Social Video Resizer

The Complete Guide to Video Aspect Ratios for Social Media

Every social media platform has different preferred video dimensions. Uploading a video in the wrong aspect ratio means the platform will either crop it automatically (cutting off important content), add black bars (looking unprofessional), or stretch it (making it look distorted). Using the correct dimensions from the start ensures your content looks exactly the way you intended — and maximizes engagement by filling the available screen space.

Vertical Video — 9:16 (1080x1920)

This is the dominant format for mobile-first platforms: TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight, and Facebook Reels. Vertical video fills the entire phone screen, which is why it consistently outperforms other formats in watch time and engagement metrics. According to multiple industry reports, vertical video receives up to 90% more completion rates than horizontal video on mobile feeds.

If you recorded in landscape (16:9) — whether from a DSLR, webcam, or screen recording — you don't need to re-shoot. Our resizer lets you select the most important portion to keep in the vertical frame. For talking-head videos, center the crop on the speaker. For action shots, follow the subject by adjusting the crop position.

Portrait Feed — 4:5 (1080x1350)

The 4:5 portrait format takes up the maximum amount of screen real estate in the Instagram feed, making it the best-performing aspect ratio for feed posts according to Instagram's own recommendations. A 4:5 video occupies roughly 20% more vertical space than a square post and 78% more than a landscape post — meaning users have to scroll past it, increasing dwell time.

This format also works excellently for Facebook Feed posts, Threads, and Pinterest video pins. If you're posting to both Instagram Feed and Stories/Reels, consider creating two versions: 4:5 for the feed and 9:16 for Stories and Reels.

Square — 1:1 (1080x1080)

Square videos are the most versatile format because they look good across almost every platform: Instagram, Facebook, X/Twitter, and LinkedIn. While they don't maximize screen space on any single platform, they're the best compromise when you need one video that works everywhere without any cropping or resizing.

Square videos are particularly effective for LinkedIn, where the feed layout favors square and vertical content over widescreen. They're also the standard for carousel video ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Landscape — 16:9 (1920x1080)

The widescreen standard for YouTube long-form content, LinkedIn video, X/Twitter, and Facebook long-form video. While mobile-first platforms have shifted to vertical, 16:9 remains essential for content consumed on desktop and smart TVs.

If you shot vertical content (phone recordings, TikToks) and need to repurpose it for YouTube or a presentation, this resizer lets you crop the most relevant section. Keep in mind that going from 9:16 to 16:9 means losing a significant portion of the frame, so position the crop window carefully.

Encoding Settings & Quality

Our resizer uses H.264 (AVC) encoding, which is universally supported across every social media platform and device. The CRF (Constant Rate Factor) of 23 provides an excellent balance between visual quality and file size — it's the same default that professional tools like FFmpeg recommend for general-purpose encoding. Audio is encoded as AAC at 128kbps, which is CD-quality and accepted by all platforms. The faststart flag ensures instant playback without buffering when shared as a link.

Tips for the Best Crop Results

• Keep the subject centered: When cropping a talking-head video from landscape to portrait, position the crop so the speaker's face is roughly in the upper third of the frame.
• Watch for text and graphics: If your source video has subtitles, logos, or lower-thirds, make sure the crop window includes them.
• Preview before committing: The live crop overlay shows exactly what will be kept. Scrub through the video to check that the composition works across the entire clip, not just the first frame.
• Create multiple versions: For maximum reach, resize the same source video into 9:16 for TikTok/Reels, 4:5 for Instagram Feed, and 1:1 for LinkedIn — all from one upload.
• Use a scheduling tool: After resizing, use SocialCal to schedule each version to its target platform, so everything goes out at the optimal time.