How to make a YouTube Short from a long video: 3 methods (app, Studio, AI)

What makes a Short, according to YouTube

A Short is not a separate format: it is a YouTube video that meets two conditions. Since October 15, 2024, any video “with a square or vertical aspect ratio up to three minutes in length” is categorised as a Short; videos uploaded before that date remain long-form. A 3-minute Short can be uploaded from the app as well as from YouTube Studio, at a maximum resolution of 1080p. One detail that matters if you clip a show: beyond one minute, a Short with an active Content ID claim is blocked, whatever the claimant’s policy.

Method 1: in the YouTube app, “Remix” then “Edit into a Short”

This is the shortest route when you are on your phone. Since May 2026, the Remix button has moved from below the player into the Share menu.

1. Open your videoGo to the watch page of the long video, in the YouTube app.
2. Share, Remix, then “Edit into a Short”The Shorts editor opens with your video as the source.
3. Select up to 60 secondsThe help page is precise: “Select up to 60 seconds of your video”. If you take less, you can record more segments, within the 60-second limit.
4. Dress it up, then publishText, filters, the “Layout” option for the vertical arrangement, then the usual upload. The Short is automatically linked back to the original video.

The limits are written in plain words: “You can only edit long-form public videos you’ve uploaded into Shorts”; private and unlisted videos, and videos with third-party copyright claims, are excluded. If the option does not appear, check in YouTube Studio that the video allows sampling (the “Shorts remixing” setting). As for someone else’s video, the “Cut” remix only takes 1 to 5 seconds, with automatic attribution: it is a nod, not a clipping tool.

Method 2: the Clips & Shorts tool in YouTube Studio

On a computer, YouTube Studio has its own workshop. In “Content”, open the video, go to “Clips and Shorts”, then “Create clip or Short” and choose Short. You select in one of two ways: by highlighting the passage in the transcript, or by entering timestamps in the editor. In ten countries, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, and in seven languages, the tool also offers AI-generated suggestions and an outline.

Two built-in advantages: where available, autocaptions are added to the Short, and the source video automatically becomes the Short’s “related video”, unless the Short is private, unlisted or made for kids. You finish with “Create Draft”, then the standard upload dialog.

What the page does not say: the maximum length of a Short made with this tool is not stated, and the captions added are YouTube’s automatic ones.

Method 3: AI clipping, to get several Shorts at once

Both YouTube tools handle one Short at a time, by hand. An AI clipping tool starts from the link or the file and suggests a whole batch of extracts. With flysub: paste the YouTube link or upload the video (up to 3 hours), the AI suggests clips of 15 to 90 seconds cut on complete sentences, roughly one clip per 5 minutes of video, then “5 more clips” per click as long as the video has them. Each clip is reframed to 9:16, or to a split screen when two people are talking, subtitled in one of 10 styles, and exported as an MP4 ready for YouTube.

The clip is not published from flysub: you download the MP4 and upload it to YouTube like any Short, from the app or from Studio. That is where the next settings matter.

Publishing: related video, thumbnail, scheduling

• The related video. After upload, YouTube Studio lets you attach a video, a Short or a livestream from your channel to the Short: “Viewers will see a clickable link below your channel handle”. It requires advanced feature access, and the target must be public or unlisted. It is the only clickable link in a Short: URLs in descriptions or comments are not, as an anti-spam measure.
• The right reflex, according to YouTube. Link the Short to a long video that continues the viewer’s intent: “If your Short teaches a quick hack, link it to a comprehensive, in-depth tutorial”.
• The thumbnail. Custom Shorts thumbnails are added in YouTube Studio on a computer, at a 9:16 ratio, ideally 2160 × 3840 pixels; in the app, you pick a frame from the Short before or after upload.
• Scheduling. Like any video, a private Short can be scheduled from the “Schedule” card in Studio, with the date, time and time zone.

One last point, views. Since March 31, 2025, a Short view is counted every time it starts or replays, with no minimum watch time; the previous metric is now called “engaged views” and remains the reference for the Partner Program. On the revenue side, entering the programme through Shorts takes 1,000 subscribers and 10 million qualified Shorts views over 90 days, and from February 1, 2027 that same threshold will also condition Shorts revenue sharing for channels already in the programme.

Which one to choose?

An occasional Short from your phone: the app. A careful Short from a video already online: Studio. A long video to turn into a series of subtitled Shorts: AI clipping, then Studio for the related video.

What YouTube recommends for a Short that works

• Film or reframe in 9:16: “This format is optimized for mobile viewing”.
• Grab attention in the first few seconds, before the thumb moves on.
• Add captions: “Shorts are often watched without sound, so captions are essential”.
• Look for the “most exciting, funny, or informative” segments of the long video.
• Count on the return effect: “A well made short will drive traffic towards your longer videos”.

For the cutting method (complete sentences, context, proofread captions), see our guide to video clipping; for the dimensions and safe zones of vertical video, the 9:16 format guide.