YouTube Shorts specs: length, size, safe zones and audio

The specs at a glance

The rest of this guide explains each line and the mistakes that go with it.

Length: up to 3 minutes

Since 15 October 2024, YouTube categorises vertical or square videos of up to three minutes as Shorts. Before that the limit was 60 seconds, which is why older advice still says "under a minute".

Two conditions, both required:

1. Length: 3 minutes or less.
2. Shape: square or vertical.

A three-minute 16:9 video is a normal long-form video, not a Short.

Can a Short be longer than it needs to be? Yes, and that's the real question. Three minutes is a limit, not a target. Most explainer Shorts tell one idea, and that usually takes well under a minute. Use the extra length when the story needs it, for example a quiz with several questions or a step-by-step how-to.

Aspect ratio and resolution

• 9:16 at 1080 x 1920 fills the screen on a phone. This is the standard choice.
• 1:1 square also counts as a Short, but leaves empty space above and below in the Shorts player.
• Don't letterbox a horizontal video inside a vertical frame with blurred bars and call it done. It works technically, but the picture is tiny on a phone.

If you also post to TikTok and Instagram Reels, the same 1080 x 1920 master works on all three.

File settings

YouTube's recommended upload settings are an MP4 file with H.264 video and AAC-LC audio at 48 kHz. Keep the frame rate you recorded or rendered at; converting 30 fps to 60 fps doesn't add smoothness. Export at a high quality setting, because YouTube compresses everything again after upload and a low-quality upload gets worse.

Safe zones: where text is hidden

In the Shorts player, parts of your video are covered:

• Bottom: the channel name, subscribe button, title, and the music or sound line.
• Right edge: a column of buttons (like, dislike, comments, share, remix).
• Top: the search and menu icons, and sometimes a progress bar.

YouTube doesn't publish one fixed pixel map, and the layout differs between phones, app versions, and between YouTube, TikTok and Reels. A practical rule of thumb for a 1080 x 1920 frame:

Captions placed in the lower middle, above the bottom overlay, are the most common choice. The best check is practical: upload a test as private or unlisted, open it in the app on a phone, and look.

Captions

Many people watch Shorts with the sound low or off, so captions matter.

• Burned-in captions are part of the picture. You choose font, size, colour and position, and every viewer sees them. This is how most Shorts are captioned.
• Uploaded subtitles (an SRT file) can be turned on and off by viewers and give YouTube the text of your video. The player chooses the font.
• Short chunks: two to four words at a time, highlighted as they're spoken, are easier to read than full sentences.
• Non-Latin scripts: check Urdu, Hindi and Arabic captions on a phone. Fonts and right-to-left layout are where most tools fail. Our guide on Urdu Nastaliq captions covers the fixes.

Music and copyright

YouTube's rules for longer Shorts are stricter about copyright:

• A Short longer than one minute with an active Content ID claim is blocked worldwide. It won't play, be recommended, or earn.
• Shorts of one minute or less have no new restrictions from the three-minute change.
• When you add music inside the YouTube app to a longer Short, many songs can be used for up to 90 seconds, and some for less.
• YouTube's royalty-free Audio Library tracks don't receive Content ID claims.

The simplest way to avoid trouble is original music, or royalty-free tracks you have the rights to.

Loudness: about -14 LUFS

YouTube normalises playback volume. If your video is louder than its reference level, which is widely measured at around -14 LUFS, YouTube turns it down. It generally doesn't turn quiet videos up. In practice:

• Mix to about -14 LUFS integrated, with true peaks below about -1 dB. Louder masters gain nothing and may sound squashed after normalisation.
• Keep the voice on top. Music should duck under narration, not compete with it.
• Check it in YouTube's "Stats for nerds" panel, which shows how much a video's volume has been adjusted.

Thumbnail and first frame

In the YouTube app you can choose a frame from your Short as its thumbnail. Some places still show the opening frame, so make the first frame readable on its own: a clear title and a picture, not a black screen or a blurry transition.

Title, description and hashtags

• What makes a video a Short is its length and shape. You don't need "#Shorts" in the title for YouTube to classify it.
• Keep titles short and specific; the video plays at the same time, so the title only needs the hook.
• Put sources and a sentence or two of context in the description.

Shorts vs TikTok vs Reels

The same vertical 1080 x 1920 master usually works everywhere, but the details differ and change often:

Check each app's own help pages for current limits, and preview your video in each app before posting.

Making Shorts that meet these specs automatically

ContentRoof exports vertical 9:16 videos up to 3 minutes long, with word-by-word captions, original background music ducked under the voice, and audio mastered to -14 LUFS. The same script can also be exported as 16:9 for YouTube or square, plus a thumbnail (the opening title card). There is no watermark.

Export checklist

• Vertical 9:16 (or square), 1080 x 1920.
• 3 minutes or less.
• MP4, H.264, AAC audio.
• Captions inside the safe area, readable on a phone.
• No copyrighted music on a Short over one minute.
• Loudness around -14 LUFS, voice clearly above the music.
• A first frame that works as a thumbnail.

How it works

1. Set the canvasCreate a 1080 x 1920 vertical project (or 1:1 square) at the frame rate you recorded or rendered in.
2. Keep it to 3 minutes or lessYouTube treats vertical or square videos up to 3 minutes as Shorts.
3. Place text in the safe areaKeep captions and titles away from the bottom overlay, the right-hand buttons and the top icons.
4. Mix the audioVoice above music, mastered to about -14 LUFS, using original or royalty-free music.
5. Export and check on a phoneExport MP4 with H.264 and AAC, upload privately, and check captions and overlays in the app.

Questions

Updated 2026-10-28