YouTube Video Size, Resolution and Length Limits

"What size should a YouTube video be?" mixes three questions: how many pixels, how long, and how many gigabytes. YouTube Help answers each on a separate page. This guide puts the numbers together, works out how they interact, and shows what public data can and cannot say about a video you did not upload.

The size in pixels

YouTube Help calls 16:9 the standard aspect ratio for YouTube on a computer. For that ratio it lists these resolutions.

The page says YouTube started removing support for playback at resolutions between 4K and 8K in 2022. Other aspect ratios play, and the player adapts to them. For some video and device aspect ratios, such as vertical 9:16 video in a computer browser, YouTube may add padding, which is white by default and dark gray in the Dark theme.

Quality options on the player depend on what you upload. YouTube Help says a video recorded in standard definition will not be available in high definition, and that the Auto setting changes quality to suit the viewer's conditions.

Length and file size limits

By default you can upload videos up to 15 minutes long. YouTube Help says verified accounts can upload longer videos, and that verifying means confirming your identity by text or voice call. After that the maximum file size is 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less. Videos uploaded before verification do not become longer, so you have to upload them again. An up-to-date browser is needed for files over 20 GB, and the page suggests compressing a file that is over 256 GB.

Two limits raise a fair question: which one will you actually reach? The answer depends on the bitrate. This is our arithmetic on the bitrates YouTube recommends, for the video stream only, and audio at 384 kbps stereo adds about 0.17 GB an hour.

The bitrate figures are the top of the range YouTube gives for 4K and 8K at 24, 25 or 30 frames a second. Higher frame rates and HDR use more, so the file size limit arrives sooner.

Recommended encoding settings

YouTube recommends an MP4 container with no edit lists and the moov atom at the front of the file. For video it recommends H.264, progressive scan, High Profile, 2 consecutive B frames, a closed GOP of half the frame rate, CABAC and 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. For audio it recommends AAC-LC, Opus or Eclipsa Audio in stereo, at 48 kHz. Content should be uploaded at the frame rate it was recorded, and interlaced footage should be deinterlaced first, for example 1080i60 to 1080p30. For SDR, YouTube recommends the BT.709 color space.

YouTube Help gives higher figures for HDR, and lists 480p and 360p as not supported for HDR. Audio bitrates are 128 kbps for mono, 384 kbps for stereo and 512 kbps for 5.1.

The supported file formats page lists .MOV, .MPEG-1, .MPEG-2, .MPEG4, .MP4, .MPG, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, WebM, DNxHR, ProRes, CineForm and HEVC (H.265). Audio files such as MP3, WAV or PCM cannot be uploaded to make a video.

What public data shows about real videos

You cannot see another channel's dimensions or bitrate. The YouTube Data API gives a video's duration and a flag saying whether it is available in high definition or only in standard definition, and nothing more precise. Our Metadata Viewer reads the duration, and that is as far as public data goes.

To see how real videos sit against the limits, we took our own sample on September 26, 2026: the most popular chart videos in 12 regions, 475 unique videos, read through the API. The chart favors popular videos, so it is not a picture of all of YouTube.

• The median length was 6.2 minutes.
• 1.5% were 60 seconds or shorter, 22.7% ran 61 seconds to 3 minutes, 32.8% ran 3 to 15 minutes, 30.1% ran 15 minutes to an hour, and 12.8% ran one to twelve hours. None was longer than 12 hours.
• 42.9% were longer than 15 minutes, which is the default limit. Uploading a video that long means the account has to be verified.
• 99.8% were flagged as available in HD. One video was standard definition only.

1. 01

   Export at the frame rate you recorded

   Deinterlace first if the footage is interlaced.

2. 02

   Use 16:9 at 1080p or higher

   Other shapes play, but the standard on a computer is 16:9.

3. 03

   Encode as MP4 with H.264 and AAC-LC

   Use the bitrate for your resolution and frame rate in the table above.

4. 04

   Verify your account before a long upload

   Uploads made before verification stay at 15 minutes and have to be uploaded again.

5. 05

   Check the quality options after processing

   The options offered depend on the resolution you uploaded.

FAQ

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