YouTube Shorts length, size and format limits (2026)

A YouTube Short can be up to 3 minutes long with a square or vertical aspect ratio. Any video uploaded with those two properties is categorized as a Short. The YouTube app accepts Shorts at up to 1080p. The maximum upload size for any YouTube video is 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less. Titles can be up to 100 characters.

Last checked: September 29, 2026.

Of the three short-form platforms, YouTube has the simplest rules. There's no separate Shorts upload. YouTube looks at the shape and length of your video and decides. Everything below comes from YouTube's Help Center or the YouTube Data API docs, with a link for each number. Where YouTube doesn't publish something, I say so.

YouTube Shorts limits at a glance

Sources: YouTube's Help Center articles on three-minute Shorts, uploading Shorts, creating Shorts, long uploads, hashtags and custom thumbnails, plus the Data API's videos.insert, videos resource and thumbnails.set pages.

How YouTube decides what is a Short

YouTube's three-minute Shorts article says any video uploaded on or after October 15, 2024 "with a square or vertical aspect ratio up to three minutes in length will be categorized as Shorts". For Official Artist Channels, the same rule applies to videos uploaded on or after December 8, 2025.

That works both ways. If you don't want a vertical clip to become a Short, YouTube's advice is to use a wider aspect ratio such as 16:9.

In-app recording vs upload limits

Recording in the app. The Shorts camera records videos "up to 3 minutes long" with a multi-segment camera, and you can change the duration in the corner of the camera screen. The creating Shorts article also notes: "You can upload Short videos with a maximum resolution of 1080p."

Uploading in the app. When you upload a square or vertical video, anything up to 3 minutes gets a trim editor. Longer videos get an "Edit into a Short" option that trims them to 3 minutes or less. You add a title of up to 100 characters. See the upload Shorts article.

Uploading from a computer. In YouTube Studio, you select a file up to 3 minutes with a square or vertical aspect ratio. You can choose up to 15 short videos at a time.

Default privacy. Uploads default to public if you're 18 or older and private if you're 13 to 17, per the same upload article.

File size. YouTube doesn't publish a separate file size limit for Shorts. The general limit is "256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less", from the long uploads article. A 3-minute Short won't get anywhere near it.

Music. YouTube's own pages disagree here. The upload article says audio picked from the library "is limited to 15-second clips". The three-minute Shorts article says you can use most songs "for up to 90 seconds in a Short up to 3 minutes", with some tracks limited to 60 or 30 seconds. I can't tell from YouTube's pages which one is current, so plan for the shorter limit if the music matters.

Copyright claims. Starting September 24, 2026, new Shorts between one and three minutes with an active Content ID claim are no longer automatically blocked, per the three-minute Shorts article.

Limits when posting through the API

Schedulers upload Shorts through the YouTube Data API's videos.insert method. It has no Shorts setting. A video becomes a Short by the same square-or-vertical, 3-minutes-or-less rule as any other upload.

What the API does define:

• File size: 256 GB maximum.
• File type: any video type (video/*) or application/octet-stream.
• Unverified apps post privately. "All videos uploaded via the videos.insert endpoint from unverified API projects created after 28 July 2020 will be restricted to private viewing mode." If a scheduler's uploads only show up as private, that's the likely reason.

The API docs don't publish a resolution, frame rate, or codec requirement for Shorts.

Title, description and hashtag limits

From the videos resource reference:

• Title: maximum 100 characters. It can't contain angle brackets.
• Description: maximum 5,000 bytes, also without angle brackets. Bytes, not characters: an emoji or an accented letter takes more than one byte, so a description full of them fits fewer than 5,000 characters.
• Tags: 500 characters in total, and commas between tags count toward it.

The Help Center gives the same 100-character title limit for the upload flow.

For hashtags, YouTube's hashtag article says: "If a video or playlist has more than 60 hashtags, we'll ignore each hashtag on that content." Up to three of the hashtags in your description may appear by your title. The Shorts articles I read don't require a #Shorts hashtag. Shape and length decide.

