How Do You Make YouTube Shorts? A Step-by-Step Guide
YouTube's own steps for recording or uploading a Short, plus what counts toward monetization.
Aditya Challa2 min read
Summary
To make a YouTube Short, open the YouTube app, tap Create, choose Short, then record or add clips, add music or text and upload. YouTube Help says its Shorts tools create short-form videos up to 3 minutes long, and you can also upload vertical videos saved on your phone or computer.
Record in the app
- Sign in to the YouTube app and tap Create, then Short
- Hold or tap the capture button to record; change the duration in the upper-right corner
- Add music, filters, text or text-to-speech
- Tap Next, add a title (max 100 characters) and choose who can see it
- Tap Upload Short
Upload an existing clip
Vertical videos saved to your device can be uploaded as Shorts. YouTube says the maximum upload resolution for Shorts is 1080p.
How viewers find Shorts
The Shorts feed, search results, the YouTube homepage, your channel page and subscriptions.
Can Shorts make money?
YouTube says you can join the YouTube Partner Program through Shorts with 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
Repurpose long videos
Cut a strong moment from a longer video into a Short and point viewers back to the full version with a related-video link.
FAQ
How long can a YouTube Short be? YouTube Help says Shorts tools create short-form videos up to 3 minutes long.
Do Shorts need a title? Yes. YouTube says the title can be up to 100 characters.
Can you monetize with Shorts alone? YouTube says you can join the Partner Program through Shorts with 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
Related
- How long YouTube Shorts should be
- How to start a faceless YouTube channel
- How many subscribers you need to monetize
Sources
youtube shortsvideo creationcontent strategysocial videomobile videomonetizationyoutube partner program
Lab evidence
What I found running this
Facts in this draft were checked on 12 Oct 2026 against the primary sources listed in the body (official docs, release schedules or Google/YouTube help pages). No benchmarks or timings were run, so the post makes no performance or measurement claims; dates are quoted as published by the maintainers, and any estimate is labelled as such.
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