YouTube video dimensions.

Check your width and height

Enter the frame size for YouTube videos as pixel width and height. The tool simplifies the ratio, checks it against the official 16:9 tiers, and tells you what to export so the player does not add padding or crop. Landscape and portrait (9:16, Shorts-style) are both judged. All math runs locally. To choose an image size for YouTube video thumbnails, use the thumbnail size guide linked below.

Nothing is uploaded. The ratio math runs in your browser.

Upload scenarios and official limits

Checked 2026-09-19 against the cited official pages. Where YouTube does not state a value, the cell says so; nothing is inferred or filled in.

Download the video dimensions CSV

Work out the dimensions

There is no single normal YouTube video size: the 16:9 ladder has multiple encode tiers, named for their height. To choose the best dimensions for YouTube video files, start with the ratio for your format. The following values are our worked example of that arithmetic; they are not new platform requirements.

Export settings by resolution

YouTube publishes one set of upload encoding settings for every resolution. Checked October 9, 2026 on Recommended upload encoding settings:

• File: MP4, with the moov atom at the front (Fast Start) and no edit lists.
• Video: H.264, High Profile, progressive scan, 2 consecutive B-frames, closed GOP of half the frame rate, CABAC, variable bitrate, 4:2:0 chroma.
• Frame rate: the same rate you recorded at. Deinterlace first, for example 1080i60 to 1080p30.
• Audio: AAC-LC or Opus at 48 kHz; 384 kbps for stereo, 512 kbps for 5.1.
• Color: BT.709 for SDR. YouTube converts full-range color to limited range.

* Our calculation, not a YouTube figure: the top of the 48–60 fps bitrate range plus 384 kbps stereo audio, with 256 GB read as 256 × 10⁹ bytes. HDR uploads have higher recommended bitrates (for example 66–85 Mbps for 4K at 60 fps), so they reach 256 GB sooner. Real files vary because the bitrate is variable.

The two upload limits meet at about 47.4 Mbps: below that average, the 12-hour limit stops you first; above it, the 256 GB limit does. At the recommended bitrates, only 4K at 48–60 fps and 8K go over that line, so they are the only rows where file size, not duration, is the limit.

from fractions import Fraction as F
cap_bits = F(256 * 10**9 * 8)          # 256 GB, decimal gigabytes
twelve_hours = 12 * 3600
audio = F(384, 1000)                   # stereo audio, Mbps
assert round(float(cap_bits / twelve_hours / 10**6), 1) == 47.4
for video, gb_per_min, hours in [(240, '1.80', '2.4'), (68, '0.51', '8.3'), (24, '0.18', '23.3')]:
    total = (video + audio) * 10**6   # bits per second
    assert f"{float(total * 60 / 8 / 10**9):.2f}" == gb_per_min
    assert f"{float(cap_bits / total / 3600):.1f}" == hours
print('Upload limit checks passed')

Upload limits, with the date we checked

The max video size for YouTube is limited by both file size and duration: 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less. The max file size for YouTube upload is 256 GB. These limits come from YouTube Help and change from time to time. We last read the page on October 9, 2026.

Before you export

The table does not identify a single best size for YouTube video files. The official quote supports keeping the 16:9 ratio for standard videos; for 9:16 vertical videos, expect extra padding on computer browsers; and avoid adding padding or black bars directly to your video — the official page states padding interferes with the player's ability to adjust. Also keep the file within 256 GB or 12 hours. Note that since 2022 YouTube started removing support for playback at resolutions between 4K and 8K, such as 5K.

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