TikTok video size, length and format (2026)

TikTok has three sets of video rules: what the app lets you record and upload, what TikTok Studio on a computer accepts, and what scheduling apps can send through TikTok's API. They differ more than most people expect, especially on length. Below are the numbers from TikTok's Help Center, Creator Academy and developer documentation, checked in October 2026, and the parts that most often trip people up.

TikTok video size and specs at a glance

The middle column covers posting in TikTok itself. The right column is what TikTok's Content Posting API accepts, which is what every scheduling app, Unisenda included, has to work within.

The best TikTok video dimensions

For a standard TikTok, make a vertical 9:16 video at 1080 × 1920 pixels. That's the shape TikTok Studio's upload screen recommends for vertical video, and it fills a phone screen.

You can go higher. TikTok Studio suggests 1080p, 1440p or 4K, and the API takes videos of up to 4,096 pixels on each side, so a vertical 4K video (2160 × 3840) can be sent at full size. The smallest the API accepts is 360 pixels on each side.

For the file, MP4 with H.264 video is the safe choice: TikTok Studio recommends MP4, and TikTok's developer documentation lists H.264 as the recommended codec, with frame rates from 23 to 60 fps.

How long can a TikTok video be?

In the TikTok app, videos you record can be up to 10 minutes and videos you upload up to 60 minutes. One exception: if you pick a sound before you record or upload, the sound's length sets the video's length. TikTok Studio on the web also takes uploads of up to 60 minutes.

Scheduling apps have tighter limits. TikTok's developer documentation says every creator can post 3-minute videos, while some can post 5- or 10-minute videos, so 10 minutes is the most an app can send. Before posting, apps must ask TikTok for your account's maximum length and stop videos that are too long.

So a 20-minute video can go up from your phone or TikTok Studio, but not from a scheduler. And if your account's limit is 3 minutes, a 4-minute clip won't go through an app even though it's under 10 minutes. To see how long a script will run before you film, try the free video script timer.

TikTok video file size limit

TikTok Studio on the web accepts files of up to 30 GB, and scheduling apps can send up to 4 GB through TikTok's API. TikTok's Help Center doesn't list a file size limit for uploads in the phone app.

Length is the limit to watch: a 10-minute video only goes over 4 GB if it averages more than about 50 megabits per second.

Horizontal and square videos on TikTok

TikTok accepts landscape videos, and TikTok Studio recommends 16:9 for them. When a video is wider than it is tall, viewers get a Full screen button to watch it sideways. TikTok's Creator Academy says this works for true landscape videos with no text in the margins.

Square and 4:5 videos are accepted too, as long as each side is at least 360 pixels for videos sent by apps, but they don't fill a phone screen. If the same clip is going to Reels and Shorts as well, 9:16 works on all three: see how to post one video to TikTok, Reels and Shorts and the YouTube Shorts size guide.

Direct posts and drafts: two ways apps send videos

TikTok's API gives apps two options, and the one a scheduler uses changes what happens at posting time:

• Direct Post. The app publishes the video for you, with the caption, cover and settings you chose. Nothing to do in TikTok at the scheduled time.
• Upload as a draft. The app only sends the video. TikTok's upload documentation says you then get an inbox notification and finish editing and posting in the TikTok app yourself.

The draft route suits you if you like to add TikTok sounds or effects at the last minute, and TikTok's documentation says you can trim a video sent this way to fit your account's length limit. The direct route is the one that lets a video go out on time while you're busy elsewhere.

Captions, covers and settings from a scheduling app

TikTok's API accepts captions of up to 2,200 characters, with hashtags and @mentions written straight into the text.

Covers work differently from TikTok Studio. Through the API, the cover is a frame from your video, picked by its time; if an app doesn't set one, TikTok uses the first frame. Uploading a separate cover image is something you can do in TikTok Studio, but not through the API.

Apps also have to show TikTok's own settings before posting: who can view the video, from the options your account allows, and whether people can comment, Duet or Stitch. You can also mark a video as promoting your own business or as a paid partnership.

How Unisenda handles TikTok videos

Unisenda posts to TikTok with Direct Post, so your video goes out at the time you schedule, and the limits in the right-hand column apply. Here's what it does for you:

• Upload. Add a video of up to 500 MB (MP4, MOV or WebM). If it's already an H.264 MP4, Unisenda sends your original file to TikTok without compressing it.
• Phone formats. Videos in MOV or HEVC get an H.264 MP4 copy automatically. Your original stays in your library.
• Cover. Choose Cover to pick the frame people see first.
• TikTok's settings. The TikTok tab has who can view (from the options your account allows), comments, Duet and Stitch, commercial content disclosure and TikTok's music usage confirmation.
• Checks. Unisenda flags what TikTok would reject before you schedule, such as a video longer than your account allows or a setting you still have to choose.
• Preview. A phone preview shows how the vertical video will look.

See it with sample accounts in the demo, or follow the steps in how to schedule TikTok videos.