Shorts are vertical videos of up to 3 minutes
YouTube Shorts are short videos you can watch one after another while holding your phone upright. They are published from the same channel as regular YouTube videos and reach the same subscribers, but they are shown in a different place and ordered differently.
YouTube decides automatically which videos are Shorts. According to YouTube Help, videos uploaded on or after October 15, 2024 that are vertical or square and 3 minutes or shorter are treated as Shorts. Before that the limit was 1 minute, so "up to 60 seconds" in older explainers is no longer the rule.
| Condition | Details (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Aspect ratio | Vertical or square (landscape videos do not become Shorts) |
| Length | Up to 3 minutes |
| Title | Up to 100 characters |
| Description | Up to 5,000 bytes |
| Visibility | Public, unlisted or private |
Title and description length
The title is limited to 100 characters and the description to 5,000 bytes. Note that the description limit is counted in bytes, not characters. Japanese characters often take 3 bytes each, so a description written entirely in Japanese hits the limit in the 1,600-character range. With only letters and numbers you can write up to 5,000 characters. YouTube's developer documentation also distinguishes them: "100 characters" for titles and "5,000 bytes" for descriptions.
Shorts scroll by vertically on a phone, so the description is rarely opened. As a rule, make what the video is about clear from the title and the first few seconds of the video.
Hashtag rules
YouTube Help, "Use hashtags", sets out several rules for hashtags.
| Rule | Details |
|---|---|
| Maximum number | If you use more than 60, all hashtags on that video are ignored |
| Display | Of those in the description, the first 3 appear above the title |
| Content | Hashtags unrelated to the video or that are misleading can be a reason for removal |
Piling on hashtags doesn't increase views. Two or three that name the topic of the video is enough.
Public, unlisted and private
You choose from three visibility settings when you publish.
| Visibility | Who can watch |
|---|---|
| Public | Anyone. Appears in search and recommendations |
| Unlisted | Only people who have the URL. Does not appear in search or recommendations |
| Private | Only you and people you invite |
For videos you want checked internally first, it is safe to upload as private or unlisted, then switch to public once the check is done.
Music rights can stop a video
Shorts longer than 1 minute have a special caveat. According to YouTube Help, if a Content ID claim (the system that lets rights holders find their own audio and video) is made on a Short longer than 1 minute, the video becomes unavailable to watch. With a long video, the revenue may just go to the rights holder, but with Shorts the video is blocked.
Videos with background music playing in a shop, or with commercial songs, can fall under this. For company videos, it is safest to use sound you made yourself, music with clear rights, or no music at all.
How recommendations are decided
In the official blog post "On YouTube's recommendation system" from September 2021, YouTube's VP of Engineering describes the signals used for recommendations. It is not an explanation of Shorts alone, but the thinking is shared.
| Signal | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Clicks | Whether someone tried to watch. A click alone doesn't show they were satisfied |
| Watch time | How long they kept watching |
| Surveys | Whether they were satisfied after watching (only 4 and 5 star ratings count as "valued watch time") |
| Shares, likes, dislikes | Shares and likes are tied to satisfaction, dislikes the opposite |
What this blog post stresses is that YouTube tries to measure whether viewers were satisfied, rather than how many views a video got. A title that only gathers clicks, or opening seconds that don't match the content, get discounted by the watch time and satisfaction signals.
How a business account can make Shorts
Show the content in the first second
In Shorts that scroll by vertically, viewers decide in the first instant whether to keep watching. Putting the finished result, the answer or the most active scene at the start makes people less likely to swipe away.
Say one thing per video
Even though you can now go up to 3 minutes, you don't have to make them long. If you have one thing to say, 20 to 30 seconds is enough. Because satisfaction is a signal, don't cram in too much; use a length after which the viewer thinks "I get it".
Make it a way into longer videos
If your channel has longer videos, Shorts can be the entrance to them. Showing part of the steps in a Short and the full explanation in a longer video helps people discover the whole channel. The overall flow of making videos is in Getting started with short videos.
Publishing YouTube Shorts with SNS TOWN
SNS TOWN uploads videos through YouTube's official API (YouTube Data API). The compose screen switches to a form that takes just one video, with a title field (up to 100 characters) and a switch for public, unlisted or private. If you leave the title empty, the first line of the body is used, and when it fits in the title, "#Shorts" is added at the end.
Whether a video becomes a Short is decided by YouTube from aspect ratio and length, so before adding it to SNS TOWN, check that it is vertical or square and 3 minutes or shorter. Size guidelines are in Image and video sizes by network. The description has YouTube's byte limit as described above, so keep it short when writing in Japanese.
If you put the video in the Library, you can pick it again for TikTok too. After publishing, you can see the numbers in Analytics. Because the title and visibility are chosen by the person for each video, YouTube is not included in the post cycle (AI drafts) or cross-posting.
As of October 2026, until Google's review is complete, general users can't yet connect YouTube (the social accounts screen shows "In development").
Frequently asked questions
Won't a landscape video become a Short?
No. Only vertical or square videos are treated as Shorts. A landscape video is published as a regular video.
What happens if it's longer than 3 minutes?
It is treated as a regular video and won't appear in the Shorts shelf. If you want it to be seen as a Short, edit it to 3 minutes or less before publishing.
Do I need #Shorts in the title?
Whether it becomes a Short is decided by YouTube from aspect ratio and length. SNS TOWN adds "#Shorts" at the end when it fits in the title. Even without it, a video that meets the conditions is treated as a Short.
Is it OK to publish a video with a shop's background music?
If a Content ID claim is made on a Short longer than 1 minute, the video becomes unavailable. For videos shot where commercial songs are playing, it is safest to replace or remove the audio before publishing.
How do I check internally before making it public?
Publish it first as private or unlisted, check internally, then switch it to public. With unlisted you only need to give people the URL, and even those without a YouTube account can watch. In SNS TOWN too, you can choose public, unlisted or private on the compose screen.
How many hashtags can I add?
YouTube Help says that if you use more than 60, all hashtags on that video are ignored. Only the first 3 are shown above the title, so choose two or three that name the topic of the video.
Can I write a long text in the description?
The description is limited to 5,000 bytes, which is in the 1,600-character range when written only in Japanese. Shorts descriptions are rarely opened, so put what you want to say in the title and the start of the video, and keep the description to supplementary notes and links.
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