Resize a video to 9:16 for YouTube Shorts

Turn a landscape or square clip into a 9:16 vertical video for YouTube Shorts. Crop, letterbox, and trim — entirely in your browser.

🔒 No files are sent to any server

Open the SNS resize tool

Opens with the YouTube Shorts preset selected (9:16 — 1080×1920, up to 3 minutes).

SNS resize →

YouTube Shorts basics

YouTube describes Shorts as videos that are square or vertical and three minutes or shorter (for videos uploaded on or after 15 October 2024). A 9:16 vertical clip (for example 1080×1920) displays full-screen in the Shorts player without any letterboxing.

How to bring a landscape clip down to 9:16

Crop: Keep the center; trim the sides. Best when the subject is centered.
Letterbox (contain): Keep the original aspect, add black bars top and bottom. Safer when there are titles or captions near the edges.
Cover: Scale to fill the frame. Some edges will be cut off.

The tool you'll use

The SNS resize tool has presets for YouTube Shorts, Reels, TikTok, and others. You can pick the framing mode (crop or letterbox) and nudge the crop center, all in the browser.

The FFmpeg command

Prefer the command line? Here's a way to do the same job with FFmpeg directly (the browser tool above uses its own optimized settings, so the output won't be byte-for-byte identical).

Crop to fill 9:16 (center, no bars):

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "crop=ih*9/16:ih,scale=1080:1920" -c:a copy output.mp4

Fit the whole frame with bars (no crop):

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "scale=1080:1920:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1080:1920:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" -c:a copy output.mp4

The commands run on a generic input.mp4 and were tested with FFmpeg 8.1.

Steps

Click "SNS resize" above. The tool opens with the YouTube Shorts preset already selected.
Drop your video onto the tool.
Adjust the crop center if the subject isn't dead-center.
If the clip is longer than three minutes, use the trim controls to shorten it.
Press "Convert" and download the result.

Keeping the quality reasonable

Don't upscale aggressively: If the source is 720×1280, going to 1080×1920 doesn't add any detail. Picking a preset close to the source resolution gives smoother results.

Check for clipped captions: A 9:16 crop can chop off captions that sit near the left or right edge in a landscape source. The contain (letterbox) mode preserves them.

FAQ

Q. What are the YouTube Shorts specs?

A. Shorts are vertical 9:16 videos, with 1080×1920 recommended, and can run up to a few minutes. The exact length limit has changed over time, so check YouTube's current guidance when in doubt.

Q. Should I crop or pad?

A. Cropping fills the frame edge to edge but cuts off the left and right sides — good when the subject is centered. Padding keeps everything in view but adds black bars top and bottom. Use padding when captions or details sit near the edges.

Q. Does it have to be exactly 1080×1920?

A. No. 1080×1920 is the recommended size, but what really matters is the 9:16 ratio. A smaller 9:16 frame still displays full-screen; just avoid upscaling a low-resolution source beyond its native detail.