A YouTube Short is a square or vertical video of three minutes or less. There are two ways to make one: record and edit it inside the YouTube app, or edit it somewhere else and upload the finished file from a phone or a computer. Both end in the same place; the second gives you far more control over the edit.
What makes a video a Short?
Two things, and only two: the shape and the length. According to YouTube Help, videos uploaded since 15 October 2024 with a square or vertical aspect ratio and a length of up to three minutes are treated as Shorts.
| Requirement | What to actually use | |
|---|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | Square or vertical | 9:16 vertical |
| Resolution | Not fixed | 1080 × 1920 |
| Maximum length | 3 minutes | 15–60 seconds for most subjects |
| Where it is made | Anywhere | Wherever the edit is easiest |
| #shorts tag | Not what classifies it | Optional |
Square qualifies, but it wastes most of a phone screen. Vertical 1080 × 1920 is the format worth exporting. Vertical video size and the safe area covers why, and where the interface covers the frame.
Three minutes is a ceiling, not a target. The limit was one minute until October 2024, and most Shorts that work are still well under it.
Step 1: Decide where you will make it
| In the YouTube app | Edit elsewhere, then upload | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Talking to camera, quick clips | Anything with cuts, text or music timing |
| Editing control | Basic trimming, text, sounds | Whatever your editor does |
| Music | YouTube's sound library | Your own licensed track, baked in |
| Reusable elsewhere | No, it lives on YouTube | Yes, one file for every platform |
The in-app camera is fine for a single take. The moment a Short has more than a few cuts, editing it elsewhere is quicker and gives you a file you can also post to Reels and TikTok. Posting one video to Reels, TikTok and Shorts covers that side: how to export once and upload natively to each without a watermark problem.
Step 2: How do you record a Short in the YouTube app?
- Open the YouTube app and tap Create (the plus button).
- Tap Create a Short.
- Record in segments by tapping the capture button, or import clips from your phone.
- Add a sound, text or filters on the editing screen.
- Tap Next, add a title and details, and upload.
Keep the length decision in mind before recording rather than after. A Short that runs to three minutes because the camera allowed it is usually a one-minute Short with two minutes of drift.
Step 3: Or edit it somewhere else
This is the route for anything cut to music, anything with text on screen, and anything made from existing footage. The editing order that keeps it quick is the same as for any short vertical video: track first, trim clips, cut on the beat, text last. How to cut a video to the beat is the core of it, and it is the step Easy Reels automates: it reads the cut points from the track instead of you placing them by hand.
If your source is a long video (a podcast, a tutorial, a stream), the Short is an excerpt, and turning one long video into a week of reels applies to Shorts unchanged.
Export at 1080 × 1920, H.264, at the highest quality your editor offers. YouTube re-encodes everything; why platforms ruin video quality explains what that means for your export settings.
Step 4: How do you upload a Short from a phone or a computer?
From a phone: tap Create, then Upload a video, pick the file, and it is treated as a Short if it is square or vertical and within three minutes.
From a computer: sign in to YouTube Studio, click Create, then Upload videos. There is no separate Shorts button; the same shape-and-length rule decides. YouTube Studio accepts up to 15 short videos in one go (the figure YouTube Help gives), but each still needs its details completed before it publishes.
The desktop route is the one to use when the footage already lives on a computer. The same reasoning applies to posting reels from a computer.
Step 5: Write the title, then set the thumbnail
Shorts sit inside a search engine, which is the main reason to make them at all. A descriptive title in the words people search keeps a Short surfacing months later; a joke title gets the first day and nothing after.
- Title: what the video shows, in plain words, keyword first.
- Description: a sentence or two that repeats the subject naturally.
- Thumbnail: pick a frame deliberately. Reel covers and thumbnails covers choosing one that reads at small size.
- Captions: worth adding, because many viewers watch with the sound off. Captions on short videos covers how.
Step 6: Check the first second before you publish
Shorts are swiped past as quickly as any other vertical feed. Whatever is on screen at 0:00 is the decision point, so open on the most interesting frame, with text already visible. What the first three seconds have to do is the whole job in detail.
Can you use any music in a YouTube Short?
Not safely. Music added from YouTube's own sound library inside the app is cleared for Shorts. A commercial track baked into a file you edited elsewhere can be matched by Content ID, which can mean the revenue goes to the rights holder, or the video is restricted. That applies to anything that bakes a track in, Easy Reels included: it uses the track you give it, so the licence is yours to check.
YouTube used to block Shorts longer than one minute that had an active Content ID claim. According to YouTube Help, from 24 September 2026 those are no longer blocked automatically, so a claimed Short between one and three minutes may stay playable. The claim still applies, though. Can you use copyrighted music? covers what is safe to put under a video you post on several platforms.
Where Easy Reels fits
Everything above is one Short at a time. If you post several a week, the slow part is not uploading. It is Step 3, cutting each one to its track.
Easy Reels handles that part. A licensed track, a folder of clips and a template go in, and ten or twenty-five finished 1080 × 1920 videos come out, cut on the beat with your text overlays and colour applied. Each file uploads to YouTube as a Short, and the same file works on Reels and TikTok. Batch-creating from one folder of footage is the workflow, and Reels, TikTok or Shorts is worth reading first if you have not decided which platform to take seriously.
Common questions
How long can a YouTube Short be?
Up to three minutes for videos uploaded since 15 October 2024, according to YouTube Help. Before that the limit was one minute.
Do I need to add #shorts to the title?
No. YouTube classifies a Short by its aspect ratio and length, so the tag is optional. A descriptive title does more for it.
Can I make YouTube Shorts on a PC?
You cannot record one in the browser the way you can in the app, but you can upload one. Edit the video anywhere, then use Create, Upload videos in YouTube Studio.
Can I make YouTube Shorts on an iPad?
Yes, through the YouTube app. If the app does not offer Create a Short on your iPad, edit the video elsewhere and upload it. A vertical file under three minutes still counts.
Can a Short be horizontal?
No. A horizontal video is treated as a regular video whatever its length. Square or vertical is required.