Guide
Reels go up to 20 minutes, Shorts up to 3 and TikTok up to 60, but 3 minutes or less works on all three
Updated
None of the three platforms publishes a best length, but their limits point to one answer. A video of 3 minutes or less can run as a Reel, a Short and a TikTok, and Instagram can still recommend it to new people.
In short
- The best video length for Reels, Shorts and TikTok is 3 minutes or less, because that is the one length all three platforms treat as a short video.
- Instagram lets you record and edit Reels up to 20 minutes, but says Reels over 3 minutes won't be recommended to new audiences.
- YouTube counts a square or vertical video of up to 3 minutes as a Short. TikTok allows 10 minutes recorded in the app and 60 minutes uploaded.
- Buffer's study of 2.7 million Reels found that Reels of 90 seconds to 3 minutes reached slightly more people, and Buffer calls the effect modest.
- The clip you film is longer than the finished video, because the ums, restarts and long pauses come out in the edit.
What is the best video length for Reels, Shorts and TikTok?
The best length is 3 minutes or less. That fits YouTube's Shorts limit, lets Instagram recommend a Reel to new people, and is well inside TikTok's limits.
Inside those 3 minutes, no platform tells you an ideal number. The right length is the time your one point takes to say, without padding.
- A single tip or answer is usually said well in under a minute.
- A product walkthrough or a short story often needs one to two minutes.
- Buffer's 2026 study of 2.7 million Reels found Reels of 90 seconds to 3 minutes reached 4 to 7% more people than each account's average. Buffer says the effect is real but modest.
- Other social media tools have published studies with different numbers, so treat any "best length" figure as one company's finding.
The length limit on each platform
Here is the longest video each platform takes, from each platform's own help page.
- YouTube's 3-minute limit for Shorts applies to videos uploaded on or after 15 October 2024.
- If you add a sound on TikTok before you record or upload, TikTok says the sound's length decides the video's length.
Video length limits on Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and TikTok
From Instagram's, YouTube's and TikTok's own help pages, read on 12 November 2026.
| Platform | Longest video | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram Reels | 20 minutes | Reels over 3 minutes aren't recommended to new audiences |
| YouTube Shorts | 3 minutes | Square or vertical only; a longer or wider video is a regular video |
| TikTok, recorded in the app | 10 minutes | You pick a maximum length before you record |
| TikTok, uploaded | 60 minutes | Upload in the app if you want to shorten it there |
Platform: Instagram Reels
- Longest video
- 20 minutes
- Good to know
- Reels over 3 minutes aren't recommended to new audiences
Platform: YouTube Shorts
- Longest video
- 3 minutes
- Good to know
- Square or vertical only; a longer or wider video is a regular video
Platform: TikTok, recorded in the app
- Longest video
- 10 minutes
- Good to know
- You pick a maximum length before you record
Platform: TikTok, uploaded
- Longest video
- 60 minutes
- Good to know
- Upload in the app if you want to shorten it there
How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this
Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.
The 4 styles, as example edits
Steps
Three steps, four angles
Skit
Hook, hard stop, demo card
Verdict
The tester's verdict
Poster
Typography does the talking
Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.
- Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
- Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
- Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
- Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
- Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export
Then you ask Jacob, for example
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
- “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
- “Change the music to something calmer”
Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.
How long to film for each length
Film a little more than the finished length you want. A clip of you talking always shrinks in the edit, because the ums, false starts and long pauses come out.
Here is a drawn example of a one-point video, and how a chat request makes it shorter or slower afterwards.
- Cutroom's Magic Editor takes a clip of up to 3 minutes, so you can film the whole point in one go.
- Mistakes are fine. Jacob, the Magic Editor's AI editor, cuts the ums, false starts and repeats, and decides the length from what you said.
- When Jacob makes a video shorter, it cuts fillers and the weakest sentences first and keeps your opening and your close. Each style shortens long pauses; ask Jacob to keep your pauses if the video feels rushed.
A physiotherapist's posture tip, before and after
Jacob decides the first length from what you said. You then ask for shorter, or for your pauses back, and each request is a new version.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 70-second phone video of a physiotherapist giving one tip about sitting at a desk
“Okay, so, if you sit at a desk eight hours a day, your back pays for it. Every thirty minutes, stand up , um, stand up and roll your shoulders three times. … (pause) That's the whole trick.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Poster style
“If you sit at a desk eight hours a day, your back pays for it. Every thirty minutes, stand up and roll your shoulders three times. That's the whole trick.”
- On “desk”: your opening words stacked big on screen, in three fonts
- On “back”: a black-and-white moment
- On “thirty”: the number 30 in neon
- On “trick”: your logo closes the video
- Under the whole video: calm music under your voice
Then you ask Jacob
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”v2a new version about 10 seconds shorter, with the opening and the close kept
- “Keep my pauses, it feels too rushed”v3the same edit with your natural pauses left in
Cutting one clip for all three platforms
One vertical video of 3 minutes or less can go on all three platforms unchanged. You don't need a separate edit for each one.
- Film upright, so the video is 9:16. YouTube takes square or vertical for Shorts, and vertical fills the screen on all three apps.
- Keep the finished video at 3 minutes or less, so it counts as a Short on YouTube and can be recommended on Instagram.
- Burn the captions into the video, so they show the same way on every platform.
- The Magic Editor exports a vertical MP4, 1080 by 1920, 30 frames a second, with the sound levelled, which fits all three. It doesn't post for you, so you upload the same file to each app yourself.
- If your video runs past 3 minutes, it still works on TikTok and as a Reel for your followers, but YouTube treats it as a regular video.
Questions people ask
- How long should a Reel be?
- Three minutes or less is the safe answer. Instagram allows Reels up to 20 minutes, but says Reels over 3 minutes won't be recommended to new audiences.
- How long can a YouTube Short be?
- Up to 3 minutes. YouTube counts a square or vertical video of up to 3 minutes as a Short; anything longer or wider is a regular video.
- How long can a TikTok be?
- Up to 10 minutes if you record in the TikTok app, and up to 60 minutes if you upload a video.
- Can I post the same video as a Reel, a Short and a TikTok?
- Yes. A vertical video of 3 minutes or less works on all three. You upload the same file to each app.
- Do shorter videos get more views?
- Not as a rule. Buffer's 2026 study of Reels found that 90 seconds to 3 minutes reached slightly more people, but the effect was modest, and other studies disagree.
- How long can the clip be that I upload to Cutroom?
- Up to 3 minutes, as an MP4, MOV or WebM file. Jacob edits it into a finished vertical video, usually shorter than the clip you filmed.
Film your point in one clip of under 3 minutes and let Jacob cut it to length.