I’m going to show you how to export 4K videos in DaVinci Resolve in very high quality for YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, your clients, and more. And to save you a ton of time, I’ve created a set of free export presets you can download at the link below. They’ll give you all of these high-quality 4K export settings immediately, without you needing to dial everything in manually. They even come with instructions showing you how to import them into DaVinci Resolve!
Download the Free 4K Export Presets for DaVinci Resolve here!
Now let’s get into it.
Getting Started: Setting Up the Deliver Page
Open up DaVinci Resolve and create a new project. Once your 4K footage is imported and edited on the timeline and your video is ready to export, click on the rocket ship icon at the bottom of the screen to open the Deliver page.
Over on the left in your render settings, give your file a name, something like my4kvideo. Then select a location where you want to save your video so you can find it after it renders. For format, select MP4, and for codec, select H.264.
Mac Settings
If you’re editing on a Mac, you’ll see a checkbox that says Use hardware acceleration if available. Check that box. This tells Resolve to use your computer’s GPU to export the video, which means it will render significantly faster.
For resolution, make sure it is set to 3840×2160 and your frame rate is set to 23.976.
Now for the most important setting: Quality. This setting directly affects the quality of your exported video. Choose Restrict to, and type in the following bitrates:
- 50,000 kilobits per second for a 24fps or 30fps video
- 80,000 kilobits per second for a 60fps video
This gives you the highest quality video possible on YouTube while keeping the file size at the smallest I’d recommend. It’s the sweet spot.
Why You Should Always Upload to YouTube in 4K
Here’s something a lot of people don’t know: even if you didn’t film in 4K, I still recommend using these 4K export settings for basically everything you upload to YouTube.
If you upscale your 1080p footage to 4K before uploading, YouTube will use a significantly higher bitrate during playback, and the quality will be dramatically better than if you had uploaded in HD. This also applies to Facebook, Vimeo, and pretty much any other platform. Always upload in 4K. It will almost always help you.
PC Settings
On a PC, you’ve already set Format to MP4 and Codec to H.264. You may see different settings depending on the type of graphics card installed in your computer. You’ll have an Encoder dropdown that may say Auto, Native, Intel Quicksync, or Nvidia.
You can leave this set to Auto most of the time, but if you see an Nvidia option, select it because your GPU will likely render your video the fastest.
Leave your resolution at 3840×2160 and frame rate at 23.976.
For Quality, if you have an Nvidia or AMD graphics card, you should see the Quality setting with a Restrict to option. Use the same bitrates as above:
- 50,000 kilobits per second for 24fps or 30fps
- 80,000 kilobits per second for 60fps
What If I Don’t See a “Restrict To” Setting?
Don’t worry! If you only have a Native Encoder option, your export settings will look a little different. You’ll see a Preset and a Rate Control option instead.
For Rate Control, select Variable Bitrate. A Bitrate option will then appear. Set it to:
- 50,000 for 24fps or 30fps video
- 80,000 for 60fps video
And you’re good to go!
Rendering Your Video
Regardless of whether you’re on Mac or PC, once your settings are dialed in, click Add to Render Queue at the bottom, then press Render on the right side to export your video in the highest quality.
Save Time with Export Presets
Want to avoid having to dial in all of these settings every single time? You have two options.
First, you can download my free presets, which give you all of the settings we just covered ready to use as a preset every time you export.
Second, you can save your own custom preset inside Resolve. To do that, go to the top right of the Deliver page, click the three dots menu, and select Save as new preset. Name it something like 4K 24fps WhoIsMatt. From then on, anytime you want to use these settings, just select your preset from the menu at the top and you’re ready to export instantly.
If you’re looking to level up your overall video editing workflow, check out my Edit Videos Like A Pro Guide for more tips on working faster and smarter. And if you want to compare these DaVinci Resolve export settings against Premiere Pro’s, check out my guide on the Best 4K Export Settings for Premiere Pro 2026. For Instagram-specific exports in Resolve, I’ve also put together a full guide on the Best Export Settings for Instagram Reels in DaVinci Resolve 2026.