YOUTUBE TO SHORTS
Turn a YouTube video into a Short, free and without a watermark
Paste a long video’s link. FastClip opens on its best moment, crops it to vertical 9:16 while following faces, and burns in captions. Download it and upload it as a Short.
Free, no credit card, no watermark. Works in mobile and desktop browsers.
How to convert a YouTube video to a Short
1. Paste the YouTube link
Any public video, stream replay or podcast episode. You do not download it first; FastClip imports it.
2. Pick the moment
FastClip opens on the part viewers replay most and lists other suggested moments. Set the start and end on the timeline, or select the words in the transcript.
3. Make it vertical
Turn on the full-screen 9:16 crop. It can follow faces automatically, and you can move the frame with keyframes where the speaker changes.
4. Add captions and download
Word-timed captions are burned in, in the language spoken. Download the MP4 and upload it as a Short from the YouTube app or YouTube Studio.
YouTube’s Shorts rules that decide whether it plays
From YouTube Help, checked on September 30, 2026:
- Up to three minutes. A square or vertical video of up to three minutes, uploaded on or after October 15, 2024, counts as a Short.
- Over one minute plus a Content ID claim means blocked. Any Short longer than one minute with an active Content ID claim of any type is blocked worldwide and earns nothing. Your channel is not penalised, but the Short will not play.
- Music has its own limits. Most Shorts Audio Library songs can run up to 90 seconds in a three-minute Short; some are limited to 60 or 30 seconds.
In practice: if the source is not yours, or it contains music, keep the Short under one minute. For your own talk content with no claims, one to three minutes gives a complete thought room to land.
Which part of the video to use
Start with what viewers already rewatch: the YouTube Most Replayed tool shows the peaks of any video for free. Then start the Short at the first sentence of that thought and end where it lands. Our guides on hooks and clip length go deeper, and YouTube Shorts for clippers covers posting and monetization.
Questions
Is this YouTube to Shorts converter free?
Yes. FastClip is free with no credit card and no watermark: 100 finished clips and 50 YouTube imports in total.
How long can a YouTube Short be?
Up to three minutes. YouTube counts a square or vertical video of up to three minutes, uploaded on or after October 15, 2024, as a Short.
Why was my Short blocked?
YouTube blocks any Short longer than one minute that has an active Content ID claim, worldwide, including manual claims. Clips from someone else’s show or with music are the usual cause. Keep those under one minute, or remove the claimed part.
Can I post the Short to YouTube from FastClip?
Not directly yet. Download the MP4 and upload it in the YouTube app or YouTube Studio. FastClip posts directly to Instagram Reels and X.
Does YouTube have its own way to make a Short from a video?
Yes, for your own videos: YouTube’s “Edit into a Short” works from a long video on your channel. FastClip also works for other people’s videos you are allowed to clip, adds captions, and follows faces in the vertical crop.
What resolution should a Short be?
Vertical 9:16. FastClip’s full-screen crop exports 1080 × 1920.
Make your first Short
Paste a link, keep the moment, download a captioned 9:16 clip. Clipping podcasts? See the podcast clipping guide.
Start clipping for free