Shopify Video Size Limit 2027: 1 GB, 10 Minutes, and Reels Specs

Shopify's video size limit is 1 GB per file, 10 minutes long and up to 4K resolution, for MP4 or MOV files uploaded as product media or to Files. The 20 MB figure that turns up in searches is the limit for product images, not video, and the two get confused because they sit in the same upload dialog. In practice the video limit is rarely the thing that stops an upload: a Reel exported at 1080x1920 for 20 to 30 seconds is usually well under 50 MB, and a failed upload is more often a codec, a length over 10 minutes or a browser timeout than a file that was too big.

This guide covers the actual numbers, the export settings that keep a Reel or product clip comfortably inside them, why a smaller file is usually the better choice, and how the upload limits set by video apps differ from Shopify's own.

If the video uploaded fine and the problem is that it never appears, the product video not showing guide covers that separately.

The limits that actually apply

Two notes on the table. First, Shopify updates these figures from time to time, so confirm the current ones in the Shopify Help Center before a batch upload of hundreds of files. The numbers above are the documented limits at the time of writing. Second, Shopify also caps the number of media items per product, so a product with a very large gallery can hit that before any single file hits the size limit.

The 20 MB image limit is the source of most of the confusion. Merchants see it in a dialog, apply it to video, and start compressing a 60 MB clip down to 18 MB with visible quality loss for no reason. A 60 MB video is fine. A 600 MB video is fine. What matters more than size is whether the file will process and how it will look after Shopify transcodes it.

What Shopify does to your video after upload

Every hosted video is transcoded. Shopify does not serve the file you uploaded; it produces a set of renditions at different resolutions and bitrates and serves the one that suits the shopper's screen and connection.

That has two consequences for size.

A larger source does not make the served video larger or sharper on a phone. A shopper on a 6-inch screen gets a rendition sized for that screen whether you uploaded 1080p or 4K. The 4K upload processes more slowly, takes longer to appear on the storefront and gives nothing visible back on mobile, which is where most product video is watched.

A larger source does take longer to process, and during processing the video is invisible on the storefront. Upload twenty 4K clips in one session and they queue. Upload twenty 1080p clips at sensible bitrates and they clear in a fraction of the time.

So the practical target is not "as big as the limit allows". It is "the smallest file that looks right at 1080p", which for most product clips lands between 10 and 60 MB.

Recommended export settings for product video

These settings produce a file that processes quickly, plays everywhere and looks right on a phone. They apply whether you are exporting from CapCut, Premiere, DaVinci Resolve or the phone's own editor.

• Container: MP4
• Video codec: H.264. It is what every browser decodes and what Shopify processes most reliably. Avoid HEVC (H.265) and ProRes for the upload itself; convert first.
• Resolution: 1080x1920 for vertical, 1920x1080 for landscape. Not 4K.
• Frame rate: 30 frames per second. 24 or 25 is fine. 60 doubles the file size and is only worth it for slow-motion footage.
• Bitrate: 8 to 12 Mbps for 1080p is plenty. A 30-second clip at 10 Mbps is about 37 MB.
• Audio: AAC, 128 kbps, stereo. If the clip will autoplay muted on a product page, audio still needs to be present for the tap-to-unmute case, so do not strip it.
• Length: under 60 seconds for a product page clip. Attention on a product page is short and a 3-minute video with the useful part at 1:40 is a video nobody sees.

Phone-shot footage often arrives as HEVC in a MOV container, because that is the iPhone default. It may upload and it may fail, depending on the specific encoding. The reliable fix is to change the phone's camera setting to Most Compatible before shooting, or to run the file through a free converter to H.264 MP4 before uploading. The phone product video guide covers the camera settings that avoid the problem at source.

Instagram Reels and TikTok specs

If the clip is going to Instagram or TikTok first and then onto the store, export once to a spec that works for both.

Reels are vertical 9:16 with 1080x1920 pixels recommended, in MP4 or MOV, at 30 frames per second. Instagram has raised the maximum Reel length more than once in recent years, so check the current ceiling in the app before planning a long clip, and remember that the store's product page wants it short regardless.

TikTok uses the same 9:16 vertical frame at 1080x1920, MP4 or MOV, and the same practical guidance on length.

Both platforms recompress what you upload, so the version a shoppable video app later imports from Instagram or TikTok is the platform's rendition, not your original. It is smaller and slightly softer. If you want the store to show your original export rather than the platform's recompressed copy, upload the original file directly to the app instead of importing it from the platform. Both routes are fine; the direct upload is sharper and the import is faster.

App upload limits are different from Shopify's

A shoppable video app stores video on its own infrastructure and sets its own upload cap, which is separate from Shopify's 1 GB. The app limits are usually lower, because the app is built for short vertical clips rather than 10-minute product tours.

SwipeReel, for example, allows 100 MB per upload on the free plan and 500 MB per upload on Pro. A Reel exported to the settings above is 20 to 50 MB, so the free plan's cap is not a constraint for that content. Where it would matter is a long-form 4K clip, which is not what a shoppable widget is for anyway. For that, Shopify's own hosting at 1 GB is the right home.

The point of mentioning this is to stop a specific mistake: uploading a 700 MB 4K master to an app, hitting the cap, and concluding the app is broken. Export the 1080p version and it goes through. Check your app's listing for its current figure; the numbers here are SwipeReel's at the time of writing.

Why a Reel fails to upload when it is under the limit

Size is the first thing people check and usually the wrong one. When a file under 1 GB will not upload to Shopify, work through these in order.

1. Length over 10 minutes. The size limit gets the attention, but the length limit fails silently. Trim or split.
2. Codec Shopify cannot read. HEVC from an iPhone, ProRes from an editor, VP9 from a screen recorder. Convert to H.264 MP4.
3. Variable frame rate. Screen recordings and some phone apps produce files with a frame rate that changes over the clip. Some transcoders reject them. Re-export at a constant 30 fps.
4. Browser timeout on a slow connection. A 400 MB file over a 5 Mbps upload link takes over ten minutes and the browser may give up. Export smaller or upload on a faster connection.
5. Corrupt or truncated file. A transfer that stopped early produces a file that opens on the desktop but fails validation. Re-export.
6. Wrong place. The file went to Files rather than the product's media grid, uploaded fine, and does not appear on the product. That is a placement issue, not a size one, and the guide to adding video to product images covers where it needs to go.

If a video uploads and processes but will not play on an iPhone specifically, that is a different problem again, usually attributes or codec profile rather than size, and the Safari and iPhone playback guide covers it.

Where each kind of video should live

The size limits are different because the destinations are for different things.

Shopify's own hosting, with its 1 GB and 10-minute ceiling, is the right home for a product demonstration, an assembly walkthrough or a how-to that belongs in one product's gallery and can afford to be a few minutes long. It goes in the product media grid and the theme renders it.

A shoppable video widget is the right home for short vertical clips that autoplay muted, carry a product tag and sit on the home page, the collection page or above the fold on a product page. Those are the Reels and TikToks, and they should be small, because the widget lazy-loads them and the shopper decides in a few seconds whether to keep watching. The 100 MB and 500 MB caps on an app like SwipeReel are more than enough for that.

Using each for what it is built for avoids most size problems before they start.