TikTok Video Size and Dimensions
1080 × 1920 · 9:16
TikTok plays full-screen vertical video, so the frame is 1080 × 1920 at 9:16 and uploading anything larger gets it scaled back down to that. The specification worth actually knowing is not the frame, though — it is the file size ceiling, because TikTok does not have one. It has four, and which one applies depends on whether you are posting from an Android phone, an iPhone, the website or an ad account.
The full envelope
| Specification | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Frame size | 1080 × 1920 px | TikTok serves at 1080 wide. A 4K upload is downscaled on arrival, so it buys nothing beyond a slower upload — export at 1080 × 1920 and spend the bitrate instead. |
| Aspect ratio | 9:16 | Squarer material plays, fitted into the same vertical player with the empty space filled by a blurred copy of your own frame. It works, and it looks exactly like a video that was made for somewhere else. |
| Maximum length | 10 minutes recorded, 60 minutes uploaded | The in-app camera stops at ten minutes; a file uploaded from your library can run up to an hour. Neither is a target — TikTok's own creator guidance and every retention study point at well under a minute for anything that has to hold a cold audience. |
| Maximum file size | 72 MB from Android, ~287 MB from iOS, up to 10 GB from the web disputed | This is the one that actually stops people, and the fix is almost always 'upload from a browser instead of the app'. The Android ceiling in particular is low enough that a two-minute 1080p export can exceed it. |
| Container | MP4 or MOV | MP4 from Android, MOV from iOS, both accepted everywhere. WebM is not a TikTok upload format, which matters if your file came out of a browser-based editor. |
| Codec | H.264 video, AAC audio | The safe pairing. HEVC uploads are accepted from newer iPhones but are the usual culprit when a file is rejected without a useful error, so converting to H.264 is a reasonable first thing to try. |
| Frame rate | 30 fps, or 60 for motion | 60 fps survives the platform's re-encode noticeably better on fast movement — gameplay, sport, anything whipping past the camera. For talking to a lens it makes no visible difference and doubles the file. |
| Safe area | Keep titles clear of the top 240 px and bottom 480 px | The action column runs up the right-hand edge and the username and caption sit along the bottom, both drawn over the picture. On-screen text placed near either is competing with interface elements you cannot move. |
Worth knowing
'File too large' almost always means the wrong app
TikTok's upload ceiling is not a property of TikTok, it is a property of the client you post from — roughly 72 MB on Android, about 287 MB on iOS, and up to 10 GB through tiktok.com in a desktop browser. The gap is large enough that the same file can be impossible to post from a phone and unremarkable from a laptop. When an upload is refused for size, moving to the website is a faster fix than compressing, and it costs no quality at all.
Uploading 4K is not an upgrade
TikTok distributes at 1080 wide, so a 4K file is scaled down the moment it lands and the extra pixels are discarded before anyone sees them. What survives the platform's re-encode is bitrate, not resolution. Exporting 1080 × 1920 at a generous 8 to 12 Mbps gives a visibly better result than a 4K file squeezed into the same number of megabytes, and it uploads in a fraction of the time.
The blurred bars are the platform guessing
Post something wider than 9:16 and TikTok fits it into the vertical player, filling the space above and below with a blurred, enlarged copy of your own frame. It is a graceful failure rather than an ugly one, which is exactly why it goes uncorrected — it looks deliberate enough that people stop noticing their video occupies half the screen it could have.
The upload ceiling by where you post from
| Posting from | Maximum file | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Android app | ~72 MB | A 1080p export longer than about two minutes can exceed this |
| iOS app | ~287 MB | Comfortable for most phone-length clips, tight for long ones |
| tiktok.com in a browser — this page | Up to 10 GB | Effectively unlimited for anything you would post |
| In-feed video ads | 500 MB | A separate ceiling on the ads platform |
These move, and TikTok does not publish them in one place — they are the figures corroborated across current reporting rather than a first-party table. The pattern behind them is stable even when the numbers shift: the phone apps are the constrained route and the website is not.
The four surfaces side by side
| Surface | Frame | Ratio | Maximum length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reel | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | 3 minutes in the Reels tab |
| TikTok video — this page | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 | 10 minutes recorded, 60 minutes uploaded |
| YouTube Shorts | 1080 × 1920 | 9:16 to fill, 1:1 or taller to qualify | 3 minutes |
| YouTube thumbnail | 1280 × 720 | 16:9 | Still image |
Three of the four share one frame, which is why a page that stated only the pixel size would be interchangeable with its neighbours. What separates them is everything else — how long the platform lets a video run, what it will accept as a file, and what its player does to a shape it did not ask for.
Now make a file that fits
Crop and scale any clip to TikTok's 1080 × 1920 vertical frame, choosing which third of a landscape picture survives rather than letting the app centre-crop it for you.
Also useful here: Compress video, Convert to MP4 — all of it runs on your own machine, with nothing uploaded.
Other platform specs
Frequently asked questions
What size should a TikTok video be?
1080 × 1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio. That is the frame that fills the player. TikTok will accept and display other shapes, fitting them into the same vertical space with blurred filler above and below, but only 9:16 uses the whole screen.
Why does TikTok say my video is too large?
Because you are posting from a phone. TikTok's file size ceiling depends on the client: roughly 72 MB from the Android app, about 287 MB from iOS, and up to 10 GB uploading through tiktok.com in a desktop browser. Posting the same file from the website usually solves it outright, with no compression and no quality lost.
How long can a TikTok video be?
Up to ten minutes if you record it in the app, and up to sixty minutes if you upload a file from your library. Both are ceilings rather than targets — the length that actually performs is far shorter, and a long video is judged on the same watch-time signals as a short one.
Should I upload TikToks in 4K?
There is no benefit. TikTok distributes video at 1080 wide and downscales anything larger on arrival, so a 4K upload spends time and bandwidth on pixels that are discarded before playback. Exporting at 1080 × 1920 with a high bitrate produces a better-looking result than 4K compressed to the same file size.
What video format does TikTok accept?
MP4 and MOV, with H.264 video and AAC audio. WebM is not accepted, which catches out files exported from browser-based editors. HEVC from a recent iPhone usually uploads but is the most common cause of a file being rejected without a clear reason, so converting to H.264 is a sensible first troubleshooting step.