Enhance YouTube Shorts

Take your Shorts to the next level. While you’re recording, enhance your video with Shorts creation tools to add music, filters, and backgrounds that transform your Short into a dynamic and interactive video. After recording, perfect your Short with stickers, Text-to-Speech, voiceover, and more. Not sure where to start? Learn how to create Shorts.

Top Advice for Growing on Shorts: Hear from Top UK Creators 🔥

Enhance your Shorts while you’re recording

Add music or other audio

Accompany your Shorts with a song or other audio clip. The music and sounds found in our library are free of charge to use, but only for personal, non-commercial use, unless you have the appropriate licenses.
To find our Audio Library when you’re ready to record, tap Add sound and then make your selection.
Note that if you use copyright-protected content in your Shorts created outside of YouTube's creation tools, your video may get a Content ID claim or be removed due to a copyright removal request.

Adjust recording speed

Tap Speed to speed up or slow down recording.

Record with a timer

Tap Timer to set the countdown to record hands-free and choose when to automatically stop recording.

Apply filters

Tap Filters to pick from a selection of creative and contrasting filters that let you change the vibe of your Short. You can add different filters to each segment as you record. You can also apply a filter in the editing screen later.

Apply effects

Device requirements: To use these effects, make sure you have the required operating system and the latest version of the YouTube app. Download the latest YouTube app on your smartphone.
  • For Android: Requires Android 8.0 or later & YouTube app version 18.06 or above.
  • For iOS: Requires iOS 14 or later & YouTube app version 17.47 or above.
Tap Effects to choose from a selection of compelling effects to help enhance your Short. You can explore new concepts, change your appearance, or use an AI effect for a surprising transformation. Tap bookmark to save your effects for next time.
Effects are created by YouTube and other eligible creators. The creator's handle is displayed on the effects they created.

Add a background

While in the record screen, tap Green screen to use a photo or video from your device’s gallery as a background in your Short.

Use GenAI creation tools

Create with YouTube’s GenAI Creation Tools

Discover and play around with all of YouTube’s GenAI creation features. Open the YouTube app  and tap Create  and then GenAI creation tools  on the top right corner to get started. You can create video clips, backgrounds, tracks, and apply different effects.

Align frames

Tap Align to line up your next clip using a transparent overlay of the last frame you captured.

Adjust segments

Tap Trim to choose the perfect starting point or trim video segments that are a part of your Short.​

Import segments

While in the record screen, tap the gallery button in the lower-left corner to import clips into your Short or select a longer video to trim to 60 seconds or less.

Navigating the import experience is easy:

  • For videos over 60 seconds, use the slider to quickly jump to the desired moment in your video.
  • Tap and drag the handles on the video filmstrip to choose where the video starts and ends.
  • Tap the duration (15 seconds or 60 seconds) in the upper-right corner to change the length of your Short.

Enhance your Shorts after you've recorded

Add sound

To add a song or other sound bite after you record, tap Sound and then make your selection.
Use Volume to adjust audio levels across music, your original video’s audio, and voiceover.
Note that if you use copyright-protected content in your Shorts created outside of YouTube's creation tools, your video may get a Content ID claim or be removed due to a copyright removal request.

Sync to beat

Use this feature to sync your media clips to match the beat of the music and create even more engaging Shorts.
Here’s how to get started:
  1. When in the record screen, tap Add at the bottom left corner to access your device’s gallery.
  2. Select at least two media assets from photos or videos that you want to include in your Short.
  3. Tap Next to see a preview of your selected media automatically synced to music from YouTube.

If you like the pre-selected arrangement, tap Next. If you prefer to customize the music choice, select your audio from the carousel of different music options at the bottom of the screen.

If you don’t want to use this feature, tap Skip to go to the regular video preview where you can trim clips and add audio manually.

