LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social media platforms, with over 800 million users worldwide. On LinkedIn, users can post different types of content to share ideas, promote their business, and connect with other professionals. One of the content formats supported on LinkedIn is video, which can be a powerful medium for engaging your audience.
However, when posting videos on LinkedIn, it’s important to be aware of the video size requirements. Exceeding the maximum video size can lead to failed uploads or quality loss. In this article, we’ll break down the recommended video specs for different types of LinkedIn posts.
Video Size for Standard LinkedIn Posts
For regular LinkedIn posts that appear in the feed, the maximum video size is 128 MB. Anything larger than this will not be accepted by LinkedIn when you attempt to upload it. The recommended length for videos in standard LinkedIn posts is up to 5 minutes.
In addition to the file size limit, LinkedIn also has the following requirements for video dimensions in standard posts:
- Minimum width: 400 pixels
- Minimum height: 225 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16 (vertical video) or 16:9 (horizontal video)
So for example, some common video dimensions that work for regular LinkedIn posts are:
| Resolution | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 1920 pixels | 1080 pixels |
| 720p | 1280 pixels | 720 pixels |
| 480p | 854 pixels | 480 pixels |
As long as your video meets the file size and dimensions requirements, it should upload successfully to a standard LinkedIn post. The native video player on LinkedIn supports up to 1080p quality.
Video Size for LinkedIn Showcase Pages
LinkedIn Showcase Pages are profile pages meant for businesses to highlight their products, services, content, and media. On Showcase Pages, the video size limit is increased to 5 GB per video.
This makes Showcase Pages ideal for hosting longer, high-quality videos. The maximum length per video on Showcase Pages is 10 minutes. Some examples of videos businesses often feature on their Showcase Pages include:
- Product demos
- Brand stories
- Explainer videos
- Thought leadership talks
- Behind-the-scenes footage
The same minimum video dimensions apply on Showcase Pages as for regular LinkedIn posts. However, you have much more flexibility in terms of video resolution and aspect ratios. Some common high-quality dimensions include:
| Resolution | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|
| 4K | 3840 pixels | 2160 pixels |
| 1440p | 2560 pixels | 1440 pixels |
| 1080p | 1920 pixels | 1080 pixels |
The ability to upload large, high-quality videos gives brands more creative freedom with the video content on their Showcase Pages.
Video Size for LinkedIn Sponsored Content
In addition to organic posts, LinkedIn enables brands to pay to promote their content to a targeted audience through LinkedIn Sponsored Content. This is a form of native advertising on LinkedIn.
If you want to sponsor a video on LinkedIn to achieve greater reach, the file size limit is increased to 1 GB. The maximum length remains 10 minutes.
Sponsored video content follows the same minimum video dimensions as regular LinkedIn video posts. However, the 1 GB file size allowance lets you upload videos at top-tier resolutions like 4K if you choose. This results in a more premium, visually stunning ad experience.
Keep in mind that not all audiences may have fast enough internet speeds to stream high resolution 4K video ads without buffering. As a best practice, aim for 720p or 1080p resolution for your sponsored videos to optimize for quality and performance.
Top Video Codecs for LinkedIn
To achieve good visual quality while meeting the file size limits, it’s important to select the right video codec and encoding settings when exporting your video for LinkedIn:
- H.264 – This is the most popular codec for online video. It provides great compression while maintaining high quality.
- H.265 – This newer codec achieves up to twice the compression of H.264 with no loss in quality. However, hardware/browser support is limited.
- VP9 – Developed by Google, VP9 is a royalty-free codec that can beat H.264 in terms of quality and compression. But again, browser support is incomplete.
For the broadest compatibility, your safest bet is to use H.264 video encoding. Where you have more flexibility with file sizes (e.g. Showcase Pages, Sponsored Content), consider H.265 or VP9 for improved compression and efficiency.
Conclusion
To recap, the maximum video size on LinkedIn depends on the type of post:
- Standard posts: 128 MB
- Showcase Pages: 5 GB
- Sponsored Content: 1 GB
The minimum video dimensions are 400 pixels wide by 225 pixels tall. Horizontal or vertical videos are accepted. Aim for standard resolutions like 720p or 1080p for the best results.
By following LinkedIn’s video size and dimensions requirements, you can ensure your videos upload successfully and playback smoothly for your target audience. This allows you to harness the power of video content to engage and connect with professionals on LinkedIn.