How to Change the Aspect Ratio of Squarespace Video Players
It’s easy to add video content with Squarespace's built-in video blocks and background video features. But people searching for how to change the aspect ratio of a video player, especially on Squarespace-hosted videos, tend to run into a wall: The default video player is stuck in the 16:9 ratio format, whether or not your video fits that description.
If you're trying to display square videos, vertical (9:16) reels, or cinematic ultra-wide clips, this default behavior can break your layout and degrade your visual storytelling.
In this post, we’ll walk you through how to change the aspect ratio of Squarespace video players using CSS, so your video content looks just as you intended across all devices.
The Challenge: Squarespace Locks Aspect Ratios by Default
When you insert a video block on Squarespace 7.1, it automatically wraps your video in a container that cleverly holds a 16:9 dimension using the padding-bottom trick (usually 56.25%).
This is great for regular widescreen videos, as we’ve already seen, but not for:
Square videos (1:1)
Vertical mobile content (9:16)
Cinematic video formats (2.35:1)
Custom-branded content with unique dimensions
The Solution: Override with Custom CSS
That is, if you want to change the aspect ratio of video players on your website or on a specific block manually, you can target the video container class.
Step-by-Step: How to Change the Video Aspect Ratio
1. Go to Your CSS Panel
Navigate to Pages → Custom code → Custom CSS
Scroll down and paste the following code:
2. Apply a Global Aspect Ratio Change
/* Change aspect ratio for all Squarespace video blocks */
.sqs-block-video .intrinsic {
padding-bottom: 100% !important; /* 1:1 square format */
}
This changes all video blocks on your site to display as squares (1:1).
Common Aspect Ratio Values
Use the following values in padding-bottom to get your desired ratio:
| Aspect Ratio | Value to Use | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 16:9 | 56.25% | Default Squarespace layout |
| 4:3 | 75% | Classic TV and presentation format |
| 1:1 | 100% | Square, Instagram-friendly |
| 9:16 | 177.78% | Vertical (Reels, TikToks) |
| 2.35:1 | 42.55% | Cinematic widescreen |
