How to post a video on LinkedIn (steps, specs and length)

You've filmed a video that answers a client question, and you want it on LinkedIn where your next client will see it. Click the Video icon in the share box (or tap Post in the app), upload the file, add a thumbnail and captions, write the post and publish. Here are both sets of steps, a spec table with a LinkedIn source on every row, and the post text for a coach's video, filled in.

How to post a video on LinkedIn from a computer

On a computer, the video goes up through the share box at the top of your LinkedIn homepage. These are the steps from LinkedIn Help:

1. Click the Video icon in the share box. You can also drag the file straight into the box.
2. Click Upload from computer and pick your file.
3. Click Video thumbnail and upload the image you want people to see before it plays.
4. Click Captions. Turn on auto captions, choose to review them first, or attach a caption file.
5. Click Next.
6. Click the dropdown next to your name to choose who sees the post and who can comment.
7. Write your post in the "What do you want to talk about?" box.
8. Click Post. To publish later, click the Clock icon instead. LinkedIn schedules posts from 10 minutes to 3 months ahead.

One post holds one video. LinkedIn's video FAQ also rules out animated GIFs. Once it's live, click the More icon on the post and choose Copy link to post to share it in an email or a DM.

How to post a video on LinkedIn from your phone

In the LinkedIn app it's six steps, from the same help page:

1. Tap Post in the navigation bar.
2. Tap the video or media icon. Pick a video from your gallery, or record one with your camera.
3. Trim it if you need to. You can also add stickers, text on screen and auto captions.
4. Tap Next.
5. Tap the Anyone dropdown to set who sees it and who can comment, then write your post.
6. Tap Post.

Two phone traps catch people. On an iPhone, stay in the LinkedIn app until the upload finishes. LinkedIn's troubleshooting page warns the upload can stall in the background. And the app can't upload a video stored in iCloud, so download it to the phone first. Android keeps uploading while you use other apps. You get a notification when the video is ready to view.

Post from a computer if you want your own thumbnail and caption file

Use a computer for any video that matters to your business, even one you filmed on your phone. LinkedIn's app steps list trim, stickers, text and auto captions, and nothing for a thumbnail or a caption file. Its closed captions page says caption files go on "using the desktop experience."

The thumbnail is the bigger loss. Members who set autoplay to "Never autoplay videos," or to "Wi-Fi connections only" while on mobile data, see a still frame first. Leave it to chance and that frame might be you mid-blink. So film wherever is easiest, AirDrop or email the file to your laptop, and upload an image of your face next to the question the video answers.

LinkedIn video specs: length, size, format and aspect ratio

A LinkedIn video post takes 3 seconds to 15 minutes, 75KB to 5GB, and any aspect ratio from 1:2.4 to 2.4:1. Checked against LinkedIn Help on October 21, 2026.

Many spec guides still say 10 minutes. That number comes from LinkedIn's spec page for Pages and Career Pages, which covers the main video on a company's Life or What We Do tab (and no longer takes MOV files). Some guides add that the app caps you at 10 minutes. LinkedIn's upload requirements list one 15-minute maximum, and only the minimum changes in the app. A post from your own profile gets the full 15 minutes, from a computer or a phone.

Ads run on a different spec. LinkedIn's video ad spec allows 3 seconds to 30 minutes, up to 500MB, MP4 only, and recommends vertical 4:5. Its ad thumbnail rule, a JPG or PNG up to 2MB at the video's aspect ratio, is a sensible target for a post thumbnail too.

How long should a LinkedIn video be?

As long as one answer takes, inside the 15-minute limit. LinkedIn publishes no ideal length for ordinary posts. Its only number is for ads, where it recommends 15 to 30 seconds so an ad qualifies for every placement. So yes, a 3-minute video is fine, and so is a 12-minute workshop segment.

For a coach or consultant, the better rule is one question per video. "How do I give feedback to someone who used to be my peer?" might take 90 seconds. "What happens in the first 30 days?" might take four minutes. Both are right, because each one ends when the answer does. Cover three questions in one video and no single line of post text can match it. LinkedIn is now cutting back on videos that don't match their text.

One quirk for very short clips: LinkedIn loops videos under 30 seconds, and viewers have no toggle to stop it. Make sure the last frame flows back into the first.

Length is easier to control when you record one answer at a time. In CreateSocial, each answer is its own section, read off a teleprompter near your camera, so a stumble costs you one section. Then you tighten it by deleting words from the transcript, and Remove Silences takes out the pauses in one click. The opening matters most, so borrow a line from these video hook examples for coaches.

Captions: LinkedIn's auto captions, a caption file or subtitles in the picture

Add captions, because a video that autoplays on LinkedIn starts silent. The autoplay help page says some videos "may play automatically without sound as you scroll through your feed." You have three ways to put words on screen:

• Auto captions. Switch on Add auto captions when you upload, or have LinkedIn hold them for your review first. Auto captions cover 10 languages, and on a scheduled post you can only review them after it goes live.
• A caption file. Attach an SRT file through the Captions button, on a computer. Use it when you have a checked transcript and want exact wording.
• Subtitles drawn into the video. They're part of the picture, so they show on every device and wherever the file goes next. Viewers can hide closed captions in LinkedIn's full-screen player. Burned-in words stay put.

CreateSocial draws subtitles into the video in 11 styles, so sound-off viewers read every word, in the app and on desktop. Open captions vs closed captions compares the two kinds platform by platform.

