Crop a Video for YouTube Shorts
Reframe any video to 9:16 at 1080 x 1920, the shape YouTube Shorts actually wants. Free, nothing to install.
- Free to start
- Nothing to install
- Up to 1GB
Crop for YouTube Shorts in 3 steps
Upload your video
Drag and drop a file, or click to browse. Anything under 1GB, nothing to install.
9:16 is already selected
The crop is pre-set to 9:16 for YouTube Shorts. Switch ratio in the panel if you need a different placement.
Crop and download
We process the crop on our servers. Create a free account to download.
YouTube Shorts video sizes
Shorts are vertical: 9:16 at 1080 x 1920. YouTube decides a video belongs in the Shorts feed based on its shape and length, so the crop is not cosmetic, it determines where the video ends up.
Keep it under the Shorts length cap, which currently sits at three minutes. Longer vertical uploads land in the normal video feed instead, where a tall frame works against you.
The Shorts player puts the title, channel and action buttons over the bottom and right of the frame. Anything you need read should sit in the upper-middle of the picture.
Shorts
Standard YouTube video
Square (not recommended)
| Placement | Aspect ratio | Frame size |
|---|---|---|
| Shorts | 9:16 | 1080 x 1920 |
| Standard YouTube video | 16:9 | 1920 x 1080 |
| Square (not recommended) | 1:1 | 1080 x 1080 |
Cropping is not resizing
Cropping changes what is inside the frame by cutting the edges away. Resizing keeps the whole frame and changes how many pixels it is drawn with. Going from a landscape recording to a vertical post is a crop, and something has to leave the picture.
If your video is already 9:16 and you only need it at a different resolution, use the resize tool instead, it is free too and linked below.
crop for youtube shorts: questions
What size is a YouTube Short?
1080 x 1920, a 9:16 vertical frame, the same size as a Reel or a TikTok.
How long can a Short be?
Up to three minutes. Anything longer is published as a regular video rather than a Short.
Is cropping for YouTube Shorts free?
Yes. Crop and preview for free, then create a free account to download the result.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It opens in any browser, so you can crop for YouTube Shorts from a phone as easily as from a laptop.
Does cropping reduce quality?
The kept area is cropped at source resolution and re-encoded at high quality, so it stays sharp. Cropping deep into a low-resolution source is what makes video look soft, not the crop itself.
What if my subject is not in the middle?
This tool crops from the centre, so it keeps the middle of the picture. If the subject sits to one side, open the clip in the full REQO editor, move the picture inside the new frame and export from there. That is free too.
Other presets
Everything else you can do here.
All crop video presets
Resize to a resolution
Compress for a destination
Compress a format
Rotate or flip
Change the frame rate
Change the speed
Transcribe a language
Extract audio from a format
Subtitles in another language
Convert a caption file
Need more than crop for youtube shorts?
REQO is a full browser video editor: record, edit by transcript, caption and export.