Video Export Settings for Social: The 2026 Specs

Export H.264 in an MP4 at 1080 by 1920, 30 fps, closed GOP, 4:2:0 chroma, AAC audio at 48 kHz, with the moov atom at the front of the file. That single preset satisfies every published constraint on Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn at once. You do not need four presets. You need one, and a reason to trust it.

Below is what each of those four platforms actually documents, quoted from its own developer or help pages, checked on 1 September 2026. Also below: the numbers that get repeated everywhere and appear in none of those documents.

What does Instagram publish for Reels?

Meta states Reel specifications in the IG User Media reference on the Instagram Platform docs. This is the authoritative list, and it is stricter and more specific than almost any third-party summary.

• Container: MOV or MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14), no edit lists, moov atom at the front of the file
• Video codec: HEVC or H.264, progressive scan, closed GOP, 4:2:0 chroma subsampling
• Audio codec: AAC, 48 kHz sample rate maximum, 1 or 2 channels
• Frame rate: 23 to 60 fps
• Picture size: maximum 1920 horizontal pixels. Aspect ratio accepted between 0.01:1 and 10:1, with 9:16 recommended to avoid cropping
• Video bitrate: VBR, 25 Mbps maximum
• Audio bitrate: 128 kbps
• Duration: 3 seconds minimum, 15 minutes maximum
• File size: 300 MB maximum

Note the two constraints that trip people up. "Maximum 1920 horizontal pixels" means a 4K vertical export at 2160 by 3840 exceeds the documented width. And "no edit lists, moov atom at the front" is a container setting, not a quality setting, which most editing software calls Fast Start.

Stories are a separate spec on the same page, and tighter: 100 MB file size and 60 seconds maximum, against 300 MB and 15 minutes for Reels. If you export one file for both, the Stories limits are the ones that bind.

What does TikTok publish?

TikTok's stated limits live in the Content Posting API media transfer guide. They are permissive, and they are the only numbers TikTok publishes.

• Formats: MP4 (recommended), WebM, MOV
• Codecs: H.264 (recommended), H.265, VP8, VP9
• Frame rate: 23 fps minimum, 60 fps maximum
• Picture size: 360 pixels minimum on both axes, 4096 pixels maximum on both axes
• File size: 4 GB maximum
• Duration: creators can post 3 minute videos, some accounts have access to 5 or 10 minutes. The API caps a developer-sent video at 10 minutes

TikTok publishes no recommended bitrate. Not on that page, not anywhere else in its developer documentation. Every "TikTok recommends 5 Mbps at 1080p30" you have read is a number somebody chose.

What does YouTube publish for Shorts and long form?

YouTube is the outlier here, and in a good way. Its recommended upload encoding settings page is the most complete public encoding document any of these platforms maintains, and the same guidance covers Shorts and long form.

• Container: MP4, no edit lists, moov atom at the front (Fast Start)
• Video codec: H.264, progressive scan, High Profile, 2 consecutive B frames, CABAC, 4:2:0, variable bitrate, closed GOP at half the frame rate
• Audio codec: AAC-LC, Opus or Eclipsa Audio at 48 kHz
• Frame rate: encode at the rate you shot. 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 are all listed. Interlaced footage should be deinterlaced first
• Colour: BT.709 for SDR uploads

YouTube is also the only one of the four that publishes a bitrate table. These are its SDR recommendations.

YouTube recommended video bitrate, SDR

• 1080p: 8 Mbps at 24, 25 or 30 fps. 12 Mbps at 48, 50 or 60 fps
• 1440p: 16 Mbps standard, 24 Mbps high frame rate
• 2160p (4K): 35 to 45 Mbps standard, 53 to 68 Mbps high frame rate
• 720p: 5 Mbps standard, 7.5 Mbps high frame rate

YouTube recommended audio bitrate

• Mono: 128 kbps
• Stereo: 384 kbps
• 5.1: 512 kbps

The closed GOP instruction is the one worth copying across platforms. YouTube asks for a GOP of half the frame rate, so 15 frames at 30 fps. Instagram asks for closed GOP without specifying a length. A 15 frame closed GOP satisfies both, and nothing on this list objects to it.

What does LinkedIn publish?

LinkedIn documents video for ads rather than organic posts. The Video Ads specifications page is the closest thing to an official encoding spec it maintains, and organic uploads are accepted well inside these bounds.

• File type: MP4
• Sound format: AAC or MPEG4, sample rate under 64 kHz
• Recommended frame rate: 30 fps
• File size: 75 KB minimum, 500 MB maximum
• Duration: 3 seconds to 30 minutes
• Dimensions: 360 pixels minimum and 1920 pixels maximum on both width and height
• Aspect ratio: 9:16 (0.563) minimum to 16:9 (1.778) maximum, with 5 percent tolerance
• Thumbnail: JPG or PNG, 2 MB maximum, matching the video aspect ratio

LinkedIn names no video codec at all, only the MP4 container, and publishes no bitrate. The 1920 pixel ceiling is the binding constraint, and it matches Instagram's.

Which numbers get repeated with no source behind them?

This is the part worth bookmarking. Three figures appear on dozens of specification pages and in none of the four documents above.