Thumbnail rules

Shorts thumbnails are the most restricted part of the whole process.

YouTube's custom thumbnails article says custom thumbnails for Shorts "are currently only available to add in YouTube Studio on a computer", and your account must be verified. For Shorts it recommends:

• A 9:16 aspect ratio.
• 2160 x 3840 pixels, with a minimum height of 640 pixels.
• JPG or PNG, up to 50 MB when uploading from a computer.

The API has a thumbnails.set method that accepts JPEG or PNG up to 50 MB. Its docs don't say whether it applies to Shorts, and it returns an error if the account doesn't have permission to set custom thumbnails. I wouldn't rely on it for Shorts.

Common mistakes

• Uploading a horizontal clip and expecting a Short. A 16:9 video under 3 minutes is a regular video. It has to be square or vertical.
• Going a few seconds over 3 minutes. A vertical video over 3 minutes isn't a Short.
• Putting angle brackets in the title or description. The API doesn't allow them.
• Hashtag stuffing. Over 60 and YouTube ignores all of them.
• Expecting a custom thumbnail from a scheduler. Custom Shorts thumbnails are documented only for YouTube Studio on a computer, and only for verified accounts.
• Exporting in 4K for the app. YouTube says Shorts uploaded from the app max out at 1080p, so the extra resolution only makes the file bigger.

Posting to all three

The same vertical video usually goes to TikTok and Instagram Reels too, and their limits are stricter than YouTube's. The Instagram Reels limits and TikTok limits pages have the details, and how to post one video to TikTok, Reels and Shorts covers the workflow. The short version: a 9:16 video, 1080 pixels wide, 30 to 60 FPS, 3 minutes or shorter and under 300 MB, fits all three.

Where Postminion fits

I built Postminion because I was spending an hour a day re-uploading the same video to five different apps. YouTube Shorts was one of them.

Postminion uploads to YouTube through the official Data API, and it does Shorts only, no long-form videos. Its composer takes one video per post, up to 3 minutes and 500 MB. That lines up with the 3-minute Shorts limit, so any Short that fits YouTube's length rule fits Postminion's too.

What to know before you use it:

• You need a title. Postminion requires one and enforces YouTube's 100-character limit. The description is optional.
• Shorts are published as public at the time you schedule.
• Postminion doesn't check your aspect ratio. If you upload a horizontal video, YouTube will publish it as a regular video, not a Short. Export vertical.
• Custom thumbnails are best effort. Postminion lets you pick a cover frame and sends it to YouTube, but as covered above, YouTube only documents custom Shorts thumbnails for verified accounts in YouTube Studio on a computer. If YouTube refuses it, the Short still publishes.

Longer than 3 minutes? Then it isn't a Short, and you'll want YouTube Studio. How to schedule YouTube Shorts walks through the process, and the YouTube scheduler page has the overview.

Try Postminion free for 7 days.

FAQ

How long can a YouTube Short be in 2026?

Up to 3 minutes. Any video uploaded on or after October 15, 2024 with a square or vertical aspect ratio and a length of 3 minutes or less is categorized as a Short.

What aspect ratio does a YouTube Short need?

Square or vertical. YouTube recommends 9:16 for Shorts thumbnails, and vertical 9:16 is the usual choice for the video. A 16:9 video is treated as a regular video.

What is the maximum file size for a YouTube Short?

YouTube doesn't publish a Shorts-specific file size. The limit for any upload is 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less, and the API limit is 256 GB.

Do I need #Shorts in the title?

None of the YouTube Shorts help articles I read require it. YouTube categorizes Shorts by aspect ratio and length.

Can I add a custom thumbnail to a Short?

Yes, but YouTube says it's currently only available in YouTube Studio on a computer, and your account must be verified. The recommended size is 2160 x 3840 pixels at 9:16.