YouTube Shorts length, size and format (2026)

YouTube Shorts used to stop at 60 seconds. Since October 2024 they can run to three minutes, and that change still causes confusion: older uploads, horizontal videos and copyrighted music each follow their own rules. Here's what YouTube's Help Center and developer documentation say, checked in October 2026.

YouTube Shorts length and size at a glance

YouTube Shorts length: the 3-minute limit

YouTube announced that from October 15, 2024 you could upload Shorts of up to 3 minutes, up from 60 seconds. The rule in YouTube's Help Center today is simple: any video uploaded on or after that date that is square or vertical and up to three minutes long counts as a Short.

Older videos keep their old status. A vertical two-minute video you uploaded in early 2024 stays a regular long-form video; the change only applies to uploads from October 15, 2024 on. For Official Artist Channels, that date is December 8, 2025.

YouTube decides what counts as a Short from the video's shape and length, and its upload API has no separate Shorts setting. The same rule applies whether the video comes from the YouTube app, YouTube Studio or a scheduling app.

If your video runs longer than three minutes, the YouTube app offers Edit into a Short to trim it to three minutes or less. Upload it untrimmed and it becomes a regular video. To check a script against the limit before you film, use the free video script timer.

Square or vertical: which videos count as Shorts

A Short has to be square (1:1) or vertical (taller than it is wide). A horizontal video, such as 16:9, is a regular video whatever its length. YouTube's own advice, if you don't want a short clip treated as a Short, is to use a wider shape such as 16:9.

Don't add black bars to change a video's shape. YouTube's upload guide asks you not to add bars to the sides of vertical videos, because YouTube fits vertical, square and horizontal videos to the screen by itself. A vertical clip padded out to 16:9 is a horizontal video as far as YouTube is concerned, so it won't be a Short.

The best size for a YouTube Short

YouTube doesn't publish one required pixel size for Shorts. A vertical 9:16 video at 1080 × 1920 pixels fills a phone screen and matches what the YouTube app uploads: its help page on creating Shorts notes a maximum of 1080p for Shorts made there. Square Shorts are allowed but leave empty space on a tall screen. To see which edges YouTube's buttons and captions may cover, try the free safe zone checker.

For the file, YouTube's recommended upload settings are MP4 with H.264 video and AAC-LC or Opus audio, at the frame rate you filmed in. For 1080p it suggests 8 Mbps at 24 to 30 fps and 12 Mbps at 48 to 60 fps. File size won't hold a Short back: YouTube's API takes files of up to 256 GB.

If you're cutting the same clip for other networks, the TikTok video size guide and how to post one video to TikTok, Reels and Shorts cover their limits.

Titles and descriptions

A Short's title can be up to 100 characters. In YouTube Studio, descriptions can be up to 5,000 characters.

Scheduling apps post through YouTube's Data API, which counts the description limit in bytes: 5,000 bytes, not characters. A plain English letter is 1 byte, an accented letter like é is 2 and an emoji is usually 4, so a description full of emoji or non-English text runs out sooner. The API also doesn't allow angle brackets in titles or descriptions.

Thumbnails for Shorts

In the YouTube app you can choose a frame from your Short as its thumbnail, before or after uploading, and add text or filters to it. YouTube's help page says this frame picker is only in the app, not in YouTube Studio.

Verified accounts can also upload their own image as a Short's thumbnail, in YouTube Studio on a computer. YouTube recommends a 9:16 image at 2160 × 3840 pixels, at least 640 pixels tall, as a JPG or PNG; uploads from a computer can be up to 50 MB. Avoid 16:9 thumbnails on vertical videos: YouTube swaps them for an automatic 4:5 thumbnail on the home, explore and subscription pages. The free image resizer makes a 2160 × 3840 Shorts thumbnail from a photo.

Copyright and music in Shorts over one minute

YouTube's main page on three-minute Shorts says a Short over one minute with an active copyright claim of any kind is blocked worldwide: it can't be played or recommended and can't earn money, though your channel isn't penalized. Remove the claimed part or dispute the claim, and the Short becomes viewable again once the claim is resolved. Shorts under a minute aren't affected.

YouTube's help pages don't fully agree on this right now. As of October 2026, its page on creating Shorts says such Shorts will no longer be blocked automatically and may stay playable. Until the pages match, plan for the stricter rule.

The simplest way to avoid claims is music from the Shorts Audio Library, where most songs can cover up to 90 seconds of a 3-minute Short (some only 60 or 30), or royalty-free tracks from the YouTube Audio Library, which don't get Content ID claims.

How Unisenda handles Shorts

Unisenda posts Shorts through YouTube's API and follows the rules above:

• Shorts only. It takes square or vertical videos of up to 3 minutes and checks the shape and length before you schedule, so a clip doesn't end up as a regular video.
• YouTube's details. The YouTube tab has a title (up to 100 characters), description, visibility (public, unlisted or private), audience (made for kids or not) and the altered or synthetic content label. A counter shows the 5,000 description limit, and a missing title is flagged before you schedule.
• Your file. Upload videos of up to 500 MB. If it's already an H.264 MP4, Unisenda sends your original without compressing it. MOV or HEVC phone videos get an H.264 MP4 copy, and your original stays in your library.
• Thumbnails. Unisenda doesn't set Shorts thumbnails, so YouTube picks one. You can change it afterwards in the YouTube app or YouTube Studio.

You can see the YouTube tab with sample accounts in the demo, or follow the steps in how to schedule YouTube Shorts.