• "Instagram recommends 3,500 kbps" or "5,000 to 10,000 kbps". Meta publishes one bitrate figure for Reels: VBR with a 25 Mbps ceiling. There is no recommended floor anywhere in the Instagram Platform docs.
• "TikTok recommends 5 Mbps at 1080p30, 8 to 10 Mbps at 60 fps". TikTok publishes no bitrate guidance in its developer documentation. The number is plausible and unattributed.
• "TikTok maximum file size is 72 MB on Android, 287.6 MB on iOS". The Content Posting API states 4 GB. The smaller figures describe historical in-app upload limits and are widely reprinted as current.

None of these are necessarily wrong as practical advice. They are just not specifications, and a page that presents them as such is telling you something it cannot know. Before you change an export setting because a blog said so, find the platform document it came from. Often there is not one.

The one preset that clears all four

Every documented constraint above is satisfied by a single export. Set this once in your editor and stop maintaining four presets.

• Container: MP4, Fast Start enabled (moov atom at the front, no edit lists)
• Video codec: H.264, High Profile, progressive scan, CABAC, 2 B frames
• Chroma: 4:2:0, 8 bit
• Resolution: 1080 by 1920 for vertical, 1920 by 1080 for horizontal. Never above 1920 on either axis
• Frame rate: 30 fps, or 24 fps if that is what you shot. Constant, not variable
• GOP: closed, 15 frames, no open GOP and no scene-detect keyframes
• Bitrate: VBR two-pass, 12 Mbps target and 16 Mbps maximum for 1080p at 30 fps
• Colour: Rec. 709, limited range
• Audio: AAC-LC, 48 kHz, stereo, 128 kbps
• File size: keep under 100 MB if the same file will also be posted to Stories

Two of those choices are ours rather than any platform's, and it is fair to say which. The 12 Mbps target sits above YouTube's 8 Mbps 1080p30 recommendation and far below Instagram's 25 Mbps ceiling, deliberately, because every platform re-encodes what you upload and a slightly generous source survives that re-encode better. The 15 frame closed GOP is YouTube's rule applied everywhere, because no other platform contradicts it.

The audio figure is the one place the four documents genuinely disagree. Meta states 128 kbps for Reels. YouTube recommends 384 kbps for stereo. 128 satisfies Meta exactly and is well within what YouTube accepts, so it is the safe default for a file going everywhere. If a given export is destined for YouTube first and social second, raise it to 384 for that one file.

If you are exporting clips cut from a longer recording, the same preset holds. The thing that changes is where the text sits in the frame, which is a separate problem covered in our checked numbers on vertical video safe zones.

Frequently asked questions

Should I export at 4K for Instagram?

No. Meta documents a maximum of 1920 horizontal pixels for Reels, so a 2160 by 3840 vertical export is outside the published spec. Export at 1080 by 1920. Shoot in 4K if you want reframing headroom in the edit, then deliver at 1080.

Does a higher bitrate survive platform compression better?

Up to a point. Every platform re-encodes on upload, so the source only needs to be clean enough that the re-encode has good data to work from. Past roughly 16 Mbps at 1080p you are paying in upload time for differences nobody sees.

H.264 or H.265?

H.264. Instagram and TikTok both accept H.265, YouTube's recommendation names H.264 only, and LinkedIn names no codec. H.264 is the single option accepted everywhere without qualification, and the file size saving from H.265 does not matter when the platform re-encodes anyway.

What does moov atom at the front actually mean?

The moov atom is the index that tells a player what is in the file. If it sits at the end, a player must download the whole file before it can start. Both Meta and YouTube ask for it at the front. Most editors expose this as a Fast Start checkbox.

Does frame rate affect reach?

There is no published evidence that it does. What is documented is the accepted range: 23 to 60 fps on both Instagram and TikTok. Match what you shot. Converting 24 fps footage to 30 introduces judder for no benefit.

Key takeaways

• One preset covers all four platforms: MP4, H.264 High Profile, 1080 by 1920, 30 fps, closed 15 frame GOP, 4:2:0, AAC 48 kHz, Fast Start.
• Instagram documents a hard maximum of 1920 horizontal pixels and 300 MB per Reel. Stories are tighter at 100 MB and 60 seconds.
• YouTube is the only platform of the four that publishes a bitrate table. Its 1080p SDR recommendation is 8 Mbps at 30 fps, 12 Mbps at 60.
• TikTok publishes no bitrate guidance at all, and its documented file ceiling is 4 GB, not the 72 MB and 287.6 MB figures still in circulation.
• LinkedIn names no video codec, only an MP4 container, a 1920 pixel ceiling and a 500 MB limit.
• The commonly repeated "Instagram recommends 3,500 kbps" appears in no Meta document. Meta publishes a 25 Mbps ceiling and no floor.
• Every one of these platforms re-encodes your upload, so a slightly generous source beats a precisely tuned one.

Where this fits

Export settings are the cheapest quality problem to fix and the least interesting one to keep fixing. If clips are shipping late, looking inconsistent, or eating an afternoon a week, the bottleneck is the workflow around the export rather than the export itself. EchoPulse builds and runs that workflow for founders and business owners who would rather record than render, and the cost of doing that with a team is published rather than quoted on request.