YouTube video size and thumbnail size guide for 2026
A YouTube video should be 16:9. 1920 x 1080 is the usual size, but upload at the size you recorded - 3840 x 2160 for 4K footage - and never larger. Upload it as an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound, at the frame rate you recorded in. A thumbnail should be 16:9 too: YouTube now recommends 3840 x 2160, at least 640 pixels wide, as a JPG or PNG. A Short is any square or vertical video up to three minutes long, usually 1080 x 1920.
Every figure below comes from YouTube's own help pages, checked on 30 October 2026. Several popular guides still quote older thumbnail limits, so the figures that changed are called out.
Video size and aspect ratio
YouTube's standard shape on a computer is 16:9. A vertical or square video still plays, and the player resizes to fit it, but on a computer YouTube pads it with blank space either side. Do not add black bars to the video yourself.
| Name | Size in pixels | Shape |
|---|---|---|
| 4K (2160p) | 3840 x 2160 | 16:9 |
| 1440p | 2560 x 1440 | 16:9 |
| 1080p (Full HD) | 1920 x 1080 | 16:9 |
| 720p | 1280 x 720 | 16:9 |
Upload at the size you recorded, not bigger. Scaling a 1080p recording up to 4K makes a larger file with no more detail in it.
Format, codec and frame rate
YouTube's recommended upload settings are:
- Container: MP4.
- Video: H.264, progressive (not interlaced).
- Sound: AAC-LC or Opus, stereo, at 48 kHz.
- Frame rate: whatever you recorded at. 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 frames a second are all common, and YouTube says other rates are fine too. Do not convert 30 to 60; it adds nothing.
A screen recording from a Mac is usually a .mov that already holds H.264 video and AAC sound. An iPhone records HEVC by default instead, often in HDR. YouTube accepts .mov files and HEVC directly, so neither has to be converted first.
Bitrate
Bitrate is how much data each second of video uses, and it is what decides the file size. YouTube's recommended video bitrates for ordinary (SDR) uploads:
| Size | 24, 25 or 30 fps | 48, 50 or 60 fps |
|---|---|---|
| 2160p (4K) | 35 to 45 Mbps | 53 to 68 Mbps |
| 1440p | 16 Mbps | 24 Mbps |
| 1080p | 8 Mbps | 12 Mbps |
| 720p | 5 Mbps | 7.5 Mbps |
For sound, YouTube recommends 384 kbps for stereo and 128 kbps for mono. To turn any of these into a file size, put the length and bitrates into the video file size calculator: ten minutes of 1080p at 8 Mbps, with 384 kbps stereo sound, comes to about 630 MB.
Upload limits
- Largest file: 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less.
- Longer than 15 minutes: your account has to be verified first, which YouTube does by phone.
Thumbnail size
| Videos | Shorts | |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended size | 3840 x 2160 | 2160 x 3840 |
| Shape | 16:9 | 9:16 |
| Minimum | 640 pixels wide | 640 pixels high |
| Format | JPG or PNG | JPG or PNG |
| Largest file | 50 MB on a computer, 2 MB in the mobile app | 50 MB on a computer |
What changed: most guides still say 1280 x 720 and 2 MB. YouTube now recommends 3840 x 2160, and the limit on a computer is 50 MB; the 2 MB limit remains in the mobile app. A 1280 x 720 thumbnail is still accepted, since it is wider than 640 pixels, but it will look soft on a large screen.
Custom thumbnails need a verified account. Thumbnails for Shorts can only be added in YouTube Studio on a computer.
Keep the words on a thumbnail big and few, and keep them away from the bottom-right corner, where YouTube prints the video's length.
YouTube Shorts size
A video uploaded since 15 October 2024 becomes a Short when it is square or vertical and three minutes or shorter. A 16:9 video is never a Short, however short it is.
The usual size is 1080 x 1920, which is 9:16 and fills a phone screen. Keep faces and words clear of the edges, where the app puts its own buttons, title and caption over the picture.
Getting a recording to these specs on a Mac
You rarely need to set any of this by hand. Rooster's MP4 video export writes H.264 video and AAC sound, the format YouTube recommends, and its Resolution and Frame rate default to your recording's own, so a 1080p recording at 30 fps leaves as a 1080p, 30 fps upload. It will not offer a size or frame rate beyond your footage, for the reason above (how exporting works).
For a Short, change the canvas to Portrait (9:16) and the edit, captions and layers come with it; the safe-area guide shades where a phone app's buttons usually sit (how). The export renders on your Mac, so the only upload is the one to YouTube.
If you are making the video too, not only exporting it, the guide to making a YouTube video goes from idea to upload, and the free teleprompter times your script before you record. Starting from nothing, the guide to starting a YouTube channel comes first.