Social media video sizes in 2026: Reels, TikTok and Shorts
The video size for Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts is the same: 1080 × 1920 pixels, in vertical 9:16. For the Instagram feed use 4:5 (1080 × 1350), and for landscape YouTube use 16:9 (1920 × 1080). With those three versions you cover almost every place a small business posts video.
Below are the numbers for each platform, with the official source for each, and the practical rules no spec sheet spells out: where to put your text so it doesn't end up under the buttons.
The quick table
| Where | Aspect ratio | Recommended size | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | 3 s to 15 min via the publishing API |
| Instagram Stories | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | 3 s to 60 s per video via the API |
| Instagram feed | 4:5 or 1:1 | 1080 × 1350 or 1080 × 1080 | short |
| TikTok (ads) | 9:16 recommended; 1:1 and 16:9 accepted | 1080 × 1920 (minimum 540 × 960) | up to 10 min |
| YouTube Shorts | vertical or square | 1080 × 1920 | up to 3 min |
| Regular YouTube | 16:9 | 1920 × 1080 | long-form |
| WhatsApp Status | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | short |
The Instagram numbers come from Meta's publishing documentation, TikTok's from its ads help center and YouTube's from its help center, all checked on November 5, 2026. Platforms change their length limits often, so check before a big campaign.
Instagram: Reels, Stories and feed
Reels. Meta accepts a very wide range of aspect ratios but recommends 9:16 "to avoid cropping or blank space." The publishing spec asks for 3 seconds to 15 minutes, 23 to 60 frames per second, and H.264 or HEVC video. The maximum width is 1920 pixels.
Stories. Also 9:16. Through the API, each story video runs from 3 to 60 seconds.
Feed. This one is your call. A 4:5 video takes up more height on screen than a square, which is why it's the usual pick for feed posts. Square 1:1 is the safer choice when the same creative runs as an ad across several placements.
TikTok
In its ads help center, TikTok marks vertical 9:16 as recommended, with a minimum of 540 × 960 pixels, and also accepts 16:9 (minimum 960 × 540) and 1:1 (minimum 640 × 640). Files can be up to 500 MB, in MP4, MOV, MPEG, 3GP or AVI, and up to 10 minutes long. Export at 1080 × 1920: the minimum is only a floor, and small text becomes unreadable near it.
YouTube Shorts
Since October 2024, YouTube treats a vertical or square video of up to three minutes as a Short. To keep a video long-form, YouTube recommends a wider format such as 16:9.
Where to put text: the safe area
No platform shows the whole video with nothing on top. In 9:16, the top carries the account name and the bottom carries the caption, the buttons and the music bar. Rules that work everywhere:
- keep important text in the middle, away from the top and especially from the bottom strip, where the caption and the ad's action button sit;
- keep text away from the sides, because the like and comment buttons run down the right;
- test on a phone before you publish: a desktop preview doesn't show the interface on top.
Meta's Ads Manager has an overlay that shows the safe area on top of your creative; turn it on before you upload an ad.
One video, several formats
Building the video three times is why many people give up on 4:5 and 16:9. Two ways out:
- build in 9:16 with the content in the center, and crop to 4:5 later. This works if nothing important sits near the top and bottom edges;
- use a tool that builds the video at the size of each format, instead of just cropping.
In Fabapp Motion, Fabapp's video tool, a piece is made in 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 or 16:9, and the other formats come out at export, each rendered at the size of its own aspect ratio, as one more export. Videos over 60 seconds stay in 9:16 or 16:9, the formats people watch for longer. The output is a 1080p MP4, with text kept away from the edges on every frame. See what Fabapp Motion makes and plans and pricing.
For the step by step inside the Studio, see the guide Your first video in Motion.
For the rest of the process, how to make Instagram videos with AI has the step-by-step, and if the video promotes an app, app store screenshots has the screenshot sizes for the App Store and Google Play.
Once the video is live, use a different link per channel so you know where each customer came from. The guide on how to promote an app shows how to do that on Instagram, WhatsApp and at the counter.
The short version
- 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 works for Reels, Stories, TikTok, Shorts and Status;
- 4:5 at 1080 × 1350 for the Instagram feed, 16:9 at 1920 × 1080 for regular YouTube;
- important text in the center, away from the top, the bottom and the right edge;
- check length limits before each campaign, because they change.