How to Make a YouTube Video a Shorts in Minutes

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Turning a long-form video into a YouTube Short isn't just about trimming a clip. It’s a smart move to multiply your reach and fast-track your channel's growth. By slicing your existing footage into vertical, snackable videos, you can get in front of a massive new audience that lives on the Shorts shelf.

Why Turning Videos Into Shorts Is a Growth Superpower

Repurposing your videos for Shorts is so much more than just squeezing extra content out of your hard work. It's about giving your best moments a second shot at going viral and acting as powerful, bite-sized trailers for your main channel.

Think of it this way: the Shorts algorithm is a completely different beast from the main YouTube feed. This gives your older, high-quality videos a fresh chance to be discovered by people who have never even heard of your channel.

Tapping Into a Massive Audience

The audience for Shorts is almost unbelievably huge. Since it launched, the format has exploded, and as of 2025, it pulls in over 2.3 billion monthly active users. On top of that, the number of creators making Shorts is growing by 50% year-over-year. That is a gigantic pool of potential subscribers you’re leaving on the table if you're not in the game. You can find more YouTube Shorts statistics that highlight its incredible growth.

The best part of this whole strategy is its efficiency. You've already put in the hard work to create the long-form video. Now, you’re just pulling out the best bits to hook a brand-new wave of viewers.

Shorts as a Discovery Engine

This approach turns your entire back catalog into a powerful discovery tool. Every single Short you post becomes a new doorway into your channel, leading curious viewers back to the full-length video it came from. This creates a really nice feedback loop where your short-form content constantly fuels your long-form growth.

Here’s what makes this so effective:

Boosted Engagement: Shorts are built for quick likes, comments, and shares, which the algorithm loves.

Wider Audience: You finally reach viewers who only watch short-form content and would have never found you otherwise.

Revived Content: It breathes new life into your archives, letting you get more mileage out of the work you've already done.

Honestly, knowing how to turn a YouTube video into a Short is a must-have skill for any creator who's serious about growing their channel today.

Here's the rewritten section, designed to sound natural and human-written, as if from an experienced creator.

Finding the Perfect 'Hook-Worthy' Moments

Let's be honest, the secret to a great Short isn't some complex editing trick. It all comes down to finding that one killer moment in your long-form video that can stand on its own and make someone stop their endless scrolling. You have to put on a different hat—forget being a long-form creator for a minute and think like someone swiping through their feed at a mile a minute.

Just grabbing a random 60-second chunk from the middle of your video is a recipe for failure. The best Shorts feel intentional, like they were born to be short-form content. They're self-contained, packed with energy, and deliver a quick hit of value or entertainment. Your job now is to become a treasure hunter, scrubbing through your own footage to find those golden nuggets.

What to Look For

When I'm digging through my own videos for Shorts material, I immediately skip past the slow intros and long explanations. I'm hunting for the peaks, the moments where the energy is highest.

A perfect Short can come from a few different places:

Emotional Peaks: Did you capture a moment of pure, genuine surprise, a belly laugh, or even a flash of frustration? Raw human emotion is magnetic on a small screen.

Quick-Win Tutorials: Pull out a single, powerful tip that delivers an "aha!" moment. Think of isolating one game-changing keyboard shortcut from a 20-minute software tutorial.

Surprising Reveals: This is your money shot. It could be the plot twist in a vlog, an unexpected result in a science experiment, or that satisfying "before and after" in a home renovation video.

Punchlines: If you do comedy, find a single, solid joke. Isolate the setup and the punchline, and ruthlessly cut everything else that requires the context of the full video.

The acid test is this: Does the clip make sense on its own? If someone has to wonder what happened right before the clip started, you've already lost them.

Here's a pro tip: look for moments with high "loopability." This is where a clip is so satisfying, funny, or visually stunning that people can't help but watch it again. When the loop feels seamless, a viewer might watch it two or three times before they even notice, which is a massive signal to the YouTube algorithm that you've got something special. This is how a simple video clip can become a viral sensation.

Your Technical Guide to Reformatting Videos for Shorts

You've found the perfect clip—now it’s time for the technical part: turning that horizontal video into a vertical Short that feels native to the feed. How you tackle this really depends on what you need. Are you looking for speed, creative control, or the absolute highest quality?

Your approach to how to make a YouTube video a Shorts will guide your tool choice.

