How long can YouTube Shorts be?
Up to 3 minutes, as long as the video is square or vertical. Videos uploaded since October 15, 2024 that meet both are Shorts; anything longer or landscape becomes a regular video.
YouTube decides what's a Short by two things together:
- Length: 3 minutes or less.
- Shape: square or vertical.
Both have to be true. A #shorts tag doesn't change anything, and a landscape clip of 30 seconds is still a regular video. The 3-minute rule applies to videos uploaded on or after October 15, 2024; older ones kept the 60-second classification.
Sources
Checked October 14, 2026. Platforms change their rules; tell us at contact if something here is out of date.