How do shorts work?

Shorts are quick vertical videos that play full screen, one after another. Upload one from Upload → Short, or post a YouTube Shorts link. Anyone can watch shorts; you need an account to react, comment, save or repost.

Post a short

1. Open Upload and choose Short. Dropping a vertical video on Drop anything here opens the short form for you.
2. Choose Upload a file (a vertical MP4, MOV or WebM works best; M4V and MKV are accepted too) or YouTube link.
3. Enter a Title (required). Under Details add a description, Artists in it, genres and tags, and turn on Explicit if it has strong language or adult themes.
4. Add a Cover if you like: JPG, PNG or WebP, 1080×1920. If you skip it, a frame from the short is used (or YouTube’s thumbnail).
5. Under Publishing, choose Who can see it and whether to allow Comments, then press Upload short.

If you attach a wide video to the short form, you’ll see “This video is wide. Shorts look best vertical.” with a link to Post it as a video instead.

Watching shorts

Shorts appear on your profile, in the Shorts row on Videos (shown once the site has enough shorts), and in other shelves around the site. Tap one to open the viewer. Each short has its own link (/shorts/…), and the address updates as you move between them, so you can share the one on screen.

• Next or previous: swipe or scroll up and down, use the up and down buttons, or press the arrow keys (or J and K).
• Pause: tap the video or press the space bar.
• Sound: tap the speaker button or press M. Your choice is remembered for the next short.
• Close: the back or X button, or Esc when the viewer opened over another page.

The buttons on the side let you give a Thumbs up or Thumbs down, open Comments, Save it to your favorites,Repost and Share. The More options menu has Message and Report. On your own shorts you also get Boost, Edit short and Delete short.

Limits

Uploaded shorts use your video storage, the same as videos, and each file has a maximum size set by your plan. YouTube links don’t use storage.

Troubleshooting

• My short won’t upload. Check the file type (MP4, MOV, M4V, WebM or MKV), your plan’s file size limit and your storage meter.
• It shows a lock instead of the short. The short is private, for followers only, or scheduled for later.
• I can’t boost my short. Only public shorts that have finished processing can be boosted.

Related

• How do I upload a video?
• How do I edit or delete a video or short?
• Reposts and sharing