Is my video ready for YouTube? Free upload checker

YouTube takes files up to 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less, and anything over 15 minutes needs a verified account. It recommends an MP4 with H.264 video and AAC or Opus audio at 48 kHz, a 16:9 frame, and about 8 Mbps for 1080p at 24 to 30 fps (12 Mbps at 60 fps). Open your video below and the checker compares the real file with those numbers. The file never leaves your device.

Updated October 19, 2026 · Built by Kevin Tabares, long-form YouTube editor at Umbrella Creators. Limits and settings from YouTube Help, read October 19, 2026.

Choose a video or drop it here
The exact file you will upload. Any size works: the tool reads the file header and plays about 2 seconds.

Your video stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded: the checks run in this tab.

Choose a video to start.

How to use the upload checker

Choose the exported file, the one you will upload, not the project. Drag it onto the box or click to pick it.
Wait 2 or 3 seconds. For MP4 and MOV the tool reads the file header (codec, exact frame rate, audio track, Fast Start). Then it plays about two seconds, muted, to measure what the header does not say.
Read the checklist. Green passes. Yellow means the file differs from a YouTube recommendation or will be treated differently (a Short, an account that needs verification). Red is over a hard YouTube limit. Grey means your browser could not read it, so the tool does not guess.
Fix it in the export and check again. The export settings calculator gives the bitrate, codec and file size to set for your resolution and frame rate.

The numbers the checker uses

Hard limits: 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less. 15 minutes until the account is verified.
Shorts: a square or vertical video of 3 minutes or less is categorized as a Short.
Shape: 16:9 is the standard on a computer. Other shapes upload fine: the player adapts to them, and on a computer a vertical video gets padding at the sides.
Recommended file: MP4, H.264 High Profile, AAC-LC or Opus audio at 48 kHz, moov atom at the front (Fast Start), the same frame rate you recorded.

Resolution (SDR)	24, 25, 30 fps	48, 50, 60 fps
2160p (4K)	35 to 45 Mbps	53 to 68 Mbps
1440p	16 Mbps	24 Mbps
1080p	8 Mbps	12 Mbps
720p	5 Mbps	7.5 Mbps
480p	2.5 Mbps	4 Mbps
360p	1 Mbps	1.5 Mbps

YouTube's recommended upload bitrates for SDR video. HDR files get higher values (10 and 15 Mbps at 1080p); the checker switches to the HDR table when an MP4 or MOV file is tagged as HDR (PQ or HLG). For vertical and square videos the checker uses the matching 16:9 row, so a 1080 x 1920 video is compared with 1080p.

What I check before every upload

I check the exported file, not the timeline. The export preset decides almost everything on this list, and a preset left over from another project can turn a 60 fps gameplay video into 30 fps, or a long-form video into a vertical one, without anyone noticing until it is live.

Frame rate: I export at the frame rate the footage was recorded, which is also what YouTube asks for. 60 fps gameplay stays at 60 and gets the 60 fps bitrate (12 Mbps at 1080p).
Bitrate: I keep 1080p exports at or above YouTube's 8 Mbps. YouTube re-encodes every upload, so a file that starts with too few bits only gets softer.
Length: some of the full-movie Minecraft videos I edit run close to four hours. Anything over 15 minutes needs a verified account, so check the channel is verified before upload day, not during it.
Shape: a vertical export of 3 minutes or less becomes a Short. If the video is meant for the long-form feed, I export 16:9 and never add black bars into the file.
Fast Start: it is one checkbox: "Web Optimized" in HandBrake, "Network Optimization" in DaVinci Resolve, -movflags +faststart in ffmpeg.

Step-by-step guide

For the whole process around this tool, read What to check before uploading to YouTube: the full pre-upload checklist, from the export settings to the loudness and the thumbnail.

FAQ

What is the maximum video length and file size on YouTube?

256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less, according to YouTube Help. That limit is for verified accounts: without verification, uploads stop at 15 minutes. Verifying the account takes a code sent to a phone, once.

What bitrate should I upload to YouTube?

YouTube recommends, for SDR video, 8 Mbps at 1080p and 24, 25 or 30 fps, and 12 Mbps at 48, 50 or 60 fps. For 1440p it is 16 and 24 Mbps, for 4K 35 to 45 and 53 to 68 Mbps, and for 720p 5 and 7.5 Mbps. YouTube also says no bitrate limit is required, so these are recommendations, not limits.

Will my vertical video become a YouTube Short?

Yes, if it is square or vertical and three minutes or shorter. YouTube Help says videos with those two traits uploaded on or after October 15, 2024 are categorized as Shorts. A vertical video longer than three minutes uploads as a regular video.

What video format is best for YouTube?

YouTube recommends an MP4 file with H.264 video (High Profile) and AAC-LC or Opus audio at 48 kHz, with the moov atom at the front of the file (Fast Start). It also accepts MOV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPG, AVI, WMV, FLV, 3GPP, WebM, ProRes, DNxHR, CineForm and HEVC (H.265).

Is my video uploaded when I check it?

No. The file stays on your device. The tool reads the header of the file and plays about two seconds of it, muted, inside your browser. Nothing is sent to a server and nothing is saved.

Why does the checker say it could not check something?

Browsers can only read some details. For MP4 and MOV files the tool reads the codec, frame rate and audio track from the file header. For other types, or files the browser cannot play (many AVI, WMV or MKV files), it marks what it could not read as could not check instead of guessing.

Sources

YouTube Help, YouTube recommended upload encoding settings: MP4, moov atom at the front (Fast Start), H.264 High Profile, AAC-LC or Opus at 48 kHz, same frame rate as recorded, SDR and HDR bitrate tables, "No bitrate limit is required". Read October 19, 2026.
YouTube Help, Upload videos longer than 15 minutes: 15 minutes by default, 256 GB or 12 hours (whichever is less) for verified accounts. Read October 19, 2026.
YouTube Help, Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts: square or vertical videos up to three minutes, uploaded on or after October 15, 2024, are categorized as Shorts. Read October 19, 2026.
YouTube Help, Video resolution and aspect ratios: 16:9 standard, resolution list, padding for vertical video on computers, avoid adding bars to the file. Read October 19, 2026.
YouTube Help, Supported YouTube file formats: .MOV, .MPEG-1, .MPEG-2, .MPEG4, .MP4, .MPG, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, WebM, DNxHR, ProRes, CineForm, HEVC (H.265). Read October 19, 2026.
Method: frame rate from the MP4 or MOV sample table, or measured with the browser's requestVideoFrameCallback over about two seconds of muted playback. Average bitrate is file size x 8 / duration; for MP4 and MOV the video bitrate is the size of the video samples x 8 / video duration.

Who made this

I'm Kevin Tabares. I've edited long-form YouTube videos since 2015 (1,277 videos and 152.2M+ views tracked on YT Jobs, 20 YT Jobs reviews from 19 client channels), mostly Roblox and Minecraft gaming, plus narrated documentaries. Checking the export is the last step before every video I deliver, so I turned that checklist into a tool. If you want an editor for your channel, get in touch.

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