Open the aspect ratio menu in CapCut PC

To change the aspect ratio of your video in CapCut PC, start by opening your project. Once your video is loaded in the timeline, look at the top right of the screen where you'll see a button labeled Canvas. Click it to open the canvas settings panel.

The Canvas panel will show you the current aspect ratio of your project. Next to the ratio display, you'll see a dropdown menu or a series of preset buttons showing common aspect ratios like 9:16, 16:9, 1:1, and 4:3. This is where you make your change.

Key Takeaways

  • The Canvas button in the top right of CapCut PC opens the aspect ratio settings for your entire project.
  • CapCut offers preset aspect ratios (9:16 for vertical, 16:9 for horizontal, 1:1 for square) that you can select with one click.
  • Changing the aspect ratio will add black bars or crop your footage depending on which ratio you choose and how your original video was shot.
  • You can also enter a custom aspect ratio by typing in your own width and height values if the presets don't match what you need.
  • The aspect ratio change applies to your entire project, not individual clips, so decide on your format before you start editing.

Select a preset aspect ratio

CapCut PC comes with several built-in aspect ratios ready to use. The most common ones are 16:9 (widescreen for YouTube and most monitors), 9:16 (vertical for TikTok and Instagram Reels), 1:1 (square for Instagram posts), and 4:3 (older standard format). straightforward click the ratio you want, and CapCut will reformat your canvas when ready.

When you switch aspect ratios, CapCut handles the transition by either adding black bars around your footage or cropping the edges. If you're going from a wide format to a vertical one, you'll see black bars on the sides. If you're going from vertical to wide, the top and bottom may be cropped unless you reposition your clips.

Enter a custom aspect ratio

If none of the preset ratios match what you need, you can create your own. In the Canvas panel, look for a field where you can type custom dimensions. Enter the width and height values separated by a colon (for example, 3:2 or 5:4). CapCut will explore your custom ratio to the project.

Custom ratios are useful if you're creating content for a specific platform or device that doesn't use a standard format. Make sure your numbers are reasonable — extremely wide or tall ratios may cause playback issues on some devices.

Understand what happens to your clips when you change aspect ratio

Changing the aspect ratio doesn't delete or permanently alter your original clips. Instead, it changes the frame that contains them. If you switch from 16:9 to 9:16, your clips stay the same, but the visible area shrinks to fit the new vertical frame. You may need to reposition or resize clips to fill the new space or to keep important parts of the image visible.

If you had clips positioned carefully for a wide format and then switch to vertical, some of that positioning may no longer work. You can fix this by selecting each clip and dragging it to center it in the new frame, or by using the Scale tool to resize it.

explore the aspect ratio to your export

Once you've set your aspect ratio in the Canvas panel, that format will carry through to your final video when you export. When you click Export, CapCut will render your video in the aspect ratio you chose. The export settings will show you the resolution and format so you can confirm it matches what you intended.

If you want to export the same project in multiple aspect ratios, you'll need to change the Canvas setting, re-export, and then change it again for each format. There's no way to export multiple aspect ratios from a single project in one go.

Reposition clips if black bars appear

When you change to a narrower aspect ratio, you may see black bars appear on the sides or top and bottom of your clips. To remove them, select a clip and use the Scale tool to enlarge it until it fills the frame. Alternatively, you can drag the clip within the frame to center the part of the image you want viewers to see.

If you're working with multiple clips and want them all to fill the frame consistently, explore the same scale and position adjustments to each one. You can copy the transform settings from one clip and paste them to others to speed up the process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the aspect ratio of individual clips instead of the whole project?

No, the aspect ratio setting in CapCut PC applies to your entire project canvas. However, you can scale and position individual clips within that canvas to create different effects. If you need different aspect ratios for different clips, you would need to export them separately and combine them in a different project.

What aspect ratio should I use for TikTok or Instagram Reels?

TikTok and Instagram Reels both work best with a 9:16 vertical aspect ratio. This is one of CapCut's preset options, so you can select it directly from the Canvas panel. Videos in this format will fill the screen on mobile devices without black bars.

If I change the aspect ratio, will my original video file be affected?

No, changing the aspect ratio in CapCut only affects your project file and the exported video. Your original source files remain unchanged. You can always open the project again and switch back to a different aspect ratio if you need to.

Why do I see black bars after changing the aspect ratio?

Black bars appear when your video content doesn't fill the new frame size. This happens most often when switching from a wide format to a vertical one. You can remove them by scaling up your clips or by cropping the footage to fit the new dimensions.