9:16 aspect ratio
9:16 is the vertical full screen shape: 9 units wide for every 16 tall, which is 0.5625 as a decimal. 1080 x 1920 px is 9:16 because 1080 divided by 1920 gives 0.5625, and the fraction reduces to 9:16. 9 of the image sizes on this site use it.
Where 9:16 comes from
9:16 is 16:9 turned on its side. It is the shape of a phone screen held upright, which is why every full-screen vertical surface uses it: Stories, Reels, Shorts, TikTok and WhatsApp Status. Nothing about it is arbitrary; it is the display, rotated.
Which platforms use 9:16
Read live from the specification data, so this list changes when a platform does. Last verified 2026-07-27.
| Platform | Asset | Size (px) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Story | 1080 x 1920 | Convention | |
| Reel | 1080 x 1920 | Convention | |
| Story highlight cover | 1080 x 1920 | Convention | |
| YouTube | Short | 1080 x 1920 | Convention |
| TikTok | Video | 1080 x 1920 | Convention |
| TikTok | In-feed ad | 1080 x 1920 | Convention |
| Video pin | 1080 x 1920 | Documented | |
| Snapchat | Snap / ad | 1080 x 1920 | Documented |
| Status | 1080 x 1920 | Convention |
9:16 in pixels
Every row below is calculated from the ratio rather than looked up, so the heights are exact where the arithmetic is exact and rounded to the nearest whole pixel where it is not. A fractional pixel is not something a file can store.
| Width | Height | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| 1080 px | 1920 px | Instagram story, Instagram reel, Instagram story highlight cover, YouTube short, TikTok video, TikTok in-feed ad, Pinterest video pin, Snapchat snap / ad, WhatsApp status |
| 1200 px | 2133 px | - |
| 1920 px | 3413 px | - |
Cropping and letterboxing into 9:16
The frame is full screen, so interface elements sit on top of your image rather than beside it. That is why the safe zone matters more here than the pixel size does: the corners and the bottom strip are usually covered.
There are only two honest ways to put an image of one shape into a frame of another. Crop to fill keeps the frame full and throws away whatever does not fit, which is almost always what you want for a feed. Fit inside keeps the whole image and pads the remaining space, which is what you want when the image is a diagram, a screenshot or anything where losing an edge loses meaning. Scaling to fit without doing either, so the image is stretched, is the one option that is always wrong.
Work out a 9:16 size
Enter a width or a height and the calculator solves the other side. It runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
Other ratios
See the aspect ratio guide for the shapes side by side, or the full cheat sheet for every size on one page.