YouTube Shorts Size
YouTube Shorts are 1080 × 1920 px at a 9:16 vertical ratio — the same frame as TikTok video and Instagram Reels. Shorts must be 60 seconds or shorter and square or vertical to qualify for the Shorts shelf. The usable design area is smaller than the frame: the title, description, and channel handle occupy the bottom strip, and the like, comment, and share buttons stack along the right edge.
Specifications
| Pixels | 1080 × 1920 px |
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 |
| Supported formats | MP4, MOV |
| Safe zone | Keep content clear of the bottom 320 px and right 180 px — captions and the action rail sit there |
Design Tips
- →Keep faces, product shots, and any on-screen text within the central 1080 × 1420 px zone. The bottom 320 px carries the caption and channel name; the right 180 px carries the action rail.
- →Shorts thumbnails are also vertical — 1080 × 1920 px, not the 1280 × 720 used for regular videos. Pick or upload a vertical cover, otherwise YouTube crops a horizontal frame badly.
- →Shoot or export at 1080 × 1920 rather than upscaling a 720 × 1280 source. Shorts are consumed almost entirely on phones with high-density displays, where upscaling shows immediately.
- →A Short must be 60 seconds or less and vertical or square to enter the Shorts feed. A 9:16 video longer than 60 seconds is treated as a standard upload and loses Shorts distribution.
How to Make a YouTube Short in Playyy
Three steps, no design software. Set the size once — from the size options or straight in your prompt — and every design comes out at 1,080 × 1,920 px.
- 1
Open Playyy
Playyy runs in your browser, so there's nothing to download. Sign in and you'll land on the Home page.
- 2
Type your prompt and set the YouTube Shorts size
Describe what you want in the input box on the Home page, then set the size whichever way is quicker. Pick YouTube Shorts from the size options right underneath — every platform's sizes are in that list, so you don't have to look this one up. Or just say it in your prompt, like "YouTube Shorts at 1,080 × 1,920 px", and Playyy matches it. Either way the design comes out at 9:16.
- 3
Create your YouTube Shorts design and download it
Playyy generates the design at the full 1,080 × 1,920 px, so it's ready to upload as it is. Accepted formats: MP4, MOV.
Create YouTube Shorts designs with Playyy
Type a prompt, pick YouTube Shorts from the size options underneath it, and export at 1080 × 1920 px — no design software needed.
Start designing free →Frequently Asked Questions
What size are YouTube Shorts?+
1080 × 1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio, 60 seconds maximum. This is the same frame size as TikTok video, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Reels, so one vertical export can be published across all four platforms.
What is the YouTube Shorts ratio?+
9:16 vertical. YouTube also accepts square (1:1) video in the Shorts feed, but 9:16 fills the entire phone screen and is what the feed is designed around. Anything wider than square is treated as a regular video upload.
What is the YouTube Shorts thumbnail size?+
1080 × 1920 px — vertical, matching the video. This differs from standard YouTube videos, which use a 1280 × 720 horizontal thumbnail. If you upload a horizontal thumbnail for a Short, YouTube centre-crops it to vertical and usually cuts off the sides.
Can I upload a horizontal video as a Short?+
Technically yes, but it will be pillarboxed with black bars either side inside the vertical player, wasting most of the screen. To qualify for the Shorts shelf a video must be 60 seconds or less and square or vertical — 1080 × 1920 px at 9:16 is the format the feed is built around.
Do YouTube Shorts and TikTok use the same size?+
Yes — both are 1080 × 1920 px at 9:16, as are Instagram Reels and Facebook Reels. One vertical export publishes to all four. The UI overlays sit in slightly different positions per platform, so keep text within the central 1080 × 1420 px to be safe everywhere.