Social Video Sizes in 2026: Shorts, Reels, and TikTok Dimensions
One 1080x1920 canvas covers all three platforms - but the safe zones do not line up, and that is what actually ruins your videos. Full dimensions, safe-zone margins, lengths, and how to check your own frame before you post.
The short answer
Export at 1080 × 1920, 9:16. That one file works on YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok with no re-export. The dimensions are the easy part - what actually ruins videos is the safe zone, because each app parks its buttons and captions in a different place, and none of them match.
Vertical video converged on a single canvas years ago, which is genuinely good news: you render once and post everywhere. The trouble is that every platform draws its interface on top of your frame. Text that sits comfortably above the fold on TikTok can end up behind the caption on Reels. Below is the full spec for each platform, the margins you need to respect, and a way to check your own video before you post rather than after.
Dimensions and limits
| Platform | Resolution | Ratio | Max length | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Shorts | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | 3 minutes | Anything longer is treated as a regular video, not a Short |
| Instagram Reels | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | 20 minutes | Reels over 3 minutes are not recommended to new audiences |
| TikTok | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | 10 min in-app / 60 min upload | Longest ceiling, shortest attention span |
The Reels caveat is the one that costs people reach. Instagram raised the Reels limit from 3 minutes to 20 in late 2025, but the recommendation system still treats 3 minutes as the cutoff - go past it and your Reel is largely shown to people who already follow you. The limit is not an invitation.
For cross-posting, 15-60 seconds is the range that performs on all three without compromise.
Safe zones: the part that actually breaks
Each app reserves space for captions, the audio credit, the action rail, and its own title overlays. Margins at 1080 × 1920, as of August 2026:
| Platform | Top | Bottom | Left | Right |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram / Facebook Reels | 269 px | 672 px | 65 px | 65 px |
| Instagram / Facebook Stories | 269 px | 384 px | 65 px | 65 px |
| TikTok | ~140 px | ~400 px | ~60 px | ~180 px (action rail) |
| YouTube Shorts | ~140 px | ~320 px | ~60 px | ~140 px |
| Safe everywhere | 269 px | 672 px | 65 px | 180 px |
The Meta figures are its published spec - the platform unified its 9:16 safe zones in March 2026 and now states them as percentages of the frame. TikTok and Shorts do not publish equivalents, so those are measured approximations. We break the Meta numbers down properly in the Instagram Story and Reels safe zone guide.
Take the worst case of each edge and you get a usable rule: keep anything that must be read inside the middle 835 × 979 of the frame.
That bottom margin is bigger than people expect - just over a third of the frame on Reels. It is why burned-in subtitles sitting near the bottom, which look fine in your editor, end up jammed behind the caption and the audio credit.
YouTube Shorts safe zone
YouTube does not publish a safe zone the way Meta does, so treat these as measured rather than official: roughly 140 px at the top for the title and channel row, 320 px at the bottom for the description and controls, 60 px on the left, and 140 px on the right for the action buttons. Shorts is the most forgiving of the three - if your video clears the Reels safe zone, it clears Shorts comfortably.
These numbers move
Interface overlays change with app updates, and they differ between phone models and notch sizes. Treat the table as a starting point, not gospel - and check your own frame against the real app, which takes about a minute using the method below.
How to check your own video
You do not need a template pack for this. The fastest reliable check uses a frame of your actual video:
- Pull a still from the busiest part of your video - whichever moment has the most text or the subject closest to an edge. The frame grabber steps through frames so you can land on that exact moment; use the first or last frame extractor if your title or end card is the risk.
- Open it on your phone at full screen and compare it against the app you are posting to. Overlays sit in the same place every time, so a static frame tells you everything a test upload would.
- Or post it as a private draft and screenshot the result. Slower, but it accounts for your specific device.
Frames come out at full source resolution and nothing leaves your device, so this works on client footage and unreleased edits too.
Other ratios worth knowing
Vertical is not the only format, and posting a 9:16 file where a 4:5 belongs wastes a lot of screen:
| Use | Resolution | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube standard video | 1920 × 1080 | 16:9 |
| Instagram feed video | 1080 × 1350 | 4:5 |
| Instagram / LinkedIn square | 1080 × 1080 | 1:1 |
| X (Twitter) landscape | 1280 × 720 | 16:9 |
| Vertical everywhere | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 |
On Instagram, 4:5 is the quiet winner for feed posts - it takes up noticeably more vertical space than a square without being a Reel. If you need to work out a conversion, the aspect ratio calculator will give you the exact dimensions rather than a rounded guess.
Do not upscale to hit 1080
If you shot at 720 × 1280, upload it that way. All three platforms handle sub-1080 vertical fine, and upscaling before you upload just gives their compressor a softer image to work from. You lose quality rather than gain it.
FAQ
What size should a TikTok video be?
1080 × 1920 pixels, 9:16. Keep key content out of the bottom ~400 px and the right ~180 px, where the caption and the action rail sit.
What size is an Instagram Reel?
1080 × 1920, 9:16, same as everywhere else. Reels reserve the most space at the bottom - 672 px under Meta's current spec, once the caption, audio credit, and engagement rail are drawn.
What are the YouTube Shorts dimensions?
1080 × 1920 at 9:16, up to 3 minutes. Past 3 minutes YouTube publishes it as a regular video instead of a Short.
Can I use the same video on all three?
Yes, if you design to the combined safe zone - the middle 835 × 979 of the frame. One 1080 × 1920 export then posts everywhere unmodified.
What is 9:16 in pixels?
1080 × 1920 is the standard. 720 × 1280 and 2160 × 3840 are the same ratio at lower and higher resolution.
Does aspect ratio affect reach?
Indirectly. Posting a 16:9 video to a vertical feed leaves black bars and fills less of the screen, which tends to hurt watch time - and watch time is what the recommendation systems actually measure.
Sources
Dimensions and length limits checked in August 2026. Safe-zone margins are measured approximations and shift with app updates - verify against the app before a big campaign.