Bitrate YouTube

What is bitrate on YouTube?

Bitrate is the amount of data your video carries per second of playback on YouTube, measured in megabits per second (Mbps) for video and kilobits per second (kbps) for audio. A higher bitrate keeps more detail in fast motion, but it also makes the file heavier and slower to upload.

Why bitrate matters for creators

YouTube re-encodes every upload, so viewers never receive your file itself — they get versions built from it. Starve the encoder of data and compression artifacts in your source are baked into all of them. Blocky footage pushes people to leave early, and that shows up in your audience retention graph. Vertical uploads follow the same rules, so these targets apply to Shorts as well.

Recommended upload bitrates

YouTube publishes target video bitrates for standard dynamic range (SDR) uploads. The first figure covers standard frame rates (24, 25, 30) and the second covers high frame rates (48, 50, 60):

• 8K — 80–160 Mbps / 120–240 Mbps

• 2160p (4K) — 35–45 Mbps / 53–68 Mbps

• 1440p (2K) — 16 Mbps / 24 Mbps

• 1080p — 8 Mbps / 12 Mbps

• 720p — 5 Mbps / 7.5 Mbps

• 480p — 2.5 Mbps / 4 Mbps

• 360p — 1 Mbps / 1.5 Mbps

Audio targets are 128 kbps for mono, 384 kbps for stereo and 512 kbps for 5.1. HDR uploads use a separate, higher table — see the official encoding settings page for those figures and for the full spec (MP4 container, H.264 video, AAC-LC audio at 48 kHz).

Bitrate for live streams

Live streaming has its own targets, because the encoder sends data in real time and your upload speed sets the ceiling. YouTube lists a recommended range for every resolution and frame rate combination on its live encoder settings page. Whatever the resolution, use constant bitrate (CBR) encoding and send a keyframe every 2 seconds, never more than 4 seconds apart. Read our guide to live streaming before your first broadcast, and what you need to start streaming for the gear side.

How to check and set your bitrate

Bitrate is set in your editing or encoding software, not in YouTube Studio: YouTube reads whatever the file contains and transcodes it. Export at the target for your resolution, then check the finished file — on Windows open the file properties and the Details tab, on macOS use Get Info, or open the file in a free tool such as MediaInfo to read the exact video and audio rates. If your connection is slow, drop the resolution instead of starving a 4K export: a clean 1080p file looks better than a squeezed 2160p one.