YouTube Upload Settings Checker

This is for uploaded videos (VOD), not live streaming — for live encoder settings see our OBS bitrate calculator. Pick your resolution, frame rate and whether it's HDR, and check your own export bitrate against YouTube's recommendation.

Your video

Resolution Frame rate HDR Audio

Your export's video bitrate (kbps, optional)

Recommended bitrate — SDR

Resolution	24–30 fps	48–60 fps
2160p / 4K (3840×2160)	35–45 Mbps	53–68 Mbps
1440p / 2K (2560×1440)	16 Mbps	24 Mbps
1080p (1920×1080)	8 Mbps	12 Mbps
720p (1280×720)	5 Mbps	7.5 Mbps

Recommended bitrate — HDR

Resolution	24–30 fps	48–60 fps
2160p / 4K (3840×2160)	44–56 Mbps	66–85 Mbps
1440p / 2K (2560×1440)	20 Mbps	30 Mbps
1080p (1920×1080)	10 Mbps	15 Mbps
720p (1280×720)	6.5 Mbps	9.5 Mbps

Container, codec and audio

Container: MP4, with the "moov atom" at the front of the file (most editors do this automatically; ask for "Fast Start" if yours has the option).
Video codec: H.264, High Profile, progressive scan (not interlaced), a GOP of half the frame rate, closed GOP, CABAC, 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. YouTube also accepts Apple ProRes and other formats for upload, but H.264 keeps the file size down.
Audio codec: AAC-LC (Opus and Eclipsa Audio are also accepted), 48 kHz sample rate. Bitrate: 128 kbps mono, 384 kbps stereo, 512 kbps for 5.1.
Frame rate: 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 or 60 fps. Deinterlace footage before exporting — do not upload interlaced video.
Aspect ratio: 16:9 is standard; the player adapts to vertical and square video too.

Live streaming instead?

These numbers are for uploaded video. If you are setting up OBS for a live stream, use our OBS bitrate calculator instead — YouTube's live encoder bitrates are lower than its upload recommendations because live video has to be encoded in real time.

Sources

YouTube Help — Recommended upload encoding settings (checked 2026-09-25).

Last checked: 2026-09-25.

FAQ

What bitrate should I export my YouTube video at?

For standard 1080p at 24–30 fps, YouTube recommends 8 Mbps SDR (10 Mbps HDR). At 48–60 fps use 12 Mbps SDR (15 Mbps HDR).

Is this the same as live streaming bitrate?

No. This page is for uploaded video files. Live streaming uses lower bitrates because the encoder has far less time to compress each frame — see our OBS bitrate calculator.

Does going above the recommended bitrate improve quality?

Only up to a point. YouTube re-encodes every upload to its own set of resolutions and bitrates for playback, so pushing far past the recommendation mostly just makes the upload slower.

What audio format does YouTube want?

AAC-LC at 48 kHz — 128 kbps for mono, 384 kbps for stereo, 512 kbps for 5.1 surround.