Have you ever explored how long does it take to process a video on YouTube? YouTube uploads thousands of videos every hour and this massive hosting service has been providing service for many years. However, it is important to know how long does it take for a video to be processed so that you can improve your upload times.
YouTube is one of the popular streaming platforms and if it goes down, it causes lost income. Similar to this, if you upload videos slowly, it can delay your video publishing schedule.
This article will guide you through how long does it take to process video on YouTube and how you can improve it.
How Long Does It Take to Process an HD YouTube Video?
Video processing times depend on different factors so it is not easy to provide exact time for processing HD videos.
You can look into these general guidelines to know about the processing times.
- 720p (HD) videos take approximately 1-3 hours to process.
- 1080p (Full HD) takes about 2-4 hours.
- 4K (Ultra HD) videos take about 3-5 hours or longer. (While it depends on the length of the video)
Let’s dive into discussing how to speed up the process and ways you can upload your content faster, the best processing time, and uploading best practices.
How Long Does YouTube Take to Process HD Video?
HD videos take approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute to continue complete processing. When you upload a 10-minute video, it may take around 5 to 10 minutes to get fully processed. However, some factors affect video processing including:
- Resolution
- Length
- Video Quality
How Long Does it to Process 4K YouTube Video?
A 4K video is 10 minutes long so it may about approx 8-15 minutes to get processed. If the frame rate and bitrate are higher, it may take 20 to 40 minutes to get processed. Therefore, a 4K video takes a longer time to be processed. It needs a high-resolution process because it is 60 minutes long and has a frame rate of 30 fps.
How Long Does YouTube take to upload a 7-minute video?
A 7-minute video takes about 7 minutes to upload if it is HD quality and about 10 minutes if it is in 4K quality.
How Long Does YouTube Take to Upload a 15-minute Video?
YouTube takes about 10- 15 minutes to upload a 15-minute-long video. In addition, some factors affect upload speed and file size. If the file size is compressed or less, it may take less time.
What is Video Processing on YouTube?
Every YouTuber knows that each video gets through the process of video processing whenever they post a video. During this process, your original file gets compressed and YouTube creates different copies in different resolutions similar to the original quality.
In addition, YouTube first processes the low-quality video versions that make videos go faster. So, you need to wait for a few hours until the remaining high-quality resolutions get processed and become available.
Not only this, YouTube also re-encodes videos to improve its playback quality by minimizing the size and making its format a standard one. It allows you to upload videos in any format. MOV to .MP4, and . FLV.
List of Factors that Affect YouTube Processing Times
When you upload a video on YouTube, its processing time and availability on the platform depend on different factors.
Many factors affect the processing times of YouTube uploads:
- Video quality
- Resolution
- Framerate
- Audio and video bitrate
It is important to keep in mind that a one-hour 4K video with 30 frames per second may take about 4 hours to complete its processing with high-resolution results. Nevertheless, the same video upload with a doubled framerate at 60 fbs would take much longer than that.
Video Length/File Size
Video length also affects the processing times of your upload because the lengthy file is bigger and it takes more time to process. On the contrary, a shorter video will get processed in 10 minutes or less while an hour or longer video might take some hours to go live.
Video Formats
The video format is another important factor that affects your video uploads because different formats change the video’s size. Therefore, YouTube recommends converting your videos to MP4 format and using H.264 as a video codec and AAL-LC as an audio codec. Also, use a standard aspect ratio of 16:9.
Internet Speed
In addition to the above points, internet speed is also an unavoidable factor that affects processes like uploading, watching, and downloading YouTube videos. You should have a speed of at least 20 Mbps so that your video can be uploaded and processed in a reasonable time.
How Long Does It Take to Process HD on YouTube?
On a general note, it takes about 30 to 45 seconds to process a 1-minute HD video. If HD videos are longer, the following are the expected time frames.
- 2-minutes HD video: 1 to 1.5 minutes
- 5-minute HD video: 3 to 5 minutes
- 10-minute HD video: 6 to 10 minutes
- 20-minute HD video: 12 to 20 minutes
How Long Does YouTube Take to Process QHD Videos?
QHD is one step ahead of HD and is referred to as 14440p but it requires more processing time to upload on YouTube.
- 2-minute QHD video: 1.5 to 2 minutes
- 5-minute QHD video: 4 to 6 minutes
- 10-minute QHD video: 8 to 12 minutes
- 20-minute QHD video: 16 to 24 minutes
How Long Does YouTube Take to Process 4K Video?
The new modern standard, 4K videos increases the pixel count of 1080p content 4 times more therefore, it takes several hours to process these videos.
- 2-minute 4K video: 4 to 8 minutes
- 5minute 4K video: 10 to 20 minutes
- 10-minute 4K video: 20 to 40 minutes
- 20-minute 4K video: 40 to 80 minutes
Best Tips to Improve YouTube Video Processing Times
Here are the best tips you can follow to speed up the processing time of videos on YouTube.
Stop Using the Internet Unnecessary
When you process anything online, it consumes the processing power of your pc that affects your uploads if you run other processes at the same time. However, the most important factor is your available upload bandwidth.
Make sure not to use your internet for other bandwidth-heavy uses that include data uploads. In addition, avoid running any resource-heavy programs and do not use the internet to upload anything else.
Optimize Your File
Ensure your video or audio files use codecs and do not have any unnecessary content. For this purpose, you can edit your videos properly and make sure to balance size and quality by selecting the most appropriate formats, framerate, codecs, and bitrate.
Schedule Your Videos Ahead of Time
Scheduling a video in advance to let it upload at a specific time is a great idea that makes your video available at the time you want to get it published. You need to figure out the best time to upload your content to increase your reach and get more views.
Here is how you can schedule using the standard procedure.
Go to the “visibility tab”
Hover over the “Schedule option” that will give you options to set your video’s time, date, and time zone.
Make sure not to use a VPN service.
VPN’s use is unsafe because it affects your internet speed and rate which plays a major role in processing your videos on YouTube.
Wrapping Up
So, how long does it take to process video on YouTube? However, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Keep in mind that the time process for YouTube video uploads depends on several factors like resolution, file format, video length, and upload speed.
FAQs
Can I Leave YouTube While a Video is Processing?
No, you cannot leave YouTube while a video is processing and until the upload is complete. If you leave in between, it will hinder the upload process. After the process is complete, you may either turn off your computer or put it on standby.
Why does my YouTube video take so long to process?
Several factors affect uploading time when you upload a video to YouTube including internet bandwidth, file size, and traffic volume. Your video upload may slow down due to your Internet Service Provider going down. However, a file larger in size requires more time to upload.
How can I increase the speed of my YouTube?
One of the main reasons for slowing down YouTube uploads is slowing your internet upload speed. You can solve this issue by limiting other devices connected to your internet. You must close any programs that are during the download or upload process use a LAN cable and connect your laptop directly to the router.
