YouTube's own definition of a Short is simple: up to 3 minutes, with a square or vertical aspect ratio.
| What | Spec |
|---|---|
| Length | Up to 3 minutes. This applies to uploads after 15 Oct 2024. Older videos stay long-form. |
| Ratio | Square or vertical. 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 is recommended. A 16:9 video is treated as long-form. |
| File | MP4, H.264, AAC audio at 48 kHz. YouTube's standard upload settings apply (see article 11). |
| Music from the Shorts audio library | Most tracks can be used for up to 90 seconds in a 3-minute Short. Some are limited to 60 or 30 seconds. |
| Royalty-free music | Tracks from the YouTube Audio Library won't receive a Content ID claim. |
Copyright: read this before posting a Short over 1 minute
- If a Short is longer than 1 minute and has an active Content ID claim, it's blocked globally. It can't be played, recommended or earn money.
- YouTube says there's no penalty to your channel, and the Short comes back once the claim is resolved.
- Shorts under 1 minute aren't affected by this rule.
Shorts ads
- Ads can be up to 3 minutes, but only the first 60 seconds play in the Shorts feed.