Can a square video be a Short?

Yes. 1:1 qualifies, though 9:16 fills the screen.

Do I need #Shorts in the title?

No. Vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes are classified automatically.

Can I convert a landscape video into a Short?

Yes. Crop it to 9:16 with the crop video tool.

Can I upload Shorts in 4K?

Yes, but they're shown at up to 1080p in the feed, so a clean 1080×1920 file is enough.

Can I upload Shorts from a computer?

Yes. Vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes uploaded on desktop become Shorts.

Should Shorts be 60 fps?

Only if the source was recorded at 60 fps.

What if my Short is longer than 3 minutes?

It's published as a regular video, not a Short. Trim it to 3 minutes or less.

Can I add music after uploading?

The mobile app lets you add licensed music when creating Shorts.

Can I crop a widescreen video into a Short?

Yes. Crop it to 9:16 from the centre with the crop video tool, then trim it to 3 minutes or less.

Does the frame rate need to be 30 fps?

No. Keep your camera's frame rate; 24, 30 and 60 fps all work.

Guide

YouTube Shorts video size and export settings

By Mohamed Laghbar · Updated 10 October 2026

YouTube Shorts are vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes long. Export them at 1080×1920 pixels (9:16), MP4 with H.264 and AAC, at 30 or 60 fps, with a bitrate of around 10–15 Mbps. Square 1:1 also qualifies as a Short, but 9:16 fills the screen.

Got a landscape clip? Crop video turns it into 9:16 in your browser. Then compress only if the file is unusually large; YouTube Shorts handles big uploads well.

How to export a clip for YouTube Shorts with Videozify

Trim your clip to the strongest part, up to 3 minutes, with the video trimmer.
Open Crop video and choose 9:16 to make it vertical.
If the result is larger than 1080×1920, scale it with Resize video at 1080p.
Burn in captions with Burn subtitles if the video has speech, keeping them above the bottom fifth of the frame.
Download the MP4 and upload it from the mobile app or the desktop upload page; vertical videos up to 3 minutes are treated as Shorts.

Open the crop video tool →

YouTube Shorts specs at a glance

Aspect ratio: 9:16 vertical (1:1 square also qualifies)
Resolution: 1080×1920 recommended
Length: up to 3 minutes
Format: MP4, H.264 video, AAC audio
Frame rate: 24, 25, 30, 50 or 60 fps (keep the source rate)
Bitrate: about 10–15 Mbps at 1080p30, 15–20 Mbps at 1080p60

What makes a video count as a Short

Any upload that's vertical or square and no longer than 3 minutes is classified as a Short automatically. A #Shorts tag isn't required. Landscape videos are never shown in the Shorts feed, however short they are, so cropping to 9:16 is the key step when repurposing widescreen footage.

Safe zones for text and faces

The Shorts player overlays the channel name, title, subscribe button and audio label at the bottom, and like, dislike, comment, share and remix buttons on the right. Keep captions and key visuals within the centre of the frame and above the bottom fifth. On a 1080×1920 frame, a safe area of about 900×1300 pixels centred slightly above the middle works well.

Getting the best quality

Upload the highest-quality master you have at 1080×1920. Shorts are re-encoded after upload, and starting from a clean, high-bitrate file gives the encoder more to work with. Avoid uploading a clip that's already been compressed by a messaging app or downloaded from another platform; each round of compression costs detail.

Shorts support 60 fps. Keep the frame rate your camera recorded at rather than converting, because converting 30 to 60 fps duplicates frames without adding smoothness.

Native tools

The mobile app has a Shorts camera with trimming, text, timed captions and music. It's convenient for content made on the spot. On a computer, Clipchamp (Windows) and iMovie or Final Cut Pro (Mac) can export vertical video, but iMovie can't create a 9:16 project, so crop with another tool or rotate your workflow. On iPhone, Photos > Edit > Crop offers a 9:16 preset.

Recommended export settings

Most editors have a preset close to these values. If yours asks for details, use H.264 High profile, 1080×1920, the source frame rate, constant quality or a variable bitrate around 12 Mbps, AAC-LC audio at 48 kHz and 128–256 kbps stereo, in an MP4 container with the moov atom at the start (often labelled "fast start" or "web optimised"). Fast start lets the upload begin processing sooner and helps playback start quickly.

Loops and replays

Shorts loop automatically, and replays count toward views. Videos whose last frame flows into the first get rewatched more often. Trim so the ending connects naturally with the beginning, for example finishing a sentence that the opening line answers, or ending on the same framing you started with.

Thumbnails and titles

In the Shorts feed, the video plays immediately, so the first frame acts as the thumbnail. In search results and on channel pages, a frame is shown as a cover. You can choose the cover frame in the mobile app when uploading. Pick a frame with a clear subject and readable text, centred, since the cover may be cropped in some views.

Captions on Shorts

Many viewers scroll Shorts with the sound off. Burned-in captions make your video understandable without audio. Keep them short, at most two lines, in a bold style with an outline, placed in the middle-lower part of the frame above the title overlay. You can also upload an SRT as a soft caption track, which helps accessibility and search, alongside burned-in captions for the feed.

Common upload problems

If a vertical video is published as a regular video instead of a Short, check its length (over 3 minutes doesn't qualify) and its dimensions. A file with a rotation flag but landscape pixels may be read as landscape. Rotating it properly with the rotate video tool, so the pixels are vertical, fixes this.

One master for vertical platforms

Because YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Instagram Reels all use 1080×1920, export one clean master without platform watermarks or app-specific stickers. Add captions in the safe zone that suits all three, roughly the centre of the frame above the bottom fifth. Post the same file to each platform with a caption written for that audience.

Square vs vertical

Square 1:1 Shorts qualify and are useful when the same clip must also fit a square feed post elsewhere, but they show with bars above and below in the Shorts player. Vertical 9:16 fills the screen and is the better choice whenever the video is made mainly for Shorts.

Repurposing between platforms

Shorts, TikTok and Instagram Reels share 9:16 at 1080×1920, so one master file can go to all three. Keep it free of platform watermarks, put captions in the safe zone, and avoid platform-specific stickers in the video itself. Shorts' maximum of 3 minutes is now in line with the other platforms.

Frequently asked questions

What size is a YouTube Shorts video?: 1080×1920 pixels, 9:16.
How long can YouTube Shorts be?: Up to 3 minutes.
Can a square video be a Short?: Yes. 1:1 qualifies, though 9:16 fills the screen.
Do I need #Shorts in the title?: No. Vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes are classified automatically.
What bitrate should I export?: About 10–15 Mbps at 1080p30.
Can I convert a landscape video into a Short?: Yes. Crop it to 9:16 with the crop video tool.
Can I upload Shorts in 4K?: Yes, but they're shown at up to 1080p in the feed, so a clean 1080×1920 file is enough.
Can I upload Shorts from a computer?: Yes. Vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes uploaded on desktop become Shorts.
Should Shorts be 60 fps?: Only if the source was recorded at 60 fps.
What if my Short is longer than 3 minutes?: It's published as a regular video, not a Short. Trim it to 3 minutes or less.
Can I add music after uploading?: The mobile app lets you add licensed music when creating Shorts.
Can I crop a widescreen video into a Short?: Yes. Crop it to 9:16 from the centre with the crop video tool, then trim it to 3 minutes or less.
Does the frame rate need to be 30 fps?: No. Keep your camera's frame rate; 24, 30 and 60 fps all work.