Vertical or horizontal: what LinkedIn shows on a phone

Both upload fine. In the LinkedIn app, tap any video in your feed and it opens in a full-screen vertical player, where you swipe up for more. Some members also have a Video tab in the navigation bar. You can't post straight into it, but any video you post "may be eligible to appear" there "based on relevance and performance."

Wider videos "may be fitted to the screen," LinkedIn says. In plain terms, a 16:9 clip gets shrunk to fit, and 9:16 is the shape that fills the phone. The same page shows where the player's buttons and post text land on a 1080 x 1920 frame:

For a talking head, frame your face in the upper middle and keep any on-screen text out of the bottom 560 pixels, nearly a third of the frame. If you want both shapes, CreateSocial's Dual mode frames 16:9 and 9:16 in one take, so you get a vertical version for the LinkedIn app and a wide one for YouTube without filming twice.

Write post text that says what the video says

The text above your video should name the question the video answers, in the words you used on camera. In March 2026, LinkedIn announced: "We're improving our systems to reduce repetitive, low-substance posts and engagement bait, such as 'comment to agree' prompts or videos that don't match the text." So a clever hook that has nothing to do with the clip now costs you reach.

You have up to 3,000 characters, but a video post rarely needs 100 words. Copy this shape:

[The question or claim, in the viewer's words]

[What the video covers, and how long it is]

[The one takeaway, said the way you said it on camera]

[Who it's for]

[A question you actually want answered]

Here it is filled in for a hypothetical leadership coach whose two-minute video answers one client question:

Most new managers wait too long to give their old teammates feedback.

In this 2-minute video I answer the question first-time managers ask me most: how do you give feedback to someone who was your peer last month?

The short version: say what changed before you say what went wrong. "I'm your manager now, so I owe you straight feedback."

If you were promoted over your friends this year, this one is for you.

What was the hardest conversation in your first 90 days?

Every line points at what the video says, and the closing question is one the coach actually wants answered. For 28 more post ideas, see these LinkedIn post ideas for coaches.

You don't have to write it from a blank box. CreateSocial writes the LinkedIn caption for each video from your transcript and knowledge base, so the text describes what you actually said. The same video can also become a standalone LinkedIn post for Thursday, or a carousel you export as a PDF and upload as a document post.

Why can't I upload a video to LinkedIn?

Usually the file breaks one of LinkedIn's limits, or the app lost the upload. Check these in order:

How CreateSocial turns your LinkedIn videos into clients without eating your week

CreateSocial helps coaches and consultants build a personal brand that brings in clients, speaking gigs and customers, without content taking over the week. It learns what you know and runs the whole content week with you, video and written: the ideas, the scripts, the posts, the recording, the editing, the thumbnails and the schedule. Here is one LinkedIn video, start to finish, inside it.

• You start with a client's question. Add your website, past videos and posts, and client stories to your knowledge base, and CreateSocial turns them into 80 personalized ideas a month, each with a hook and talking points or a full script. Trending Now adds what your niche is discussing every Monday. "Ask me first" asks you a few questions before it writes, so the script carries your real client story.
• You record it in one sitting. Read from the teleprompter near your camera, at your desk or on the iPhone app. Each answer is its own section with one-tap retakes, and Dual mode gives you the vertical and wide versions from one take.
• The edit is mostly deleting words. Cut the video by editing its transcript, clear the pauses with Remove Silences and fix your gaze with eye contact correction. Subtitles go on in one of 11 styles.
• One video fills the rest of the week. It becomes a LinkedIn post, a carousel with PDF export, an X thread or an email to your list. On weeks you'd rather not film, CreateSocial writes those posts from your knowledge base with no video at all.
• It goes out at your time. Schedule to LinkedIn, plus TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and X if your buyers are there, each with a caption written for that platform. Once your accounts are connected, we post it for you and email you when it's live.
• You see what worked. The Analytics page collects views, likes, comments, shares and followers from your connected TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts.

Also in the one plan: competitor tracking, screen recording with your camera as a bubble, reaction videos in Layout or Stitch mode, virtual backgrounds with or without a real green screen, safe-zone guides for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, B-roll from free stock video, Find Clips for pulling short clips out of a webinar or talk, and YouTube thumbnails made from your video and photos of you.

Here's who you'd be dealing with. I'm Ben Moore, and I built CreateSocial on my own, bootstrapped, here in Cincinnati, Ohio, so you talk to me directly. Feature requests come to me, and a lot of what customers ask for gets built. Before CreateSocial, my agency generated millions of followers and millions of dollars in revenue for its clients, and I've generated hundreds of millions of views.

It costs $129 a month, or $99 a month billed annually, with no add-ons and no per-feature charges. Start your free trial and schedule your first LinkedIn video today. Want a LinkedIn plan built around your own offer first? Book a free strategy call with me.

Post your next LinkedIn video this week

Pick one client question and get the answer live by Friday.

1. Write down the question a client asked you most recently, in their words.
2. Record your answer. Stop when the answer stops.
3. Move the file to your computer and upload it from the share box.
4. Add a thumbnail of your face with the question on it, and add captions.
5. Write the post text from the template, opening with the question.
6. Post it or schedule it, then reply to every comment.

LinkedIn is where buyers look you up, as social media for consultants explains. A month of these answers becomes the library that a consultant's personal brand runs on. A free CreateSocial trial gives you the teleprompter, the edit, the LinkedIn post and the schedule for the next one.