Guide
Resize a video to 9:16: crop it to fill the screen, or add bars
Drop a video above and pick a shape. The preview shows which part will be kept: Crop fills the new shape, and Pad keeps the whole picture by adding bars.
In short
- This free tool resizes a video to 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, to 1:1 square or to 16:9 wide.
- Crop fills the new shape but cuts off the sides. A 9:16 crop keeps 32% of a landscape video.
- Pad keeps the whole picture and adds black or white bars around it.
- The preview shows the part that will be kept before anything runs.
- Your video is never uploaded, and you need no account.
Video resizer
Runs in your browser · files never leave this page
Drop a video here
or
Shape
How to fit it
Your file never leaves this page. The engine downloads once, the work happens in this tab, and there is no upload, no account and no storage. Close the tab and the file is gone unless you downloaded it.
More free tools: Video compressor · Video to MP4 · Video to MP3 · Video clipper · all tools
- Of a 1920×1080 video that a 9:16 crop keeps
- 32%
- Of the same video that a 1:1 square crop keeps
- 56%
- The 9:16 size you get when you pad a 1920×1080 video
- 1920×3414
How to resize a video to 9:16
Drop your video in the box above and pick a shape: 9:16, 1:1 or 16:9. Then choose Crop to fill the shape, or Pad to keep everything. With Pad, you also choose black or white bars.
The preview draws the part that will be kept on a frame of your video, before anything runs. Press Resize when it looks right, then download the new MP4.
- 9:16 fits Reels, TikTok, Shorts and Stories. 1:1 fits a square feed post. 16:9 fits YouTube and screens.
- The tool never enlarges your picture, so a 9:16 crop can come out smaller than 1080×1920.
Resizing a video in five steps
Everything happens in this browser tab.
Drop a video
In the box above
Pick a shape
9:16, 1:1 or 16:9
Choose Crop or Pad
Pad adds black or white bars
Check the preview
It shows what is kept
Press Resize
Then download the MP4
How much of the picture a crop keeps
A 9:16 window on a 1920×1080 video is 1080 × 9 ÷ 16 = 607.5 pixels wide. Video pixels are stored in pairs, so the tool rounds down to the nearest even number, 606.
Everything outside those 606 pixels is cut off. That is 32% of the picture. The window sits in the centre, so a person in the middle stays and the sides go. A square 1:1 crop keeps more, 56%.
- One person talking, filmed straight on, usually looks fine after a centre crop.
- Two people sitting side by side usually do not, because one of them ends up cut off.
- Going from a vertical video to 16:9 keeps the full width and cuts the top and bottom instead.
What a crop keeps from a 1920×1080 video
| New shape | Part kept | Share of the picture |
|---|---|---|
| 9:16 | 606 × 1080 | 32% |
| 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | 56% |
New shape: 9:16
- Part kept
- 606 × 1080
- Share of the picture
- 32%
New shape: 1:1
- Part kept
- 1080 × 1080
- Share of the picture
- 56%
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How adding bars keeps the whole picture
Pad places your whole video on a canvas of the new shape and fills the rest with bars. A 1920×1080 video needs a 9:16 canvas 1920 × 16 ÷ 9 = 3413.3 pixels tall, rounded up to 3414.
Nothing is lost, but the picture ends up small. In a vertical feed it sits in the middle of the screen, with bars above and below it.
- Black bars are the usual choice, and they disappear on a dark screen.
- White bars look better in a light feed. Neither one takes longer.
- Pad when the sides matter, such as a screen recording, a product on a table or a wide shot.
- Crop when the subject is in the middle and the video is for a vertical feed.
Crop or pad, from a 1920×1080 video to 9:16
The same video, two results. The numbers are the tool's own sums.
