YouTube publishes no canvas size for an end screen, only a recommendation that a custom element image be at least 300 x 300 px. The rules that actually decide whether you can have one are timing: the video must run at least 25 seconds and the end screen occupies its last 5 to 20 seconds.
Where it shows
- Overlaid on the final seconds of a video on desktop web
- The player in the YouTube mobile app
- Smart TV and console YouTube apps
- iPad mobile web, named by YouTube as the exception to end screens not showing on mobile web
The safe zone
The end screen is laid over your video's final seconds, so whatever you filmed keeps playing behind it. Element cards are positioned by you on a grid across the 16:9 frame, while the player progress bar, controls and mobile watch page chrome occupy the bottom. Video cards and the subscribe circle need quiet background to read against, so cut the last 20 seconds of footage with deliberately empty areas where the elements will land, and keep your own outro graphics out of those zones.
Quirks worth knowing
- There is no published pixel size for an end screen canvas or element box, so width, height, file size and file types are all null here. The single published dimension is a recommendation that a custom element image be at least 300 x 300 px.
- The gate is video length rather than image size. A video under 25 seconds cannot carry an end screen at all, which rules them out for anything at Shorts length.
- The window is locked to the last 5 to 20 seconds. There is no way to place an end screen mid video, so the outro has to exist in the edit before you ever open the end screen editor.
- Four elements is the ceiling on a standard 16:9 video, and YouTube says other aspect ratios may allow fewer, so a vertical or square upload is the wrong place for a full end card layout.
- End screens suppress other overlays. YouTube states that card teasers and the video watermark are hidden while the end screen is showing, so you give those prompts up for the same seconds.
- End screens do not appear on videos set as made for kids, in the YouTube Kids or YouTube Music apps, on Flash videos, on 360 videos, or on mobile web.
Common mistakes
- Cutting the video the instant the content ends, which leaves under five seconds of runway and nowhere to place elements.
- Building an outro card with your own drawn subscribe button and channel art, then dropping YouTube's real elements on top so the two compete.
- Uploading a video shorter than 25 seconds and hunting for a bug when the end screen option is greyed out.
- Positioning elements low in the frame where the progress bar and player controls sit over them.
What we recommend
- Edit a dedicated 20 second outro with a flat or slowly moving background in the zones where cards will sit, then place elements into that empty space.
- Use the grid in the end screen editor to align cards rather than eyeballing them, because misalignment is obvious against a still background.
- Supply custom element images at 300 x 300 px or larger, which is the only pixel figure YouTube publishes for end screens.
- Use two or three elements instead of the full four. Each extra card splits the click and covers more of the frame.
Common questions
Why can't I add an end screen to my YouTube video?
Length is the most common reason. YouTube requires a video to be at least 25 seconds long before an end screen can be added, and there is no way around it. End screens are also unavailable on videos set as made for kids, which quietly removes the option across entire channels.
How long should a YouTube end screen be?
YouTube allows the end screen to occupy the last 5 to 20 seconds, and you decide where in that window each element appears. Around 15 seconds gives a viewer time to read and click without stalling the video, while 5 seconds is rarely long enough for anyone to act. Whatever you choose, the footage underneath has to run that long.
What size should an end screen image be?
YouTube publishes no canvas size for the end screen itself, only a recommendation that a custom element image be at least 300 x 300 px. The end screen is composited over your video frame, so the real design work happens in the video export rather than in a separate image file. Plan the last 20 seconds of footage with empty areas where the cards will sit.
Do YouTube end screens work on mobile?
They work in the YouTube mobile app but not on mobile web, where YouTube names iPad mobile web as the exception. They are also absent from the YouTube Music and YouTube Kids apps and from 360 videos. An end screen therefore reaches most of your audience, and a spoken call to action covers the rest.
More answers on thumbnail, carousel and cover questions are on the FAQ.