1080 x 1920 pixels, 9:16, MP4. That is the answer, and it is the same answer as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

An unusual admission for a specs article

Most articles about TikTok dimensions cite a number as if TikTok published it. TikTok does not, at least not anywhere a reader can reach.

Its help centre returns an empty document, and the advertising help article that used to carry video specifications now redirects to a generic help home. That was checked directly, in a normal browser, not inferred.

One recording reframed three ways: vertical, square and widescreen.

So when you read a page confidently listing TikTok's maximum bitrate or exact file ceiling, what you are reading is one blog quoting another. We would rather say that than join in.

What is verifiable is the geometry, because it is not TikTok's to define: a phone screen is roughly 9:16, and 1080 x 1920 is the vertical equivalent of 1080p. Every platform that does publish specs - YouTube for Shorts, Meta for Reels and Stories - lands on exactly that. TikTok is not different, it is just quieter.

The safe zones matter more than the numbers

The dimensions are trivially easy to get right and almost never the actual problem. The problem is that TikTok draws its own interface over your video:

  • Right edge: profile picture, like, comment, bookmark, share.
  • Bottom: username, caption, the audio strip.
  • Top: occasionally a search or "Following / For You" bar.

Your video is 1080 wide, but perhaps 800 of that is dependable. It is 1920 tall, and the bottom several hundred pixels are spoken for.

Compose for the middle. If a caption has to be read, it belongs in the central band, not tucked against the bottom where it will sit behind the username.

Getting it right without guessing

Two things remove most of the risk:

  1. Record or reframe to 9:16 from the start, rather than cropping at the end and discovering the subject is off-centre. How to make a video vertical on iPhone covers the face-aware version of this.
  2. Put captions where the app will not. Zella's caption presets sit in the safe band by default, which is a duller sentence than it deserves - it is the single most common reason a first TikTok looks amateur.

What to check before you post

A short list that catches most problems, in the order they cost you:

  1. Is it 9:16? A horizontal video in a vertical feed loses most of the screen.
  2. Is anything important in the bottom quarter or the right edge? That is where the app draws.
  3. Does the first second make sense muted? A meaningful share of viewing starts with sound off.
  4. Is it exported from the original, not re-downloaded? A clip pulled from another platform has been through an extra encoder, and the second pass is visible.
  5. Does it have a visible watermark from another app? A competitor's watermark is the clearest possible signal that a video is recycled.

Why the shape matters more than the resolution

There is a tempting instinct to solve TikTok quality by exporting bigger. It does not work, because the platform re-encodes everything on the way in, and a 4K vertical file arrives looking much like a 1080p one.

What survives compression is contrast, motion and legible type - a clean 1080 x 1920 file with large captions holds up better than a 4K file with small ones. Spend the effort on the composition rather than the pixel count.

One export, three platforms

A 1080 x 1920 MP4 composed centre-safe uploads correctly to TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts without re-exporting. That is the practical reason to standardise on the shape. See best video size and aspect ratio for every platform for the full table.

Common mistakes

  • Trusting a specs table you found online. TikTok publishes none, so every exact limit you read is second-hand. The ratio is the part that is safe to trust.
  • Putting captions in the bottom fifth. That is where the username, caption and audio strip sit.
  • Exporting 4K to fix softness. Everything is re-encoded on upload; composition survives compression, resolution largely does not.
  • Uploading with another app's watermark. It is the clearest signal a video was made somewhere else and recycled here.

Frequently asked questions

What size should a TikTok video be? 1080 x 1920 pixels at a 9:16 aspect ratio, exported as an MP4.

Does TikTok publish official video specifications? Not in any form a reader can currently reach. Its help centre returns an empty page and the ads-help specification article redirects. Treat exact TikTok limits quoted elsewhere as second-hand.

Can I upload a horizontal video to TikTok? You can, and it will play with black bars in a vertical feed. It is almost always worth reframing to 9:16 first.

Where do TikTok's buttons cover my video? The right edge and the bottom. Keep anything you need read in the central band of the frame.

Is the TikTok size the same as Reels and Shorts? Yes. 1080 x 1920 at 9:16 is correct for all three, which is why one export can serve all of them.