YouTube Video Size: The Full Resolution Ladder
Quick answer
YouTube uses a 16:9 standard and documents eight encoding resolutions, from 426 x 240 at 240p up to 7680 x 4320 at 8K. 1920 x 1080 is the practical default and 3840 x 2160 is worth it when the source footage justifies it.
Every YouTube video size
| Use | Dimensions | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p (HD)Use thisThe practical default for most uploads. | 1920 x 1080 | 16:9 |
| 2160p (4K)Worth uploading when the source footage supports it. | 3840 x 2160 | 16:9 |
| 1440p (2K) | 2560 x 1440 | 16:9 |
| 720p (HD) | 1280 x 720 | 16:9 |
| 4320p (8K) | 7680 x 4320 | 16:9 |
| 480p (SD) | 854 x 480 | 16:9 |
| 360p (SD) | 640 x 360 | 16:9 |
| 240p (SD) | 426 x 240 | 16:9 |
Standard aspect ratio
16:9
Playback above 4K
Partially removed since 2022
What the table does not tell you
- Upload the highest resolution your source actually contains. YouTube transcodes downwards for every viewer, so a genuine 4K master produces a better 1080p stream than a 1080p master does.
- Upscaling does not work. A 1080p timeline exported at 3840 x 2160 gains file size and nothing else, because the detail was never captured.
- YouTube began removing playback support between 4K and 8K in 2022. Exporting at 5K is now a way to have your video played back at something other than the resolution you chose.
- Everything on this ladder is 16:9. Vertical content belongs in Shorts, where a 16:9 upload is pillarboxed and looks like it arrived from somewhere else.
Stop resizing the same asset five times
Crowbert formats one upload for every platform it publishes to, so a single video goes out at the right dimensions everywhere without a round trip through a design tool.
Common questions
What resolution should I upload to YouTube?
1920 x 1080 covers most uploads. Go to 3840 x 2160 when the footage was genuinely shot at that resolution, because YouTube's transcode quality improves with a better source.
Does YouTube support 5K video?
Playback is unreliable. YouTube states it started removing support for playback resolutions between 4K and 8K in 2022, so a 5K upload may be served at something else.
What aspect ratio does YouTube use?
16:9 for standard video. Every documented encoding resolution from 240p to 8K sits at that ratio.
Other YouTube sizes
Master YouTube next
Sizes on other platforms
Where these numbers come from
Figures marked “not published by YouTube” are working conventions rather than documented specifications. Everything else comes from the documentation above.
Checked against the documentation above on September 22, 2026.