YouTube Shorts Length: The Sweet Spot, by the Data
A YouTube Short can be up to 3 minutes long (raised from 60 seconds in October 2024). To qualify as a Short, a video must be vertical or square and 3 minutes or under. But the maximum length and the best-performing length are very different — and the data points to a clear sweet spot.
11–20s
the highest-performing Short length — a median of 901 views, 2.6× the 31–45s band
quso.ai — 108,138 matured YouTube Shorts, median views
| Short length | Median views | Posts measured | Outperforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-10s | 514 | 1,079 | 61% of Shorts |
| 11-20s | 901 | 6,446 | 76% of Shorts |
| 21-30s | 542 | 17,625 | 62% of Shorts |
| 31-45s | 347 | 30,211 | 53% of Shorts |
| 46-60s | 188 | 30,552 | 44% of Shorts |
| 61-90s | 186 | 14,971 | 44% of Shorts |
| 90s+ | 51 | 7,241 | 24% of Shorts |
Where does your Short land?
Median views by Short length · quso.ai dataset
The spec, settled
Since October 2024, YouTube Shorts can be up to 3 minutes long — triple the old 60-second cap. The rules: vertical or square, 3 minutes or under. Anything longer is treated as a standard upload and won’t appear in the Shorts feed.
A lot of advice still says “Shorts max out at 60 seconds.” It doesn’t anymore. But “how long can it be” was never the useful question. We measured “how long should it be” across 108,138 matured Shorts.
The real answer: an 11–20 second sweet spot
The popular wisdom is “shorter is always better.” The data says something more precise. Median views peak at 11–20 seconds (901) and fall off in both directions — the table above shows the full curve.
- Under 10 seconds underperforms. At 514 median views, the shortest Shorts trail the 11–20s band by a wide margin. A clip that’s too short rarely lands a full hook and payoff, and there’s little to re-watch.
- 11–20 seconds is the peak. Long enough to deliver a complete idea, short enough to finish and loop.
- Past 30 seconds, it drops steadily — 347 at 31–45s, 188 at 46–60s — and collapses past 90 seconds (51).
So the honest takeaway isn’t “make it as short as possible.” It’s aim for roughly 11–30 seconds, and only go longer when the content genuinely earns it.
Why the middle wins
A Short has to do two things: hook in the first second, then deliver. Below ~10 seconds there’s barely room for both, so the clip feels thin. Between 11 and 30 seconds you can land a complete beat — and completion plus re-watch rate are exactly what YouTube reads as a reason to push a Short to more viewers. Past 30 seconds, retention erodes faster than the extra runtime pays back.
How to hit the sweet spot
The best Shorts are usually the sharpest 15–25 seconds of a much longer recording. Record long, then cut tight. quso.ai’s AI Clips Generator scans your long videos, finds the strongest moments, reframes them vertically, and adds captions — so landing in the 11–30 second band takes minutes, not an afternoon.
The bottom line
You can publish a 3-minute Short. But across 108,000+ matured Shorts, the ones that win cluster at 11–20 seconds — and both ultra-short and long Shorts leave views on the table.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a YouTube Short be in 2025?+
Up to 3 minutes. YouTube raised the limit from 60 seconds to 3 minutes in October 2024. Any vertical or square video 3 minutes or under is eligible for the Shorts feed.
What is the best length for a YouTube Short?+
In our data, 11–20 second Shorts earn the most median views — 901, the peak of any length band. That's 2.6× the 31–45 second band. Notably, ultra-short Shorts (under 10 seconds) underperform the 11–20s band, so the answer isn't simply 'as short as possible.'
Do shorter YouTube Shorts always get more views?+
No — there's a sweet spot. Median views peak at 11–20 seconds and fall off in both directions: very short Shorts (under 10s, 514 median) often lack a full hook-and-payoff, and long Shorts drop steeply (90s+ earn just 51). Aim for the 11–30 second band.