Shorts · vertical video

Your first line becomes the title. Write it like one.

YouTube Shorts takes its title from the first line of your copy and truncates it at 100 characters — silently. Schedule Shorts on the same calendar as your Reels, posts and threads, with that rule surfaced rather than discovered.

Schedule freeFor creators
Anatomy of your copy
Line 1 → title · max 100
We built the feature nobody asked for
Everything after → description · max 5,000
Six weeks of work on something that was not on the roadmap. It is now the second-most used thing we ship. Here is what the signal looked like before the data caught up.
36 / 100 titlevertical · 0:47 · 18MB

What a Short actually requires

Format
Vertical video, required

YouTube Shorts is the one network here that will not take an image at all — a Short is a video by definition.

Duration
Up to 3 minutes

And up to 256MB. Duration cannot be checked without decoding the file, so it is reported rather than enforced locally.

Title
First line, 100 characters

Taken from the first line of your copy and truncated, not rejected. This is why the first line matters more than the rest of the description.

Description
Up to 5,000 characters

Everything after the first line. Room for context, credits and links.

Duration and aspect ratio cannot be verified without decoding the file, so those limits are reported to you rather than blocked locally — YouTube still has the final say at upload.

The same clip, four ceilings

Cross-posting a Short fails at whichever destination is tightest. These are the ones that decide it.

YouTube Shorts
Vertical · up to 3 min · 256MB
Video required
Instagram Reels
Up to ~15 min · 1GB
Media required
Threads
Up to 5 min
Optional
Bluesky
Up to 60 seconds · 50MB
Optional — the tightest ceiling in the set

YouTube Shorts FAQ

Can you schedule YouTube Shorts in advance?
Yes. Connect your YouTube account, attach a vertical video URL, write the copy, and pick a date, time and timezone. The Short waits in the queue — editable and cancellable — until its slot, then publishes and records its permalink.
Where does the Shorts title come from?
The first line of your copy, truncated at 100 characters. Everything after it becomes the description, up to 5,000 characters. That truncation is silent rather than an error, which is exactly why the first line deserves to be written as a title rather than as an opening sentence.
What are the video limits for Shorts?
Vertical, up to 3 minutes and 256MB. A video is required — unlike every network except Instagram, a text-only YouTube post is not a thing. Pre-flight flags a YouTube target with no video, or with an image where a video is needed.
Can I post the same video to Shorts and Instagram Reels?
Yes, from one action. Instagram takes Reels up to roughly 15 minutes, so a Short always fits. Watch Bluesky if it is in the same fan-out — its 60-second ceiling is the tightest of the set and will reject a longer clip.
How much does a Short cost to publish?
One publishing credit per delivery, the same as every network except X. A post containing a link adds a one-off 50-credit surcharge regardless of how many networks it goes to.
Can AI write the title and description?
Yes, and it is worth letting it. The agent knows the first line becomes the title, so it writes a title-shaped opener followed by a description — rather than a paragraph whose first 100 characters happen to become your title by accident.