How to download a YouTube Short
- Copy the Short's link. In the YouTube app, open the Short, tap Share, then Copy link. On a computer, copy the address from the browser bar. It looks like
youtube.com/shorts/followed by the video's ID. - Paste it above and select Get video. Links copied from the app often end in
?si=…. That's fine, and youtu.be links work too. - Choose a quality and select Download. Shorts are short, so most files are small and the download starts quickly. The file keeps the Short's vertical shape.
YTPull doesn't add a watermark or logo. You get the video and sound as YouTube serves them, combined into one file.
Why Shorts qualities look different
YTPull names each option by the video's height in pixels. For regular landscape videos that matches YouTube's own labels, but Shorts are vertical, so the numbers are larger. A Short that YouTube calls 720p is 720 pixels wide and 1,280 tall, so it appears as 1280p:
- 1920p: 1080 × 1920 pixels, what YouTube calls 1080p
- 1280p: 720 × 1280 pixels, what YouTube calls 720p
- 854p: 480 × 854 pixels, what YouTube calls 480p
- 640p: 360 × 640 pixels, what YouTube calls 360p
Some Shorts also have in-between sizes, depending on how they were uploaded. The options vary from Short to Short, and the highest number in the list is always the sharpest version available. 1920p appears only when the creator uploaded the Short in full HD.
Saving Shorts on your phone
YTPull works in your phone's browser, so you can copy a link in the YouTube app and download it without installing anything. On Android, the Short goes to your Downloads folder. On iPhone, Safari saves it to Downloads in the Files app; from there, tap Share and then Save Video to add it to Photos. The guide to downloading YouTube videos on your phone goes through each step.
When a Short won't download
- “Enter a valid YouTube video URL”: the link must point to a single Short. Links to a channel's Shorts tab or to a playlist won't work. Open the Short itself and copy its link.
- The Short isn't available: private, age-restricted and members-only Shorts can't be downloaded, and neither can Shorts that were removed or are blocked in the server's region.
- Image posts: photo posts that appear in the Shorts feed aren't videos, so there's nothing to download.
- “Too many requests”: there's a limit on how many requests you can make in a short time. Wait a few minutes and try again.
- Nothing happens on a phone: keep the page open until it says “Download started”. If you opened YTPull inside another app, open it in Chrome or Safari instead, because built-in app browsers often block downloads.
Using downloaded Shorts responsibly
Only download Shorts you made or have permission to save. Shorts often include music and clips owned by someone else, and reposting them can infringe copyright. See the Terms of Use. For regular videos, use the YouTube video downloader.