What are the vertical video specs for 2026?
The core spec is the same everywhere: a 9:16 frame at 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels tall. Meta, TikTok and YouTube all recommend it, and LinkedIn accepts it for vertical video ads.
Export as MP4 (MOV also works on most platforms), with H.264 video and AAC audio. Use a fixed frame rate, usually the rate you filmed at. In the UK that's commonly 25 or 30 frames per second. Going higher rarely helps on a phone screen and makes files bigger.
How do the platforms differ?
Mostly on length and on where the buttons sit. The table below covers the specs from each platform's own documentation at the time of writing. Each platform updates its guide, so treat this as a starting point and check before a launch.
What are safe zones, and why do they matter?
Safe zones are the parts of the frame that won't be covered by the app's own interface. Put text or a logo outside them and it can sit under the caption, the profile name or the like and share buttons.
Meta's Ads Guide is the most specific: for Reels ads it asks you to keep the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% on each side free of text and logos. For Stories, keep roughly the top and bottom 14% clear. TikTok and YouTube Shorts both place buttons down the right-hand side and captions at the bottom, so the same rule of thumb works there: keep anything important in the centre of the frame.
How do you set up a vertical video edit, step by step?
This is the order we work in, so one edit works on every platform.
- Film vertical where you can. Cropping landscape to vertical throws away most of the frame.
- If you have to crop, film landscape in 4K and frame the subject in the centre, so a 1080 x 1920 crop still looks sharp.
- Set the edit timeline to 1080 x 1920 at your filming frame rate.
- Place a safe zone overlay on the timeline before you add any text.
- Keep captions in the middle band of the frame, above the bottom caption area.
- Export MP4, H.264 video, AAC audio, at the same frame rate as the timeline.
- Check the file against the platform's length and size limits before upload.
- Watch the upload on a phone, in the app, before you post or launch the ad.
Should you also make square or 4:5 versions?
For ads, often yes. Some placements, such as the Facebook and Instagram feeds, show 4:5 or square video more cleanly than 9:16. If you plan for it at the edit stage, making extra shapes is quick: keep the subject and text near the centre and the crop takes care of itself.
For organic posts on Reels, TikTok and Shorts, 9:16 is the shape to use. Instagram also shows a 3:4 crop of Reels on your profile grid, so check the cover frame still looks right.
What usually goes wrong with vertical video uploads?
Nearly always one of these.
- Text or a logo hidden behind the app's buttons or caption.
- A landscape video dropped onto a vertical canvas, with black bars above and below.
- A video uploaded after being sent through a messaging app, which compresses it.
- A variable frame rate from a phone, which can cause stutter after upload.
- A file over the size or length limit for that placement.