The vertical video format for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Stories. Calculate dimensions and learn the safe zone rules.
Enter width to calculate height, or enter height to calculate width. For 9:16, height is always larger than width.
| Name | Width | Height | Use Case | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low quality | 540 | 960 | Low-bandwidth streaming | |
| HD 720p vertical | 720 | 1280 | Older devices, data-saving mode | |
| Full HD 1080p vertical Standard | 1080 | 1920 | TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Stories |
| Platform | Format | Recommended Size |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | Videos | 1080 × 1920 px |
| Reels & Stories | 1080 × 1920 px | |
| YouTube | Shorts | 1080 × 1920 px |
| Reels & Stories | 1080 × 1920 px | |
| Snapchat | Snaps & Stories | 1080 × 1920 px |
| Idea Pins (video) | 1080 × 1920 px |
The 9:16 aspect ratio is simply 16:9 rotated 90 degrees — the vertical (portrait) version of the standard widescreen format. It fills the entire screen of a smartphone held in portrait orientation. The ratio is 0.5625:1 (width to height), meaning the height is 1.778× the width.
Vertical video was initially dismissed as poor-quality "vertical video syndrome" in the early smartphone era. The shift began in 2013 when Snapchat built their entire platform around full-screen vertical content. Instagram Stories (2016), TikTok's global growth (2018–2020), YouTube Shorts (2021), and Instagram Reels (2020) all adopted 9:16 as their primary format. By 2023, over 60% of all video content consumed on smartphones was in portrait (9:16) format.
For a 1080×1920 canvas: The top ~100–150 px shows the account handle and interface. The bottom ~250–350 px shows captions, hashtags, music information, and UI elements. The right side (rightmost ~130–180 px) shows the like, comment, share, and follow buttons. Keep all important text, graphics, faces, and calls-to-action within the central safe zone of approximately 1080×1420 px to avoid being covered by UI overlays.
9:16 and 16:9 are mathematical inverses of the same ratio — one is horizontal, one is vertical. A 16:9 video (e.g., 1920×1080) rotated 90 degrees becomes 9:16 (1080×1920). When converting 16:9 landscape content for 9:16 vertical platforms, you typically need to reframe the shot, add vertical padding, or use a vertical crop — just rotating would result in sideways content.