Video sizes and aspect ratios for every platform

The cheat sheet

These are the shapes and sizes that display best on each platform. Most platforms accept other shapes too, but they'll crop or pad them, so matching the recommended format keeps you in control.

What is aspect ratio?

Aspect ratio is the shape of the frame: its width compared with its height, written as width:height. It says nothing about how sharp the video is — a tiny 640 × 360 video and a 4K 3840 × 2160 video are both 16:9.

• 16:9 — widescreen. TVs, laptops, YouTube and most cameras when held sideways.
• 9:16 — the same shape turned upright. Phone screens held normally, so it's the format for Stories, Reels, TikTok and Shorts.
• 1:1 — square. Takes up a good amount of space in feeds on both phones and computers.
• 4:5 — slightly taller than square. Takes up more of a phone screen in a feed than 1:1 without being full-screen.
• 4:3 — the older TV shape, still used by many photos and some cameras.

What is resolution?

Resolution is the number of pixels in the frame, written as width × height. More pixels means more detail, and bigger files. The common names refer to the shorter side of a horizontal video:

For social media, 1080p is the sweet spot. For file types and codecs, see MP4 vs WebM explained. Most people watch on phones, where the difference between 1080p and 4K is hard to see, and platforms compress uploads heavily anyway. 720p still looks good on a phone and makes smaller files that upload faster.

What about frame rate?

Frame rate is how many still images make up each second of video, measured in frames per second (fps).

• 24 fps — the traditional "film" look.
• 25 fps — the broadcast standard in Europe and many other regions.
• 30 fps — the default on most phones; smooth and natural for social video.
• 60 fps — very smooth motion for sports and gaming, and useful for slowing down later.
• 120–240 fps — "slow-mo" modes, designed to be played back slowed down.

You don't need to match frame rates between platforms — they all handle common rates. But if you plan to use slow motion, shoot at a higher frame rate. Our slow motion guide explains why.

One video, many platforms

Making a separate video for every platform is a lot of work. A practical workflow is:

1. Pick a primary format based on where most of your audience is. For most creators today, that's 9:16.
2. Frame with a margin. Keep the important action in the centre so the video can be recropped to 4:5 or 1:1 without losing anything.
3. Re-export per platform. Change the canvas shape and export again rather than letting each app crop automatically.
4. Fill the gaps deliberately. When a clip doesn't fill the new shape, use a blurred background or colour instead of black bars, and use the extra space for a title.

How to change a video's aspect ratio for free

1. Open the VDOAPP editor and add your video.
2. Choose a shape in the Canvas tab: 9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9 or 4:3. Original keeps the shape of your first clip.
3. Choose how it fits. Fill crops the video to cover the whole frame; Fit shows all of it and fills the rest with a blurred copy or a colour of your choice.
4. Reframe if needed. In the Clip tab, drag the picture on the preview to move it, scroll to zoom, or add keyframes to pan across it.
5. Export, then switch to another shape and export again for the next platform.

VDOAPP exports at 720p on the shorter side (for example 720 × 1280 for 9:16 or 1280 × 720 for 16:9), which every platform above accepts.