Vertical video specs in 2026: TikTok, Reels and Meta Ads

There is one preset that serves TikTok, Reels, Shorts and Meta Ads with no rework: 1080x1920 pixels, 9:16 aspect ratio, MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio, 30 frames per second. Export everything that way and you never maintain separate versions of the same creative again.

The specs that hold across all three platforms

• Aspect ratio: 9:16. The only one that fills the screen in a vertical feed.
• Resolution: 1080x1920. Anything larger gets recompressed on upload and improves nothing.
• Container and codec: MP4 with H.264. This is what every platform accepts without aggressive reprocessing.
• Audio: AAC, stereo track. Always include audio, even if it is only a quiet music bed.
• Frame rate: 30fps. Use 60fps only when the content genuinely has fast motion.
• Bitrate: the highest your editor allows on export. The platform will compress again, so leave headroom.

Safe zones: where the interface eats your text

Every app draws buttons, captions and profile info on top of the video, and anything under those elements simply does not get read. The practical rule that works on all three:

• Leave roughly 250 pixels clear at the top (phone clock and app menu).
• Leave roughly 400 pixels clear at the bottom (caption, profile, music, action button).
• Leave roughly 150 pixels clear along the right edge (like, comment and share column).
• Result: every important line lives in the central rectangle, the only guaranteed area.

The most expensive mistake is writing your promise near the bottom of the frame: it looks great in the editor and sits behind the caption in the app. Always check a preview on a phone before publishing a batch.

Duration by objective

• 8 to 12 seconds: highest completion rate, great for Shorts and top-of-funnel content.
• 12 to 22 seconds: the most used range organically, with room for hook, demo and call to action.
• 22 to 35 seconds: for paid ads that need to explain price, offer or mechanism.
• Over 60 seconds: only when the content justifies it on its own, which is rarely the case in sales creative.

Details that ruin a finished video

• Another app's watermark: video carrying a rival platform's badge usually gets less distribution. Always export clean.
• Black bars: they happen when you drop a 16:9 video into a 9:16 project. Crop or fill, never leave bars.
• Chained re-exports: every export recompresses. Always build from source files, not from the video you already published.
• A dark first frame: a fade-in wastes the most valuable moment of the video.
• Unreviewed auto captions: your product name is exactly the word transcription gets wrong.

Frequently asked questions about vertical video

What is the ideal video size for TikTok and Reels?

1080x1920 pixels, 9:16 aspect ratio, MP4 with H.264 and AAC audio. That single file serves TikTok, Reels, Shorts and Meta Ads unchanged.

Can I use square or horizontal video?

You can upload it, but it occupies less screen in a vertical feed and loses retention because of that. If the source is horizontal, crop to 9:16 and reframe the subject instead of leaving bars.

Does 4K improve the published quality?

In practice, no. Platforms recompress on upload and deliver well below that. Exporting at 1080x1920 with a high bitrate gives the same result at a much smaller file size.

Do I need different versions per platform?

Not of the file. Of the text positioning, sometimes: the Reels interface covers a slightly different area than TikTok's. Keep everything inside the central safe zone and one file handles all of them.