For quick, on-the-fly edits, you can’t beat YouTube’s own "Edit into a Short" tool on mobile. It's direct and gets the job done. If you want more creative punch, mobile apps like CapCut give you access to a ton of effects, text styles, and transitions. But for maximum control and professional quality, nothing beats desktop software like DaVinci Resolve.

Comparing Methods to Create Your Shorts

Here’s a breakdown of the top three methods for turning a long-form video into a Short, helping you choose the best tool for your specific needs and workflow.

Method	Best For	Pros	Cons
YouTube's "Edit into a Short" Tool	Quick, simple edits directly on your phone.	Extremely convenient; no extra apps needed.	Very limited features and creative control.
Mobile Editing Apps (e.g., CapCut)	Creators who want more style with effects, text, and transitions.	Powerful features in a user-friendly package.	Can be less precise than desktop software; may have watermarks on free versions.
Desktop Software (e.g., DaVinci Resolve)	Professional-quality results with maximum creative control.	Unmatched precision for framing, color grading, and audio.	Steeper learning curve; requires a powerful computer.

Each method has its place. I often use the YouTube tool for super simple clips, but for anything that needs a bit more polish, I'll jump into a dedicated app or my desktop editor.

Converting From Horizontal to Vertical

The biggest hurdle is reframing a 16:9 video into the vertical 9:16 aspect ratio without awkwardly cutting off your subject. Simply dropping a horizontal video into a vertical frame leaves you with those dreaded black bars, which screams "lazy repurposing."

The key is to actively reframe your shots. You have to manually crop and reposition the video to keep the important action front and center. If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of this, we have a whole guide on https://www.revid.ai/blog/how-to-change-aspect-ratio-of-video that breaks it down.

A couple of popular techniques work really well here:

Split-Screen: For a podcast clip with two speakers, a simple split-screen layout keeps both people in the frame.

Blurred Background: Place the main clip in the middle of the vertical frame, then use a blurred, scaled-up version of that same footage as the background. It’s a clean way to fill the empty space.

Getting the visuals right is crucial. For a deeper look at optimizing your content across different platforms, this guide on social media image sizes, including the 9:16 aspect ratio is a fantastic resource.

The best hooks often come from tapping into core human reactions like emotion, surprise, or humor.

This process shows that the best Shorts aren't just random clips; they are carefully chosen moments meant to grab a viewer and hold their attention.

Your goal is to make the repurposed video feel native to the vertical format. A well-framed Short shouldn't feel like a lazy crop of a bigger video; it should feel like it was filmed for the Shorts feed from the very beginning.

This mobile-first mindset is non-negotiable. With over 70% of YouTube's watch time now happening on mobile devices, you have to optimize for the vertical screen. This trend is especially dominant in huge markets like India, the U.S., and Brazil, which boast the highest user counts. If you master these reformatting techniques, you'll be creating content that looks sharp and professional to this massive mobile audience.

Optimizing Your Short for the Algorithm

https://www.youtube.com/embed/PMQvXw39Aok

So, you've edited a fantastic clip from your longer video. That's a huge win, but the work isn't quite done yet. Now it's time to package it perfectly for the YouTube algorithm so it knows exactly who to show your Short to.

Honestly, skipping these next few steps is probably the most common reason I see great clips fall flat. Don't let that happen to you.

Think of your title, hashtags, and audio choice as the signposts for your content. On the Shorts feed, a punchy title needs to grab someone's attention instantly and make them curious. This is a totally different game than your main channel—forget long, descriptive titles. Here, you need something short and snappy that asks a question or teases a result.

And yes, you absolutely still need to include #shorts in either the title or the description. It's a non-negotiable step that officially flags your video as a Short for the system.

Winning the First Three Seconds

Beyond the metadata, the actual structure of your Short is what keeps people watching. You have to hook them immediately, deliver on whatever your title promised, and end with a payoff that makes them want to watch it again. The algorithm is obsessed with audience retention and replay loops.

When you're in the YouTube app ready to upload, make sure you nail these final touches:

Auto-Captions: A surprising number of people scroll with the sound off. Use the built-in caption tool to add clear, bold text. It makes your video way more accessible and keeps those silent watchers engaged.

Trending Audio: Even if your clip already has sound, layering a popular song or trending audio track can be a massive discovery boost. YouTube loves to promote content that uses sounds people are already interacting with.

Relevant Hashtags: Besides the mandatory #shorts, add two or three other hashtags in your description that are super specific to your video's topic. This is how you help the algorithm categorize your content and find the right audience.

