Vertical video has finally completed its journey from social media experiment to the primary form of digital content creation.
What was once a convenience choice for smartphone users has become a dominant recording and editing style, which means there’s even more focus on the technical aspects of production.
It might feel like digging into the specifics of vertical content editing is over-complicating matters (especially when you can hit “record” on your iPhone and upload instantly).
But when you start to understand the file formats, aspect ratios, and export settings for the best short-form content, you’ll see how small decisions have an outsized impact on the final product.
Why is Short-Form, Vertical Content Dominating in 2026?
Before we get into the technical side of things, let’s look at why investing the time into vertical specifics matters in the first place.
As mobile devices became the primary method for consuming content, platforms began to take notice. And to keep people hooked to their devices for longer, most social and digital platforms optimized their algorithms to favor vertical, short-form content over horizontal, long-form content.
Videos ranging from 15 to 60 seconds, with dynamic pacing and creative hooks, now outperform longer content across nearly all engagement metrics.
That opened the floodgates to new features for short-form and vertical content, including duets, stitches, and video response clips. So if you want your content to stand out and get views, it needs to be curated perfectly.
What are the Best File Formats & Codecs for Vertical Videos?
When it comes to vertical video content, MP4 is still the undisputed king of video. MP4 has universal compatibility, and its support for codecs such as H.264 (video) and AAC (audio) means it’s become the default choice for literally every platform.
If you’re creating content for a variety of mediums (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts), MP4 with H.264/AAC encoding is the safest bet to ensure everything translates.
But MP4 is by no means the only option available. WebM with VP9 codec is quickly gaining ground, particularly for web-based platforms that favor open standards. But it’s still less common in editing workflows and can cause compatibility issues with legacy devices.
AV1 is another, newer codec that promises superior compression and efficiency, but again, platform adoption currently lags behind MP4.
So while newer codecs and file formats may better fit your creative workflow, you’ll want to consider the end user and platform when it comes to your process.
What are the Best Export Settings for Short-Form & Vertical Content?
Export settings make a huge difference in how your content translates to your audience. The last thing you want is for your content to end up looking compressed or pixelated.
In some cases, the wrong export setting can cause your video and audio content to fail to upload at all.
Format and Codecs
• Container: MP4 (universally accepted across most platforms)
• Video Codec: H.264 (the safest choice when it comes to compatibility)
• Audio Codec: AAC (high-quality audio, which is widely compatible)
Resolution and Aspect Ratio
• Resolution: 1080×1920 pixels (vertical)
• Aspect Ratio: 9:16 (the best for full screen vertical viewing)
• Frame Rate: 30fps or 60fps (you’ll want to match your source footage for the smoothest playback rate)
Bitrate and Compression
• Video Bitrate: 8-12 Mbps (this preserves visual quality without creating massive files)
• Audio Bitrate: 128-320 kbps (choose 128 kbps for voice content, higher for music content)
• Scan Type: Progressive (this offers sharper mobile playback and avoids interlaced scanning)
When it comes to mobile content, always use progressive scan and constant bitrate settings.
These are simple choices, but they can have an outsized impact on how quickly your video loads and whether platforms will accept the file without re-encoding on their end (which can degrade the quality further).
Platform-Specific Details Worth Considering
You’ll find that file size constraints vary depending on the platform you’re uploading to. For instance, TikTok caps uploads at 72 MB for videos up to 10 minutes, while YouTube Shorts allows up to 2 GB for 60-second videos.
If you’re creating a single piece of content that you intend to use across various platforms, you’ll want to optimize for the most restrictive limit.
Another consideration is re-encoding. Even when you upload your perfectly optimized content, you may find that social platforms and video hosting sites re-encode your content to better suit their servers.
Some quality loss is unavoidable, so you may want to start with the highest quality within the file size limits.
What’s Ahead for the Next Evolution of Video Format?
H.264 and MP4 look to stay the standard choice heading into 2026, but it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on any emerging codec adoption trends.
In 2026, we may begin to see platforms start to support AV1 and VP9 more broadly, so it may be helpful to test new formats as they become available and stay flexible in your workflows.
The rise of AI and cloud-based optimization and scaling tools will likely see editing platforms take on more of the “decision making” for you, matching file specifications to each specific app’s requirements without requiring manual adjustments.
As you tinker with new tools and software, lean into automation, as this can help you save time and reduce technical errors. Create and curate in the style you love, but remember to also look at what trends are coming down the pipeline.
Editors and creators who treat technical quality as seriously as creative quality will be the ones to thrive in 2026 and beyond!