YouTube Shorts limits: length, shape and text
A Short is a square or vertical video of three minutes or less. Here is every limit that decides whether an upload lands as a Short, with the YouTube page each number comes from.
Every number checked against its source on Sep 27, 2026.
YouTube Shorts limits at a glance
| Limit | YouTube Shorts allows | In PostDaily | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | Up to 3 minutes (uploads from 15 October 2024; 60 seconds before that) | Warns when a Short runs over 3 minutes | YouTube Help: Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts |
| Shape | Square (1:1) or vertical | Pre-selects Short for a vertical video of 3 minutes or less | YouTube Help: Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts |
| Title | 100 characters | 100 characters; defaults to the post's first line | YouTube Data API: Videos resource |
| Description | 5,000 bytes (UTF-8), so fewer characters with emoji or non-Latin text | 5,000 bytes | YouTube Data API: Videos resource |
| Tags | 500 characters for all tags together, commas included | 500 characters together | YouTube Data API: Videos resource |
| File size per upload | 256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less | 25 MB on Free, 50 MB on Starter, 100 MB on Pro and 250 MB on Agency | YouTube Help: Upload videos longer than 15 minutes |
What makes YouTube treat an upload as a Short
There is no Short checkbox in YouTube's upload API. YouTube decides from the file: a square or vertical video of three minutes or less is a Short. Adding #Shorts to the title or description helps it along, which is why PostDaily adds the tag when you choose Short.
A horizontal video is a regular video whatever its length, and a vertical video over three minutes is a regular video too. Copyrighted music used to be a catch: a Short over one minute with an active Content ID claim was blocked. Since 24 September 2026, YouTube says such Shorts are no longer blocked automatically and may stay playable.
Why the description limit is in bytes
YouTube caps the description at 5,000 bytes, not 5,000 characters. English letters are one byte each, but an emoji takes four and most non-Latin characters take two or three, so a description in Japanese or full of emoji fits far fewer characters. PostDaily counts bytes for the same reason, so the counter agrees with YouTube.
PostDaily's own ceiling
Uploads through PostDaily are capped per file by plan: 25 MB on Free, 50 MB on Starter, 100 MB on Pro and 250 MB on Agency. A Short fits comfortably; a long, high-bitrate video may not, and those are better uploaded in YouTube Studio.
Common questions
- How long can a YouTube Short be?
- Up to three minutes, for videos uploaded on or after 15 October 2024. Before that the limit was 60 seconds.
- What aspect ratio do YouTube Shorts need?
- Square (1:1) or vertical. A horizontal video is uploaded as a regular video, whatever its length.
- How many characters can a YouTube Short title have?
- 100 characters, the same as any YouTube video title.
- Why won't my description fit when it's under 5,000 characters?
- Because YouTube counts 5,000 bytes, not characters. Emoji and non-Latin text take two to four bytes each.