YouTube Shorts Extends Video Length to 3 Minutes

The video platform’s TikTok-like short-form format will triple the maximum length of videos, increasing it from 60 seconds to 3 minutes. Starting Oct. 15, creators will be able to upload YouTube Shorts that are up to 3 minutes long.

This change will make “storytelling on Shorts more immersive,” wrote Todd Sherman, director of product management for YouTube Shorts, in a blog post. “This was a top-requested feature by creators, so we’re excited to give you more flexibility to tell your story.”

It’s worth noting that TikTok has already ventured down this path: In 2021, it expanded the maximum length of videos from 60 seconds to 3 minutes. Currently, videos recorded on TikTok can be up to 10 minutes long, and videos uploaded to the app can be up to 60 minutes long—a move by TikTok to compete with YouTube in longer-form content.

The 3-minute maximum length for YouTube Shorts applies to videos that are square or vertical in aspect ratio. Clips uploaded prior to Oct. 15 won’t be affected. According to Sherman, YouTube is working to improve recommendations for longer Shorts “in the coming months.”

Meanwhile, if you’re not a fan of YouTube Shorts, the platform is introducing an option to “Show Fewer Shorts.” Users can select this setting from the three-dot menu in the upper right of any Shorts grid in their Home feed, temporarily reducing the number of Shorts shown.

YouTube Shorts has also made recent updates to the player to “streamline its look, allowing creators’ content to take center stage and enabling viewers to focus on the content they love,” Sherman wrote in the post.

There’s a new Shorts trends page on mobile where you can discover what’s popular in your country. Soon, YouTube Shorts users will also be able to preview comments directly from the Shorts feed without needing to enter the comments section.

Additionally, YouTube Shorts is introducing templates that allow creators to “jump on the latest trends, match your clips to the hottest sounds, and add your own unique flair,” according to Sherman. This feature can be accessed by tapping “Remix” on a Short and selecting “Use this template.” In the coming months, YouTube Shorts users will be able to access YouTube content directly from the Shorts camera, making it easier to remix clips from their favorite videos.

YouTube has announced that it will begin integrating Google DeepMind’s Veo generative AI video model into YouTube Shorts later this year. “Creators will be able to bring their ideas to life with even more extraordinary video backgrounds and standalone video clips, making their Shorts even dreamier later this year,” wrote Sherman.

YouTube Shorts are watched by more than 2 billion logged-in users every month, up from 1.5 billion a year ago, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, said during the tech giant’s second-quarter 2024 earnings call.