Vertical Screen Recording for TikTok, Reels and Shorts

How to record your screen in vertical 9:16 for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts: layouts, phone frames, captions. Export sizes and captions included.

Phones are held upright, and the feeds that matter (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) are vertical. A normal 16:9 screen recording dropped into a 9:16 post is a thin strip with black bars and unreadable text. This guide shows how to record or convert screen content into vertical video that people can actually read, with layouts, a phone frame, captions and the right export sizes.

The 9:16 canvas

Vertical video is 1080×1920 pixels. Everything you show has to fit a column about a third as wide as a desktop screen. Three ways to fill it:

Record a phone-sized window. Resize the browser to roughly 430×930 (or use responsive mode in DevTools) and record that. The site's mobile layout does the work.
Record desktop and reframe. Record 16:9, then place the recording on a vertical background: fit by width (the screen becomes a band in the middle) or crop to the part that matters and zoom.
Split the canvas. Screen at the top, you at the bottom. The talking-head-plus-screen format that performs on every platform.

Recording directly in 9:16

With a browser recorder that supports formats, pick Mobile 9:16 before recording. The composite canvas becomes 1080×1920: the shared screen is fitted by width onto a background, and the camera bubble or your webcam sits at the bottom. On takeascreen.com's video recorder this is one chip, and camera-only in 9:16 gives you a straight talking-head clip for intros.

For the screen itself:

Use a narrow window or the site's mobile view so text stays large.
Increase browser zoom to 125–150% on desktop sites.
Move slowly; vertical viewers are on phones with small targets.

Converting a 16:9 recording to vertical

You already have a desktop recording. To make it vertical without the black-bar look:

Background. A solid colour or a gradient, not black. Match your brand or the app's palette.
Fit by width. The 1920-wide recording becomes 1080 wide and about 608 tall, centred. Leave the top third for a title or captions and the bottom third for your face or a call to action.
Zoom in on moments. Crop to the relevant quarter of the screen when the action is small: a button, a form. Cut between full view and zoom rather than animating if your tool cannot animate.
Add a phone frame when the content is a mobile site or app. A dark bezel with rounded corners makes it read as a phone instantly.

On takeascreen.com, open any recording, choose Mobile 9:16, a background, padding and Phone frame in the Format panel, and apply. The server re-renders from the original, so you can switch back to 16:9 for the desktop version of the same video.

Captions are mandatory

Most vertical video is watched muted, and captions keep the eye busy. Keep them:

Large: at least 1/25 of the frame height, so about 75 px at 1080×1920.
Short: two lines, five to seven words per line.
High contrast: white on a dark box, or a bold colour outline.
Centred in the lower-middle, above the platform's UI (profile, likes) which covers the bottom 15–20% and the right edge.

Burn them in; platform auto-captions are inconsistent and arrive after the first viewers.

Safe zones

Each app overlays controls on the video. Keep essential content out of:

The bottom 20% (caption, username, music)
The right 12% (like, comment, share buttons)
The top 10% (search, "Following/For You" tabs)

Put titles at about 15–25% from the top and your face or the key UI in the middle 50%.

Mistakes that get swiped past

Desktop recording with black bars and 11-pixel text.
Starting with a logo animation or "hey everyone".
A cursor wandering while you think.
Captions covered by the platform's own buttons.
Twenty seconds of setup before the actual tip.
Music louder than the voice.

Hooks and length

First second: a title card or a bold claim on screen. "Export invoices in 10 seconds", not "Hi, today I'll show you".
Length: 15–45 seconds for a single tip; up to 90 for a mini-tutorial.
Pace: a visible change every 2–3 seconds. Cut dead time; vertical feeds punish waiting.
End with the result on screen and a one-line call to action.

Export sizes and formats

Platform	Size	Max length (typical)	Format
TikTok	1080×1920	10 min (short clips perform best)	MP4 (H.264), AAC
Instagram Reels	1080×1920	90 s from the app, longer when uploaded	MP4 (H.264), AAC
YouTube Shorts	1080×1920	60 s (up to 3 min for some accounts)	MP4 (H.264), AAC
LinkedIn / X	1080×1350 (4:5) or 1080×1920	Several minutes	MP4

Export at 30 fps, 8–12 Mbps. Keep a 16:9 master for YouTube and docs and a 9:16 cut for feeds; one recording, two renders.

A workflow that takes five minutes

Record the task once in 16:9 with a clean window, or directly in 9:16 with a narrow window.
Trim to the essential 30 seconds.
Switch to Mobile 9:16, add a gradient background and a phone frame if it is a mobile UI.
Add captions from the voice-over or transcript.
Add a 2-second title card.
Export MP4 and post; keep the share link for docs.

Or type the whole thing: "take a screen of how to set a budget in our app, mobile 9:16, phone frame, captions" and let the takeascreen.com agent record, narrate and format it. Start for $1.

Frequently asked questions

Can I record my screen in vertical directly?

Yes. Resize the window to a phone-like size or use a recorder with a 9:16 format that composes the screen onto a vertical canvas.

How do I make a desktop screen recording vertical without black bars?

Place it on a coloured background fitted by width, add a title above and captions below, and zoom in on small actions. A phone frame helps when the content is a mobile site.

What resolution should a vertical screen recording be?

1080×1920. Record at least 1080 wide so text stays sharp after fitting.

Where do captions go on a 9:16 video?

Lower-middle, above the bottom 20% that platform controls cover, and away from the right edge.

Related: how to record yourself and your screen for the split layout.