How long can a short video be on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok? (November 2026)
Shorts up to 3 minutes, Reels up to 20 but shown to new viewers only up to 3, TikTok up to 10 or 60. Today's limits from the official pages, and what to do with them.
Three platforms, three different limits, and one number that matters more than the others: 3 minutes. Here's how long a short video can be today on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, according to their official pages, which we read on November 3, 2026. Sources at the end.
The short version
- YouTube Shorts: up to 3 minutes, if the video is vertical or square. Longer than that, it becomes a regular video.
- Instagram Reels: up to 20 minutes in the app, but after 3 minutes the Reel isn't shown to people who don't already follow you.
- TikTok: up to 10 minutes recording in the app, up to 60 uploading from the app, up to 30 from a computer.
- Facebook: since 2025 every video is a Reel, with no stated length limit.
YouTube Shorts: 3 minutes, vertical or square
Since October 15, 2024, any square or vertical video up to 3 minutes long is a Short; before, the limit was 60 seconds. A longer video, or a horizontal one, becomes a regular video. To keep a short video out of Shorts, use a wide format such as 16:9.
In the app, the camera records up to 3 minutes, in several clips if you like, at up to 1080p. If you upload a longer video from your phone, the app offers to trim it. YouTube also asks you not to add black bars to the file.
Watch the music: a Short longer than one minute with an active copyright claim (Content ID) is blocked worldwide and can't be monetized. The channel isn't penalized, but nobody sees the video. Above one minute, original audio or free music from the YouTube Audio Library is the safe choice.
Instagram Reels: up to 20 minutes, but new viewers see up to 3
According to Instagram's help center, you can record and edit a Reel up to 20 minutes long, in several clips, and the same goes for uploads from a computer. The same page has the rule that matters: "Reels over 3 minutes won't be recommended to new audiences."
The history in two dates: on January 18, 2025, Adam Mosseri raised the limit from 90 seconds to 3 minutes, saying short-form stayed the priority; in November 2025 the new camera arrived, with longer Reels. Instagram's own pages aren't all in line yet: the Reels page and the 2026 guide still say 3 minutes.
Instagram also gives advice on length: 3 to 15 seconds for trends and jokes, 15 to 60 seconds for tutorials and most formats, 1 to 3 minutes for longer stories. For beginners it suggests 15 seconds.
TikTok: 10 minutes recording, 60 uploading
In the TikTok app you can record up to 10 minutes and upload up to 60. If you pick a sound before recording or uploading, the sound sets the length of the video. From a computer, in TikTok Studio, the limit is 30 minutes and 10 GB, at least 720×1280 pixels, as MP4 or WebM.
Two things to know. Some translated versions of the help page lag behind (the Italian one still says 60 seconds recording and 3 minutes uploading): the English page is the reference. And in the Creator Rewards Program (United States), only videos of at least one minute count.
Facebook and LinkedIn
Since June 17, 2025, every video on Facebook is a Reel, with no limits on length or format: 9:16, 16:9 or square. On LinkedIn you can upload a video up to 15 minutes long, with an aspect ratio between 1:2.4 and 2.4:1.
If an app posts for you, the limits are different
When an app posts on your behalf (a scheduler, or an app like HypeFox), the limits are those of the platform's API, not of its app:
- Instagram: Reels from 3 seconds to 15 minutes, up to 300 MB.
- TikTok: 3 minutes for everyone, 5 or 10 only for some accounts. The app has to read your account's limit and stop videos that are too long.
- Facebook (Pages): Reels from 3 to 90 seconds.
- LinkedIn: up to 30 minutes, up to 500 MB.
- YouTube: the API has no "Short" option: the 3-minute vertical rule applies.
In HypeFox, for example, videos made from your own footage are capped at 3 minutes for exactly this reason: it's the length that works everywhere.
What to do
- For a video that goes everywhere, stay under 3 minutes. It's the Shorts limit, the point after which Instagram stops showing a Reel to new people, and the length TikTok's API gives every account.
- If the same file also goes to Facebook through an app, keep it under 90 seconds.
- On YouTube, no copyrighted music past the one-minute mark.
- Export vertical 9:16 at 1080×1920, with no black bars. It's the format Instagram's and Facebook's APIs recommend, above TikTok's minimum, and without the borders YouTube asks you to avoid.
- Let the purpose set the length, not the maximum allowed. A tutorial fits in 15 to 60 seconds; a story can run to 3 minutes. And check your own account's limit: on TikTok it varies from person to person.
Sources
Official pages read on November 3, 2026: YouTube, three-minute Shorts, the October 3, 2024 announcement, creating Shorts and music in Shorts; Instagram, record a reel, how to make Reels and the publishing API; TikTok, camera tools, tools for creators and the Content Posting API; Facebook, the June 17, 2025 announcement and the Reels Publishing API; LinkedIn, uploading video and the Videos API.
