5 Recommended best video formats for YouTube for 2024

Ashish Singh

Published On - August 9, 2024

Social media is a vital platform for increasing the efficiency of individuals or organizations in terms of networking opportunities, brand promotion, information sharing, and community building. It has several components through which users are connected, such as Twitter, YouTube, and many more. However, as far as the videos are concerned, users usually use YouTube over others.

YouTube, an American online video-sharing platform owned by Google, is a key player in social media. With a massive user base of around 2.7 billion monthly users and over one billion hours of videos watched daily, it is the ideal platform for sharing or viewing video content.
Users often need help determining which video format is best for uploading content. Thus, we will help you identify the major ones you should use for your social media, including YouTube.

What are the criteria for making the file best suited for YouTube?

To choose the best video formats for YouTube, it is necessary to know the parameters to decide which is better in terms of efficiency or performance. Let’s look at them:

• Compatibility with the platform without impacting the quality.
• Efficient in compression that governs the file size.
• Quality that governs the overall viewing experience.
• Video format that validates your intention.

Recommended best video formats for YouTube

Now, you can choose any of the following video files that will match the above parameters. Go through them carefully & make your decision accordingly.

1. MP4 format (MPEG-4 Part-14)

With its wide range of features, the MP4 video file format is a prominent or ideal option among others. It is the most suitable YouTube video format that also supports the rest of the hosting platforms. Let’s look at some pros and cons of this format.

Pros:

• Compress the file size without hampering the video quality.
• Can be integrated with 3D graphics.
• Its codecs, like H.264, H.265, & MPEG-4, make it compatible with other media players.
• It stores audio, image, & text data in a single format.

Cons:

• Editing MP4 files takes a lot of computer resources.

2. MOV file format

MOV file is another of the best video formats for YouTube that is developed by Apple Inc. It also stores multiple types of media data like audio, video, subtitles, & metadata. Now, look at some pros & cons of this format to decide on what criteria’s it will be suitable for the users:

Pros:

• Wide range of compatibility with different platforms, including MAC & Windows.
• Provides flexibility to the users for content creation & delivery.
• It offers high-quality video compression, especially while using the Apple ProRes codec.

Cons:

• Their file sizes are larger than others, which might impede the streaming performance & storage requirements. It is not compatible with the older or less common codecs.

3. WebM (HTML5)

WebM is another suitable video format for social media, developed by Google as an alternative to HTML5 using a VP8 or VP9 video codec & a Vorbis or Opus audio codec. Check its pros & cons for making the right decision:

Pros:

• Free & open to everyone.
• Offers high-quality videos & better performance even in the older systems.
• It can be used on different streaming platforms, including YouTube.

Cons:

• Few media players or web browsers support this format.

4. WMV format

WMV is both a video container and codec format developed by Microsoft. It is the most widely used format in the Windows Operating System. The significant pros & cons provide a basic understanding of this format. Let’s look at them:

Pros:

• Its file size is much smaller than other formats, making it convenient to play & transform the file.
• Compatible with all Windows Powered systems & devices.
• Takes less space than others, making it a storage-friendly file format.

Cons:

• As the name suggests, it only supports the Windows framework. Hence, it is not workable for Mac, Linux, & other systems except Windows OS.

5. AVI format

AVI is the last recommended video file format in the list for social media, developed in 1992 by Microsoft. It offers good audio & video quality, making it suitable for various media players. However, its constraints make it obsolete for uploading or streaming purposes. Let’s check it out:

Pros:

• No need to use specific hardware or software to run the AVI files.
• Its compression capabilities make it ideal for promotion, short films, & advertisements.
• Excellent for master files.

Cons:

• Its large size compared to others makes it suitable for storage files rather than streaming, and if you try to compress beyond the limit, you might lose its quality. Also, it lacks user interactivity.

What should we choose when the files display some unusual error?

Using the mentioned file format according to your suitability gives you satisfactory output in terms of quality and overall viewing experience on YouTube. But sometimes, due to technical glitches, users might need help with several issues regarding videos, like video corruption or distortion. Hence, to experience the video as it was earlier, it is required to be repaired. There are several manual methods that can help you to resolve the issue, but by considering them you can make your data vulnerable to loss or damage. This is why professionals always recommend using the third-party specialized tools for all video-associated concerns.

Recoveryfix Video Repair tool is one of the most preferred automated software for experts due to its top-notch features. If you have corrupted or inaccessible video files, it will help you repair them of any size or number in every format, including MP4, MOV, AVI, and many others. Its interactive user interface and wide range of compatibility with all Windows platforms make the tool handy for the user.

Conclusion

Most users need clarification about the authentication, usability, and flexibility of the video files best suited for YouTube. So, we have covered their area of interest by defining the top five video formats for YouTube with their pros & cons. Additionally, we have discussed an advanced tool ideal for managing all mishaps with your precious video files like corrupt MP4 video files.