Size you get
- Crop
- 606 × 1080
- Pad
- 1920 × 3414
Picture kept
- Crop
- 32%, from the centre
- Pad
- All of it, with bars
How it looks in a feed
- Crop
- Full screen, close up
- Pad
- Small, in the middle of the screen
Best for
- Crop
- One person in the middle
- Pad
- Screens, wide shots, two people
| Crop | Pad | |
|---|---|---|
| Size you get | 606 × 1080 | 1920 × 3414 |
| Picture kept | 32%, from the centre | All of it, with bars |
| How it looks in a feed | Full screen, close up | Small, in the middle of the screen |
| Best for | One person in the middle | Screens, wide shots, two people |
Nothing is uploaded, and the limits
The tool runs ffmpeg, a free video program, inside your browser. It downloads once, about 32 MB, and then opens your file in this tab. Your video is never sent anywhere.
Cropping or padding changes the picture, so it is always re-encoded once, and the loss is hard to see. That takes about as long as the video plays on a laptop.
- The tool warns above 500 MB. If the tab runs out of memory, cut the part you need with our free video trimmer first, then resize the short clip.
- If the preview shows no picture, your browser cannot play that format. The resize still works.
- If the file will not open at all, convert it with our free MP4 converter first, then try again.
The limits at a glance
| Item | Limit |
|---|---|
| Engine download | About 32 MB, once per visit |
| Size warning | Above 500 MB |
| Time | About as long as the video plays, on a laptop |
| Where the crop sits | In the centre |
| File you get | MP4 |
Item: Engine download
- Limit
- About 32 MB, once per visit
Item: Size warning
- Limit
- Above 500 MB
Item: Time
- Limit
- About as long as the video plays, on a laptop
Item: Where the crop sits
- Limit
- In the centre
Item: File you get
- Limit
- MP4
From a vertical clip to a finished video
Cropping fixes the shape after filming. Holding the phone upright while you film is simpler, because the whole picture is already 9:16 and nothing is cut off.
Cutroom is made for clips like that. Film one clip of up to three minutes on your phone and upload it. It comes back as a finished 9:16 video in about a minute.
- Cutroom cuts the pauses, adds captions timed to your voice, puts b-roll on the phrases you highlight and writes an opening headline.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have seven days to make it.
- The free video carries a Cutroom mark. Lite at $19.99 a month removes it.
- The resizer above stays free and stays in your browser either way.
Filmed vertical, finished in 9:16
A clip filmed upright fills the screen, so nothing has to be cropped away.
▸ 0:07 / 0:26 · shot 1 of 5
Questions people ask
- How do I resize a video to 9:16 without losing quality?
- Choose Pad. Your whole video is placed on a 9:16 canvas with bars, so nothing is cut off. Crop keeps only 32% of a landscape video. Either way the picture is re-encoded once, and the loss is hard to see.
- What size is a 9:16 video?
- A full HD 9:16 video is 1080×1920. The tool never enlarges your picture, so a crop from a 1920×1080 video comes out 606×1080. Padding keeps the picture at its own size on a taller 1920×3414 canvas, with bars above and below it. Both have the 9:16 shape.
- Why does the crop cut off the sides?
- Because 9:16 is about a third as wide as 16:9 at the same height. A 1920×1080 video becomes 606×1080, taken from the centre. The preview shows that part first, so switch to Pad if the sides matter.
- Does the resizer upload my video?
- No. The tool runs in your browser after a one-time download of about 32 MB. Nothing is sent, nothing is stored, and closing the tab clears everything except your download.
- Can I choose where the crop sits?
- No. The crop is always centred, which is where a person talking usually is. If your subject is off to one side, pad instead so nothing is cut off, or trim the video to the part where they are in the middle.
- Who should not crop a video to 9:16 here?
- Anyone whose subject moves across the frame, because a centre crop does not follow anyone. That needs an editor that moves the crop. And if the clip is you talking, film it vertical and let Cutroom finish it, rather than cropping a landscape video.
Resize your video above, or film vertical and let Cutroom finish it. Your first video is free.