Video Resolution Checker for Reels, TikTok and Shorts

What each check means

The checker reads four things each platform publishes a rule for, and compares them with that platform’s own pages, read on 25 October 2026. The numbers and sources are the ones in our guide to uploading high-quality video to TikTok, Reels and Shorts. TikTok’s pages don’t load from our network, so its numbers come from search-engine copies of them and may have changed.

• Shape is the aspect ratio: width compared with height. A 1080 × 1920 video is 9:16, or 0.5625:1. Instagram takes reels from 1.91:1 to 9:16. TikTok publishes no shape rule for regular posts. YouTube uploads a square or vertical video of 3 minutes or less as a Short.
• Resolution is checked on the short side, so a vertical 720 × 1280 video counts as 720 pixels. Instagram asks for at least 720, and TikTok and YouTube publish no minimum. TikTok’s 2021 Upload HD setting posts in up to 1080p, and YouTube’s steps for making a Short in its app say up to 1080p. A sharper file passes, with a note that it may be scaled. A 1080 × 1920 export works on all three, and 1440 × 2560 matches Meta’s Reels ad spec if your footage is that sharp.
• Length limits differ most. Instagram allows reels up to 20 minutes but doesn’t recommend reels over 3 minutes to new audiences. TikTok takes uploads up to 60 minutes, and a Short runs up to 3 minutes.
• File size has one published app limit: YouTube’s 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less. Instagram and TikTok publish none for regular posts, so the checker marks them Not published and shows Meta’s Reels ad limit and TikTok’s API limit, both 4 GB, for comparison.

Frame rate and bitrate matter too, but a browser can’t read them reliably, so the tool says so instead of guessing. Instagram asks for at least 30 fps. YouTube asks for the frame rate you recorded and suggests 8 Mbps at 1080p for 24 to 30 fps. On a Mac, QuickTime Player shows a video’s frame rate under Window, then Show Movie Inspector.

How to fix a failing check

Each fix is our advice, built on the platform pages above. Export again from your original footage each time, because exporting an export compresses it twice.

• Wrong shape. Re-export at 9:16. The aspect ratio calculator gives the exact size for any width, and 1080 × 1920 is the usual one. If you crop a landscape clip to fit, check what each app’s buttons will cover with the Reels safe zone checker. YouTube asks you not to add black bars yourself.
• Under 720 pixels. Export at 1080 × 1920. Scaling a small file up adds pixels but not detail, so start from the sharpest footage you have.
• Too long. Trim it. A Short runs up to 3 minutes, and Instagram doesn’t recommend reels over 3 minutes to people who don’t follow you.
• Too big. Export H.264 video in an MP4 near YouTube’s 1080p bitrates: 8 Mbps at 24 to 30 fps, 12 Mbps at 48 to 60. At 8 Mbps, a minute of picture comes to about 60 MB before sound, by our arithmetic.
• The browser can’t read it. Export an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC sound. YouTube recommends it, and Meta’s ad specs and TikTok’s developer guide both name H.264.

For the export settings in CapCut, Premiere, Resolve and Final Cut, and each app’s quality switch, read how to upload high-quality video. To even out the sound before you export, use the audio normalizer.

How this checker reads your file

• Nothing is uploaded. Your browser opens the file through a temporary local link and loads only its metadata into a video player that isn’t shown. The link is closed as soon as the read ends.
• Width, height and length come from that player. Size and type come from the file itself.
• Near 9:16 means within 1% of it, because exports sometimes round a side by a few pixels. The shape check uses the same 1%, so a 1078 × 1920 video passes Instagram’s 9:16 end with a note. Other shape limits are exact, so a 1080 × 565 video is wider than 1.91:1 and gets flagged.
• Sizes use decimal units: 1 MB is 1,000,000 bytes and 1 GB is 1,000,000,000, the stricter reading of a limit such as 4 GB.
• Lengths are compared to a tenth of a second, the precision the tool shows.
• Average bitrate is the file size in bits divided by the length. It includes the sound and the file’s own overhead, so it runs a little above the picture’s bitrate.
• Container comes from the file’s type and name. It can’t show the codec inside, such as H.264 or HEVC.

The tool can only read what your browser can play. If a file won’t open, try another browser or an MP4 copy.