Horizontal to Vertical Video Converter

This converter turns a landscape 16:9 video into a 9:16 vertical video for Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikTok and Stories without cutting the picture. The default blurred side fill keeps your whole frame in the middle of the portrait canvas and fills the space above and below it with an enlarged, blurred, gently darkened copy of the same footage, the look the social apps themselves apply when a horizontal clip is posted. If you would rather fill the entire screen, choose Auto track: an AI model finds the faces and people in every shot and the 9:16 window follows them like a camera operator, switching cleanly at each cut. Crop and pan fills the screen with a fixed area you choose, and a Solid colour background gives a clean branded look.

Everything happens in your browser, so your video is never uploaded: no waiting in a queue, no upload limit and no watermark. Speed depends on your device. Auto track on an MP4 usually finishes in seconds; the other styles take a minute or two for a one-minute clip on a laptop, and longer on a phone.

Four ways to fill the vertical frame

How to convert a horizontal video to vertical

1. Add the video. Click Choose a video or drag an MP4, MOV or WebM file onto the page. The source plays on the left and the 9:16 preview appears in the phone frame on the right.
2. Pick a fill style. Choose Blurred fill to keep the whole frame with a blurred copy behind it, Solid colour for a flat background, Crop and pan to fill the screen with a part you choose, or Auto track to let the AI keep faces and people in frame as they move.
3. Adjust the composition. Drag the Blur, Dim, Footage size and Footage position sliders while scrubbing the source video. The preview redraws from the real frame each time.
4. Check the safe zones. Select the target platform and keep Show safe zones on. Keep faces and captions out of the striped bands where TikTok, Reels and Shorts draw their own interface.
5. Convert and download. Choose the output size and quality, click Convert to 9:16, then click Download MP4 when it is ready.

Vertical video specs by platform

All major short-video platforms recommend the same 1080 × 1920 frame, but they differ in maximum length and in how much of the screen their interface covers. The safe-zone overlay in the preview uses the proportions below.

How Auto track follows the subject

When you choose Auto track, the page looks through your video for faces and people. The AI downloads once (about 19 MB) and runs on your device. It recognises whole people as well as faces, so someone who turns away or stands far from the camera is still followed. The yellow window on your video shows what the 9:16 frame will keep at every moment, and the phone preview starts following it right away.

• One subject or a group. Faces count more than bodies. With several people, the window picks the one facing the camera, the person usually speaking, over a profile or someone half out of frame, and frames two people together when they fit side by side.
• Steady camera. The window only moves once the subject drifts away from the middle, then glides there. The Camera movement slider trades steadiness for keeping the subject exactly centred.
• Clean cuts. A change of shot is detected and pinned down to within about a frame, so the window jumps with the cut instead of sliding across the new scene.
• Nobody in view. On landscapes, product shots or title cards the window simply holds its last position.

Which videos work?

MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM, MKV and AVI: anything your browser can play, including iPhone and Android recordings. You always get an MP4 that TikTok, Instagram and YouTube accept as it is. A few WebM screen recordings and downloads use a newer format the converter cannot read yet; the FAQ below shows the quick fix.

Tips for a better vertical cut

• Move the footage up. Set Footage position to about 40% so the sharp frame sits above the caption area at the bottom of the screen.
• Leave room for captions. If you add subtitles later, a stronger dim in the bottom band keeps white text readable.
• Trim first, convert second. Encoding time scales with duration. Cut the clip to the part you want with the Video Splitter before reframing it.
• Match the source size. A 720p source exported at 720 × 1280 finishes about twice as fast as at 1080 × 1920 and looks the same, because there is no extra detail to gain.
• Very large files. Above a few hundred megabytes the browser may run out of memory. Cut the part you need with the Video Splitter or shrink the file with the Video Compressor first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my video uploaded to a server?

No. Your video is converted inside your browser, and the Auto track AI runs on your device too. The file never leaves your computer or phone, which is also why very long or very large videos depend on your device's memory rather than on an upload limit.

How much can I convert for free?

Without a plan you can convert 3 minutes of video a day, and each video counts with its full length, so a 45-second clip uses 45 seconds. The live preview, the safe-zone overlay and the Auto track analysis are always free, and a conversion that fails gives its seconds back. Pro members can convert an hour of video a day, 20 times as much, and Premium members convert without a limit. The allowance resets at midnight.

What is the difference between blurred fill and cropping?

Blurred fill keeps the complete landscape frame in the middle of the portrait canvas and fills the empty area above and below with an enlarged, blurred and darkened copy of the same frame, so nothing is lost. Crop and pan fills the whole 9:16 screen instead but discards roughly two thirds of the width, so you have to choose which part of the picture survives with the pan slider. Auto track crops the same way but moves the window for you, following the people in the shot.

How does Auto track decide what to follow?

It looks through your video for faces and whole people, with AI that runs in your browser. Faces win over bodies; among several people it prefers the one facing the camera over a profile or someone cut off at the edge of the frame, stays with that person rather than jumping between faces, and frames a group together when it fits the 9:16 window. The camera only moves when the subject drifts away from the middle, and the movement is eased, so it looks like a camera operator rather than a jittery crop. When the video cuts to a new shot, the window switches at the cut instead of sliding across. If nobody is visible, the window holds its last position.

What are the safe zones on the preview?

They mark the parts of a vertical video that TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts cover with their own interface: the top bar, the caption and audio area at the bottom, and the like, comment and share column on the right. Keeping faces, text and logos outside the striped bands means they stay visible in the feed. The exact pixels differ between apps and app versions, so the bands are a practical guide rather than an official specification.

Which resolution should I export for Reels, Shorts and TikTok?

All three recommend 1080 by 1920 pixels, which is the default here. Choose 720 by 1280 when the source is 720p or smaller, because upscaling a small video only makes the file bigger without adding detail, and it converts about twice as fast.

Does the conversion lower the video quality?

Every frame is redrawn for the vertical format, so the file is saved again rather than copied. At the default quality the difference is not visible on a phone screen, and TikTok, Instagram and YouTube compress every upload again anyway. Choose High quality if you plan to edit the video further.

Why does the converter fail on some WebM files?

Some recent screen recordings and downloaded WebM videos use a newer video format that your browser can play but the converter cannot read yet. Turn the file into an MP4 with the WebM to MP4 Converter first, and it will convert normally.