How to Upload YouTube Shorts From a Phone or a Computer

There is no Shorts button on a computer, and you don't need one. YouTube decides what is a Short from the file itself, so the upload is the same and the shape does the work.

Updated October 2026

How do you upload a YouTube Short from your phone?

In the YouTube app on Android or iPhone, with a video already in your gallery:

1. Tap the plus button at the bottom of the screen and choose to upload a video, or the Short option if your app shows it.

2. Pick a video with a square or vertical aspect ratio.

3. Trim it. Videos up to 3 minutes open in a trim editor; for longer files, tap Edit into a Short to cut the clip down to 3 minutes or less.

4. Tap Next to add text, filters or music.

5. Tap Next again, write a title of up to 100 characters and choose the visibility.

6. Answer the audience question, whether it is made for kids, and tap Upload.

You can also record straight into the Shorts camera from the same plus button, stitching several clips together. Either way, the result is classified by the same rules as any other upload.

How do you upload a Short from a computer?

Through YouTube Studio, using the ordinary upload that how to upload a video to YouTube walks through for long videos:

1. Sign in to studio.youtube.com.

2. Click Create in the top-right corner, then Upload videos.

3. Select a file that is up to 3 minutes long with a square or vertical aspect ratio. You can choose up to 15 short files at once.

4. Click Edit draft on each one to fill in the title, description, audience and visibility before publishing.

The desktop route is the better one for edited content. You can export from a full editor at the exact frame size you want, upload several Shorts in one session, and set each one's schedule in the same screen. What you give up is the in-app editing tools, such as the Shorts audio library and text overlays, so add those in your editor before exporting.

One thing to set up after upload: the thumbnail. Shorts handle thumbnails differently from regular videos, and how to change the thumbnail on YouTube Shorts explains what you can and cannot pick.

What makes a video count as a Short?

Two conditions, both read from the file:

• Length: 3 minutes or less, measured on the finished file.
• Shape: a square or vertical aspect ratio. A 9:16 frame such as 1080 by 1920 is the standard, and square also qualifies.

What does not decide it

Which app or device you used, whether you opened the Shorts camera, the title, the description and any hashtags. None of those change the classification. A video that meets both conditions is a Short; a video that misses either is a regular video. The exact edge of the time limit, and why a second over it changes everything, is covered in how long a YouTube Short can be.

Why did my Short upload as a regular video?

Almost always one of three reasons:

• The frame is horizontal. A landscape video stays a regular video even if it is ten seconds long. Phones record horizontally when held sideways, and some editors export 16:9 by default.
• The file runs over 3 minutes, often by a fraction of a second added by an outro, a fade or the editor's rounding.
• It was uploaded before October 15, 2024 and runs over a minute. YouTube kept those as long-form videos when the limit changed.

Fixing it

There is no setting in Studio that moves an existing video into Shorts. Re-export the clip in a vertical or square frame, under 3 minutes, and upload it again as a new video. Can you use landscape video in YouTube Shorts covers how to reframe horizontal footage without losing what matters in the shot. The reverse also works: YouTube's Help Center says that if you want a short video to be treated as long-form, use a wider aspect ratio such as 16:9.

Can you schedule a YouTube Short?

Yes. On a computer, upload the Short through YouTube Studio and, on the Visibility step, choose Schedule and set a date and time. It stays private until then and publishes on its own, exactly like a scheduled regular video.

In the app, the visibility options shown at upload depend on the app version. If you do not see a schedule option there, upload the Short as private and set the schedule later from YouTube Studio.

Scheduling is worth it when your audience is concentrated in a few hours of the day. A Short published while your subscribers are asleep starts its first test with fewer of them around.

Do hashtags make a video a Short?

No. YouTube's Help Center defines Shorts by length and aspect ratio and does not list a hashtag among the requirements. Adding #Shorts to a horizontal video does not move it into the Shorts feed, and leaving it off a vertical video does not keep it out.

Hashtags still do their normal job: they can be shown above the title and make a video findable on the hashtag's page. Use a few that describe the content, not a long list.

Why would a Short be blocked after upload?

The most specific reason is music. YouTube's Help Center says that any Short over one minute long with an active Content ID claim of any type is blocked globally, which makes it unplayable and unable to earn until the claim is resolved or removed. Shorts of a minute or less are not caught by that rule.

So if you use commercial music in a Short longer than a minute, expect trouble. Audio from YouTube's own library avoids the claims, and the Shorts audio library sets its own limits on how much of a track you can use.

If the Short is live and simply is not being watched, that is a different problem. Why your Shorts are not getting views walks through the traffic report that tells you whether the feed stopped showing it or viewers swiped away. And if you want the visible counter on one Short to start higher, buying YouTube Shorts views adds to that number without touching your account; it does not count toward YouTube's monetization thresholds or change how the feed treats the Short. Every YouTube service is listed on the YouTube page.

Questions people ask about uploading Shorts