorts feed swipe makes your first frame your only chance.
- 03Keep it square or vertical and ≤ 3 minutes — a 16:9 clip or anything over 3 minutes is treated as a long-form upload, not a Short.
- 04Bake in captions or use YouTube's auto-captions; the large majority of Shorts plays start muted.
- 05Keep videos under 60 seconds for the densest watch-time-per-second on the Shorts shelf.