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Change a video’s aspect ratio without cropping

Choose the new ratio, add the clip, and the full picture is fitted inside it. The spare space becomes blur, colour or a frame, never a crop.

Pick the shape first, then add your video

A couple walking hand in hand through a sunlit field, framed with the Blurred background (9:16) look

Drop a video to frame it

It opens in the Blurred background look straight away. Change it in one click.Pick a clip from your photos or files. It stays on your phone. Photos work too.

Works with MP4MOVWebMJPEGPNGand more

Framed on your device. Your video is never uploaded.

  1. 1Choose
  2. 2Frame
  3. 3Download

To change a video’s aspect ratio without cropping, pick the new ratio above the drop zone, then add your clip. The converter scales the whole frame to fit the new shape and fills the space left over, with a blurred copy of the clip unless you choose a colour or a design. What you see in the preview is exactly what Export video saves.

There are three ways to change a ratio: crop, stretch or pad. Cropping cuts part of the picture away, stretching distorts it, and padding keeps every pixel in proportion and adds space around it. This tool only pads, which is why nothing can be lost. To move between 16:9 and 9:16 specifically, the 9:16 vertical page walks through it step by step.

How to convert a video’s aspect ratio

  1. Choose the new ratio

    Pick a shape above the drop zone: 9:16, 16:9, 1:1, 4:5, 3:4, 2:3 or 21:9. Original keeps the video’s own shape and is under Shape once the clip is open.

  2. Add the video

    Drop it on the tool or press Select video. It opens already fitted inside the new ratio, with the gaps filled.

  3. Decide what fills the gaps

    Blurred background is the default. Under Look, pick Black for letterbox or pillarbox bars, Clean white, a gradient, or any of the 400+ designs.

  4. Save the converted video

    Press Export video, then Download video. The sound is kept unless you switch off Keep sound under Export settings.

Pad, crop or stretch: which to use

  • Pad (this tool): the whole frame stays, in proportion, with space added round it. Best for text, screen recordings, group shots and wide scenery.
  • Crop: the frame is cut down to the new shape. Fine when the subject sits in the middle and the edges don’t matter, but a 16:9 shot cropped to 9:16 loses about two thirds of its width.
  • Stretch: the picture is squashed to fit. Faces and circles go oval, so it is almost never what you want.

Padding needs something in the space it creates. Black bars are the traditional answer; a blur of the clip looks fuller on phones; a brand colour or design turns the space into part of the post.

Output sizes for each ratio

The converted video’s shorter side matches your clip’s shorter side, so nothing is upscaled. From a 1080p source you get:

  • 9:16: 1080×1920. 16:9: 1920×1080. 1:1: 1080×1080.
  • 4:5: 1080×1350. 3:4: 1080×1440. 2:3: 1080×1620.
  • 21:9: 2520×1080, the ultrawide cinema shape.

A 4K clip gives twice these sizes. To cap the output, choose 1080p or 720p under Export settings → Size. Which ratio each platform wants is listed in our aspect ratio guide.

Converting horizontal to vertical without losing the subject

A landscape clip in a 9:16 frame spans the width of the screen and leaves space above and below. That space is useful: put a title in it, or move the picture with Top to bottom under More options so captions in the app don’t cover anyone’s face. At 0% Border width, the picture is as large as the frame allows.

Going the other way, a vertical phone clip in a 16:9 frame sits in the middle with space at the sides. A blurred fill is the usual choice there, and it is covered in more depth on the blurred background page.

Letterbox, pillarbox and windowbox

These are the names for the bars padding creates. Letterbox bars sit above and below a wide picture, as on a 21:9 film shown on a 16:9 TV. Pillarbox bars sit either side of a tall picture, like a phone clip on YouTube. Windowbox has bars on all four sides, which is what you get here when Border width is above zero. Any of them can be black, a colour, a blur or a pattern.

Aspect ratio questions

How do I change the aspect ratio of a video without cropping?

Pad it rather than crop it. Choose the new ratio here, add the video, and the full frame fits inside with blur or colour in the spare space. Then export the MP4.

How do I convert 16:9 to 9:16?

Pick 9:16, add the 16:9 clip and export. The landscape picture fills the width of the vertical frame, with a fill above and below.

Does changing the aspect ratio reduce quality?

The video is re-encoded, but it is never upscaled: the shorter side stays at your clip’s size. Choose Quality High under Export settings to keep it close to the original.

Can I convert a video to 21:9 cinema widescreen?

Yes. Pick 21:9 and the clip is fitted inside an ultrawide frame. A 16:9 source gets bands at the sides, so choose a fill that suits it, such as black.

Can I add black bars instead of a blur?

Yes. Pick the Black look, or set Background to Solid with a black Border colour.

Which browsers can convert a video’s aspect ratio?

Current Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox on desktop and mobile. The conversion runs on your device, so long 4K clips are quicker on a computer.