Use visual guides

Visual guides help you position and align video elements correctly within the Shorts feed. These guidelines and visual cues aid you to easily find the best placement to make sure your text or other visual elements are fully visible to viewers.
Here’s how to get started:
  1. Tap Create in the YouTube app to start creating a Short.
  2. Record new content or upload a video for your Short.
  3. Tap the check mark when you're ready to edit your footage.
  4. In the editor, add text or interactive stickers to your Short.
  5. As you move your text or stickers, visual guides will appear. These guides show you where elements like the like button, comments, and video description might appear for viewers.
Note: If you drag an overlay too close to the edge of the screen, animated white lines will appear, signaling a "non-safe" area where your content might be partially hidden on some devices. Icons will also display if you place an overlay where viewer elements like the like button might appear.

Add text

Tap Text to put text on your video after you record. Place multiple messages over your video and change the color, style, and alignment on the screen.
You can also use Timeline for even more control.

Add stickers

Note: When a viewer responds to your question, their responses become a comment that will be public and visible to other viewers.

Q&A sticker

Q&A Sticker ✨ on Shorts!

​To add a Q&A sticker after you've recorded, tap Sticker and then Q&A and then type the question that you’d like to ask your viewers. You can change the color, size, and placement of the sticker.

"Add yours" sticker

NEW: Add Yours Sticker

To add a “Add yours” sticker after you've recorded, tap Sticker and then Add yours to participate in trends and conversations by answering prompts with your own Short. Then your audience can add their response with a Short of their own. You can discover different prompts in the feed to take inspiration and then connect with others by adding your own.

Poll Sticker

HOW TO: Add a POLL STICKER to your Short ✅

Note: The poll sticker can't be applied to unlisted or private Shorts.

To add a poll sticker after you've recorded, tap Sticker and then Poll and get real-time feedback on your Short. You can add 2 options for your audience to choose from. The poll remains open as long as the Short is published and the viewers can change their vote.

Quiz sticker

Note: Quizzes on Made for Kids Shorts as well as unlisted or private Shorts aren’t interactive.

To add a Quiz sticker after you’ve recorded, tap Sticker and then Quiz. Enter your question (up to 3 lines) and two answer options (up to 2 lines each). If your video already shows the question, you can leave the question field blank and just add answer options. The first option is automatically set as the correct answer.

You can customize the sticker by changing the default correct answer and the color. Once you’re ready to post it, just tap outside the sticker and tap Next.

Once posted, the Quiz remains interactive for you and your viewers. Everyone can see if they answered correctly or incorrectly after taking the Quiz. Individual responses remain anonymous.

Record voiceover

Use the voiceover feature to narrate what happens in your video.
Here’s how to get started:
  1. Tap Voiceover at the bottom of the editing screen to open the voiceover editor.
  2. Move the playhead left or right to the spot you want to start your voiceover.
  3. Hold the red record button or tap it to start recording and then again to stop.
  4. Tap Undo to remove your narration or tap Redo to add it back.
Use Volume to adjust audio levels across music, your original video’s audio, and voiceover.​

Adjust timeline

Tap Timeline to edit when text is shown in your Short.
Drag the start and stop points of a text clip to control when text shows in your Short and when it disappears. Use this feature to trigger different messages at different times in your video.
To reorder text clips, tap and hold them. Move clips from top to bottom to control the front to back order your text is shown.

Add filters

​Tap Filters to add a filter. Choose from a number of creative and contrasting filters to change the look and feel of your Short.

Add comments

You can reply to comments posted on your channel with Shorts. Just like text comment replies, the Shorts you create as replies will let the commenter know and show up in the comment feed below the original comment. Learn how to reply to comments with a Short.

Text-to-Speech

Note: The text you generate is sent to a server and a model generates the voice which is then applied to the video.
You can use Text-to-Speech to help narrate your Shorts.
  1. While in the recording screen, tap Text .
  2. Add your text.
  3. In the top corner, tap Add voice .
  • Note: You can edit the voiceover options by tapping the text.

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