The real goal here is to create a Short that feels like a complete, satisfying experience on its own, but also acts as a teaser for your long-form content. Nail that quick, repeatable loop, and you'll see the algorithm start to work in your favor.

This intense focus on engagement really does pay off. The average engagement rate for Shorts is a pretty staggering 5.91%, which often blows other short-form video platforms out of the water.

When you see that the most-viewed Short has billions of views, you start to understand the format's insane potential. You can discover additional YouTube Shorts statistics to see just how powerful they can be. This blend of smart optimization and high engagement is the secret to figuring out how to make a YouTube video a Short that actually gets views.

Common Repurposing Mistakes That Kill Your Views

It’s easy to get excited about turning one video into dozens of Shorts, but a few common slip-ups can completely derail your efforts. I've been there myself, and I've seen firsthand how simple mistakes can stop a Short from ever getting off the ground.

The biggest mistake I see is picking a clip that makes zero sense on its own. If a viewer needs to have seen the last five minutes of your full video to get the joke or understand the point, they're just going to swipe away. Every single Short has to stand on its own two feet as a complete, self-contained piece of content.

Another dead giveaway of a lazy repurpose is a terrible vertical crop. Nothing looks worse than a speaker with their forehead cut off or essential on-screen text that’s now completely out of frame. Just as bad is slapping a horizontal video into a 9:16 frame and calling it a day with giant black bars on the top and bottom.

Strategic Oversights to Avoid

Beyond the obvious visual blunders, a few strategic misses can be just as costly.

Forgetting to link back to your original video is a massive missed opportunity. YouTube gives you the “Related Video” feature for a reason—it’s a direct bridge sending interested viewers from your Short straight to your long-form content. Don’t leave that traffic on the table.

Poor technical quality is another view-killer. A clip that looks okay on your editing monitor can turn into a pixelated mess on a bright, modern phone screen. That low-resolution look comes across as unprofessional and is an easy reason for someone to keep scrolling.

The goal isn't just to chop up a YouTube video; it's to create a native-feeling experience that respects the viewer's time and the vertical format. A great Short feels like it was made specifically for the Shorts feed.

Finally, so many creators skip the native text and captions. These are your best tools for grabbing attention and making sure your point gets across, especially since so many people watch with the sound off. To get a better handle on the big picture, it helps to explore different content repurposing strategies that can help you sidestep these common pitfalls.

Common Questions About Turning Videos into Shorts

As you start slicing up your long-form videos into Shorts, a few questions always pop up. Let's tackle them head-on so you can get back to creating.

Can I Actually Make Money From These Repurposed Shorts?

Yes, you definitely can. As long as you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, any Short you publish—whether it's made from scratch or repurposed—is eligible for ad revenue sharing. Your earnings are calculated based on your slice of the total Shorts views in your country, so every view on that repurposed clip adds to your income.

Will YouTube Penalize Me for Reusing My Own Content?

Absolutely not. In fact, YouTube encourages you to do this. They've built tools like "Edit into a Short" specifically for this purpose because they know it's a smart way to get more mileage out of the content you worked so hard on. As long as the Short is a compelling, self-contained piece, the platform sees it as a win.

I see this myth all the time: that repurposed content gets flagged as 'duplicate.' That's not how it works with Shorts. YouTube's algorithm is smart enough to know that a 30-second vertical clip and a 15-minute horizontal video are two completely different things, meant for different viewing moments.

What’s the Ideal Length for a Repurposed Short?

You can make a Short up to 60 seconds long, but for repurposed clips, shorter is almost always better. I've found the sweet spot is usually between 15 and 30 seconds. This gives you just enough time to share one powerful point, a hilarious moment, or a shocking statistic before the viewer's thumb gets restless. Remember, high audience retention is the key to going viral.

How Do I Get People to Watch the Full Video?

This is where the "Related Video" feature comes in—it's a game-changer. When you upload your Short through the YouTube app, you can link it directly to any of your long-form videos. This puts a clickable link right on your Short, creating a perfect bridge to guide interested viewers from your short-form teaser to the full-length masterpiece.

Tired of manually hunting for clips and editing them one by one? What if AI could do the work for you? At revid.ai, our tool turns your existing videos, articles, or even just a simple idea into dozens of viral-ready Shorts in minutes. Start creating scroll-stopping content and grow your channel the smart way at https://revid.ai/.