YouTube size guide

YouTube Shorts size: 1080 x 1920 pixels.

The YouTube Shorts size in 2026 is 1080 by 1920 pixels, a 9:16 portrait frame. Keep text and logos inside the central 900 by 1240 pixel safe zone; the platform's interface covers 200 px at the top and 480 px at the bottom and 40 px on the left and 140 px on the right. Upload MP4, MOV; up to 256 GB; video MP4/MOV up to 256 GB, 180 seconds.

Checked . Free, nothing uploaded.

Dimensions
1080 x 1920

pixels, width by height

Aspect ratio
9:16

Decimal 0.5625

Safe zone
900 x 1240

area free of interface

File
≤ 256 GB

MP4, MOV

Safe zone and crops

Drawn to scale from the numbers above. The PNG template has the same guides so you can design on top of it.

200 px covered by the interface480 px covered by the interface1080 x 1920
Shaded bands are covered by buttons, captions or the profile name. Keep text and logos inside the dashed 900 x 1240 area.

Source: YouTube Help (create a Short), checked 2026-09-11.

Also accepted: 9:16 ratios, minimum 720 px wide. YouTube states Shorts are vertical videos up to 3 minutes long, uploaded at a maximum resolution of 1080p.

Resize your image to 1080 x 1920

Runs in your browser. Fill and crop for photos, fit with padding when nothing may be cut.

JPG, PNG or WebP. It is resized to exactly 1080 x 1920 in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

Fit
Format

Output size

1080 x 1920

YouTube: Shorts

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YouTube: Shorts

1080 x 1920

How YouTube handles the shorts size

YouTube's help page describes Shorts as vertical short-form videos up to 3 minutes long, uploaded at a maximum resolution of 1080p. Vertical at 1080p is 1080 by 1920 pixels, the same 9:16 frame TikTok and Reels use, which is why a single export serves all 3. Square video also qualifies as a Short, but it plays with bands above and below on a phone.

The Shorts player stacks the title, channel name and subscribe button over the bottom of the frame and runs the like, dislike, comment and share buttons down the right side, with search and camera icons across the top. Keep captions and on-screen text out of roughly the bottom 480 pixels, the right 140 and the top 200. A custom Short thumbnail is 9:16 as well and mostly matters on the channel page, since the feed autoplays past it.

YouTube's ordinary upload limits apply underneath: MP4 and MOV are accepted, and a file can run to 256 GB or 12 hours before the Shorts rules trim it. Anything longer than 3 minutes is published as a regular video even when it is vertical. Keep a real audio track on a title-card Short, because viewers scroll past silence faster than YouTube ever penalizes it.

Questions about YouTube shorts sizes

  • 1080 by 1920 pixels at 9:16, which is vertical 1080p, the maximum resolution YouTube's help page states for Shorts. Upload as MP4 or MOV like any other video. Square clips also qualify but play inside bands, wasting most of a phone screen.

  • Up to 3 minutes, according to YouTube's Shorts help page. Vertical and square videos within that length are treated as Shorts automatically, and anything longer is published as a regular video even when it was shot and exported vertically.

Other YouTube sizes

Read next

More size guides

See something out of date? Platforms change these limits without notice. The official page is the final word; we re-check this dataset on and after every platform announcement.