Aspect ratios for TikTok, Reels, Shorts and every other feed

The short answer: make 9:16 vertical video your master, and keep the important action in the middle of the frame. That one shape is preferred or accepted almost everywhere, and a centred composition survives being cropped to 1:1 or 4:5 for the feeds that suit those better.

The long answer depends on the platform, and some limits are less obvious than the shape: the minimum length, the file size, and how a feed crops a video that doesn't fit. Below is what each platform's own documentation says, checked on 6 November 2026. Where a figure comes from a help page rather than the developer docs, or where we couldn't confirm it, we say so.

The table

The "preferred shape" column is what the platform recommends where it says so: Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Pinterest recommend 9:16, and YouTube requires square or vertical for Shorts. TikTok's API docs, X, LinkedIn and Bluesky don't recommend a shape, so for those the column is our own default.

For the length limits in more detail, including YouTube's rule for Shorts over one minute, see our guide to video length limits.

Platform by platform

TikTok

TikTok's media transfer guide for the API sets the hard limits: 360 to 4096 pixels on each side, 23 to 60 frames per second, MP4, MOV or WebM, H.264 recommended, up to 4 GB. The API allows up to 10 minutes, but each creator also has their own maximum, which the creator info endpoint reports per account. The API docs don't recommend a shape, but vertical 9:16, typically 1080×1920, is what fills the screen in the app.

YouTube Shorts and long-form

There is no separate Shorts upload. YouTube classifies a video as a Short when it is square or vertical and up to three minutes long. That covers uploads since 15 October 2024. A 16:9 video is never a Short, whatever its length. The Data API accepts files up to 256 GB. For upload quotas, see our YouTube API quota guide.

Instagram Reels

From Meta's media reference: an aspect ratio from 0.01:1 to 10:1 is accepted, 9:16 is recommended, the length is 3 seconds to 15 minutes, and the file can be up to 300 MB at up to 1920 pixels wide. Photos and carousel images are stricter: feed images must be between 4:5 and 1.91:1. More in our Instagram Reels API guide.

Facebook Reels

Reels published to a Page through the Reels publishing API must be 9:16, with 1080×1920 recommended (540×960 minimum), 24 to 60 fps, and 3 to 90 seconds long. That is much shorter than Instagram's limit, so a 2-minute Reel made for Instagram won't go up as a Facebook Reel. Post it as a regular Page video instead.

Threads

The Threads API takes 0.01:1 to 10:1, recommends 9:16, and allows up to 5 minutes and 1 GB, in MOV or MP4 with H.264 or HEVC.

X

X's chunked upload guide allows video up to 20 minutes and 8 GB by default, and up to 125 minutes and 16 GB for Premium accounts. The guide doesn't prescribe a shape. In our experience landscape and square sit most naturally in the timeline, but X accepts vertical video too.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn's Videos API lists MP4 from 3 seconds to 30 minutes and 75 KB to 500 MB in its video specs. The API doesn't prescribe a shape; we default to square or landscape for LinkedIn. Captions, if you upload them, must be in English.

Pinterest

Pinterest's API guide takes MP4, MOV and M4V video pins and requires a cover image for each. Pinterest's pin specs recommend 9:16 at 1080×1920, also accept 1:2, 2:3, 3:4, 4:5 and 1:1, and allow videos of 4 seconds to 5 minutes. They don't state a file size limit for video.

Bluesky

Bluesky video is newer and its limits are less settled. Most third-party sources give 100 MB and 3 minutes per video, and at least one claims more; we couldn't confirm either from Bluesky's own documentation, so treat 100 MB and 3 minutes as the safe ceiling. The official video tutorial does confirm that the account's email must be verified before uploading, and that there is a daily upload cap.

One master, several outputs

If you make one video and post it everywhere, a practical setup is:

1. Shoot or edit at 9:16, 1080×1920, and keep faces, text and the key action within the centre square. This version goes to TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Facebook Reels, Threads and Pinterest.
2. Keep it at or under 90 seconds if you want it on Facebook Reels, and under three minutes for it to count as a Short.
3. Make a centre-cropped 1:1 or 4:5 cut for the feeds that favour it, and a 16:9 version if X or LinkedIn matter to you.
4. Burn captions in carefully. Keep them inside the centre area too, or each platform's interface (buttons, captions, progress bars) will cover them.
5. Export H.264 MP4 with the moov atom at the front ("fast start"). It is the safest common format across these platforms, and Instagram requires the moov atom at the front.

That last step is the one most worth automating. Reelspan does the reframing and re-encoding for you: send one video, and each network gets a version in a shape it accepts. Our guide to posting one video to every platform covers the other per-platform differences, like caption length and privacy settings.