Platform rules 6 min read
YouTube Upload Settings: Recommended Encoding Parameters Explained
YouTube re-encodes every upload into its delivery ladder. Their published recommendations exist to make that second encode cheap: a source near the recommendation loses one generation; a wild 80 Mbps source loses more.
Official-recommended baseline (SDR 1080p)
- Container MP4; video H.264 High profile, 8 Mbps at 1080p (12–15 for 1440p, 35–45 for 2160p per their table).
- Audio AAC-LC 384 kbps stereo.
- Frame rate native (24/25/30/48/50/60); do not resample.
- HDR content follows separate PQ/HLG guidance — only worth it if you mastered for it.
Reading the table correctly
The recommendation is a target, not a floor. Content with low motion (screencasts, lectures) looks identical at half those bitrates; sports and drone footage benefits from the top of the range. Two-pass or CRF exports that land near the table are both fine — YouTube does not reward padding.