Initially thought of as a passing fad, TikTok has surpassed all expectations, and now, it’s venturing into frontiers considered the preserve for giant search engine companies.

How a little-known social media platform gained relevance and popularity globally is something for the history books. Considering memories of the epic downfall of Vine, it’s easy to understand the fascination with how TikTok became prominent and continues to push boundaries.

But why bother with TikTok video sizes?

Thanks to its vast user base, TikTok presents a lucrative opportunity for content creators looking to share their gifts and earn a wage while at it. It’s also an ideal platform to push advertisements. 

Like any other social media platform, the app’s popularity translates to stiff competition.

Whether you’re looking to cash in on your creative assets, advertise or share your message, you must meet TikTok’s video size requirements, and your content must be engaging for it to stand out. Make no mistake, TikTok was meant to be fun, and its algorithm is designed to ensure it remains that way – no exceptions!

Learn all about TikTok video sizes and what you can do to ensure your content meets TikTok’s standard requirements.

The Ideal TikTok Video Size

Typically, a video’s size is affected by several variables, namely: bitrate, the video’s duration, resolution, frame rate, and color depth, among others. 

However, in this context, the two main values that should concern you are video resolution and the overall file size.

Recommended dimensions for all videos uploaded to TikTok are 1080 by 1920 pixels.

TikTok was originally designed to run on mobile, and to date, most users run the application on their smartphone devices. Naturally, TikTok recommends that the dimensions for all videos uploaded onto the platform are 1080 by 1920 pixels. This should correspond to 1:1 or 9:16 aspect ratios and is the default portrait size for nearly every smartphone.

TikTok Video Length

When it first came out, 15 seconds was the default upper limit for all videos on TikTok. At the time, the major problem was there were capable video-sharing platforms, but viewers couldn’t watch videos to the end. This phenomenon is partly attributed to reducing attention spans within the general population.

Slowly, the limit for TikTok video length was increased first to one minute, then three minutes, and more recently to ten minutes. The minimum duration for TikTok videos is still three seconds.

Even with the increase to a maximum of 10 minutes, it doesn’t mean you should upload longer videos just for the sake of it. TikTok has gained and maintained relevance courtesy of its uncompromising algorithm. 

So, if you can pass the message quickly, the better. More time only means a higher risk that you make a mistake and deliver a less-than-optimal experience to users. Do this enough times, and the algorithm will take notice, and when it does, woe unto you.

Is There a TikTok Minimum Length?

Yes. TikTok doesn’t allow you to upload videos less than three seconds long. The whole point is to share something fun or informative, and anything less than three seconds won’t accomplish either.

This doesn’t mean you should upload 4,5- or 8-second-long videos on TikTok. It might be effective clickbait and may help you rank faster, but eventually, the algorithm will catch up with you, and the outcome won’t be that pleasant.

Landscape or Portrait – Which to Choose?

While both layouts are accepted on TikTok, the portrait layout is the best option since it makes for an ideal viewing experience on TikTok. Generally, videos shot in landscape settings perform better on wider displays.

Compared to landscape layout, portrait fills the screen in its entirety on smartphone devices. This is ideal since you want to capture your audience’s attention and make use of all the space on the screen to entertain or pass a message.

A pleasant experience for users means your video will be shared with many people, and the algorithm will reward you immensely.

TikTok File Size and Type

Regarding file sizes, TikTok has no lower limit for videos but caps it at 72MB for Android devices and 287.6MB for iOS devices. Before you ask, the discrepancy in the maximum limits for Android and iOS devices is due to the different file formats in which each operating system saves videos.

Generally, the MOV video file format takes up relatively more space than the MP4 format. Hence the exception is meant to accommodate iOS users.

As for supported file types, they’re largely classified into two categories: standard video uploads and ad videos.

• MP4 and MOV are the supported file types for standard video uploads.
• The platform supports 3PG, AVI, and MPEG file types for video ads. 

TikTok Video Ad Specs

Due to its massive reach, TikTok is an ideal advertising platform. The platform can deliver an impressive return on investment if you’re willing to look beyond the relatively pricy tag. In line with its user-first policy, TikTok has specific guidelines for video advertisements to ensure they do not affect user experience. 

Here’s a brief look at the specifications:

In-Feed TikTok Video Ads

These are ads that appear on a user’s normal video feed. 

First, in-feed video ads can be in three recommended resolutions and aspect ratios. These are: 640 × 640px, 720 × 1280px, and 1280 × 720px. The corresponding aspect ratios for these include 1:1, 9:16, and 16:9.

Supported file types for the in-feed ads include the standard MOV, MP4, and two others, AVI and MPEG.

500MB is the maximum file size for in-feed ads, and they can range between five and 15 seconds in duration. 

Newsfeed TikTok Video Ads

These ads only appear on newsfeed series. 

720 × 1280px is the recommended resolution, but you can choose between 1:1 or 9:16 aspect ratios. 

All four file types are supported, like with the in-feed video ads, and the file size is limited to 500MB.

Newsfeed TikTok video ads are slightly longer than in-feed ads, with the video duration being limited to between five and 60 seconds.

The character limit for ad descriptions is capped at 100 for both in-feed and newsfeed video ads.

How to Resize a Video for TikTok with Wave.Video

You’ve done the hard part and shot the most amazing video. The story flows beautifully, and the concept is out of this world. But once you upload the video on TikTok, it all comes apart. 

TikTok usually formats all video uploads to fit the platform’s recommended dimensions and size. However, this can distort the video slightly or even render it useless. This is where Wave.Video comes in with its free online video resizer tool.

Here’s how you can quickly resize any video for TikTok: 

1. Upload Your Video

Sign in to your Wave.video account or sign up for free. Then, go straight to the online video resizer tool page.

Click “Upload video,” then select the video you want to resize from your device. Give it a while for the upload to complete, after which you’ll be redirected to Wave.video online editor.

2. Change the Output Aspect Ratio to 9:16

Click the “Resize” button that is on your left. Select the 9:16 aspect ratio or story format.

3. Customize Your Video

Don’t stop there; edit the video to ensure it represents your brand. Add additional elements like stickers, music, and GIFs to your video to make it more fun. Protect your digital asset using watermarks. The editor has all these and more.

Crown it all with hardcoded subtitles to go with the video — your audience will love it. Here’s a quick rundown on how to hardcode subtitles on Wave.video:

Scroll down on the menu to your left and select captions as in the image below.

Click the plus sign on your right and select Auto-transcribe to let the tool generate captions for your video. Review the captions to ensure they’re in sync with the audio and video. You may also want to edit your subtitles’ font color and typography to make them look more on-brand.

4. Export and Download

Hit the publish button, then select video once everything is in the right place.

Choose the highest resolution and an appropriate video format. 

Since it’s a TikTok video, select MP4, and click the “render with watermark” button at the bottom. For paid users, this would be the render button with no watermark.

Give it a while for the render to complete, then download the video to your device. 

Final Thoughts

TikTok is an excellent platform to showcase your talent and convey messages to a colossal audience of eager viewers. However, it would be best to consider abiding by the recommended TikTok video size to optimize your reach. This ensures that your videos render correctly on your viewer’s devices without losing quality or important information.

But that’s not all it takes to rank highly on TikTok. The current algorithm is tough on subpar content. To avoid any downgrades, ensure your content is relevant, engaging, and meets all community guidelines.

Now that you know how to resize TikTok videos using Wave.video, consider taking your TikTok to the next level. Sign up for a free Wave.video account today and enjoy advanced video editing and optimization tools.