YouTube Shorts Size & Specs Checker
Upload your video and instantly check its dimensions, aspect ratio and duration against the official Shorts specs — plus a safe-zone preview.
Drop a video file here or click to browse
MP4, MOV, WebM… — your video never leaves your browser
The Shorts safe zone
YouTube covers parts of your video with its own interface. Keep text, faces and logos inside the green area.
The most common beginner mistake is placing captions or a logo where YouTube's interface sits on top of them. As a rule of thumb:
- Dark areas — covered by the YouTube app interface. Avoid placing anything important here.
- Green area — the safe zone. Text, faces and calls to action stay visible here.
Zones are approximate and can vary slightly between app versions — when in doubt, keep important content closer to the center.
Recommended export settings
Use this as a checklist in your editor before uploading.
- Dimensions
- 1080 × 1920 px (minimum 720 × 1280)
- Aspect ratio
- 9:16 vertical (1:1 square also qualifies)
- Duration
- Up to 3 minutes
- Container
- MP4
- Video codec
- H.264, progressive scan
- Audio codec
- AAC, stereo
- Frame rate
- Same as recorded (24 / 30 / 60 fps)
- Black bars
- Don't bake them in — upload clean 9:16
YouTube Shorts size — FAQs
What are the YouTube Shorts dimensions?
The recommended dimensions are 1080 × 1920 pixels (Full HD, vertical). YouTube's minimum is 720 × 1280 pixels — anything smaller will look soft on modern phones.
What is the YouTube Shorts aspect ratio?
9:16 vertical is the recommended aspect ratio. It fills the whole phone screen with no black bars. Square (1:1) videos also qualify as Shorts, but they leave empty space around the video.
What is the maximum length of a YouTube Short?
3 minutes. Since October 2024, YouTube treats vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes long as Shorts. Longer videos are published as regular YouTube videos instead.
What is the YouTube Shorts safe zone?
Keep important text, faces and logos out of the top 14% (channel info), the bottom 35% (video title, captions and action buttons) and 6% on each side of the frame. The preview above shows exactly where these zones are.
Can I upload a square video as a YouTube Short?
Yes — square (1:1) videos up to 3 minutes qualify as Shorts. But they won't fill a vertical phone screen, so 9:16 is still the better choice for most creators.
What is the best export setting for YouTube Shorts?
Export at 1080 × 1920, MP4 container, H.264 video with AAC audio, at the same frame rate you recorded at. Don't add black bars — upload clean 9:16 and let YouTube's player handle the rest.