- Save a Short to a playlist on your phone
- Save a Short on a computer
- The playlist quirks with Shorts
- Your options at a glance
- Watching offline
- Download a Short you made
- Saving other people's Shorts to your phone
- For creators
- Using Watch Later for Shorts
- Managing downloads in the app
- Make the playlist private
- My advice
- Frequently asked questions
To save a YouTube Short, open it, tap More (the three dots) and choose Save to playlist, then pick Watch Later or one of your playlists. That keeps it in your account to rewatch. Saving other people's Shorts to your phone isn't something YouTube offers, though you can download your own Shorts from Your Videos.
Most people want one of three things: to find a Short again later, to watch it without signal, or to keep a copy of one they made. YouTube handles each differently, and its help pages are clear about the limits.
Here's how to do each, with the quirks you'll only find in the small print.
Save a Short to a playlist on your phone
- Open the Short you want to keep.
- Tap More, the three dots.
- Tap Save to playlist.
- Pick an existing playlist, or tap New playlist and give it a name.
- Choose the privacy setting, then tap Done.
If you set the playlist to Private, only you can see it. That's the best option if you're building a collection of Shorts for ideas or research.
Save a Short on a computer
- Open the Short's watch page.
- Click More, then Save.
- Select Watch Later or a playlist you've already made, or create a new one.
The playlist quirks with Shorts
Saving works fine, but YouTube's help pages list a couple of oddities once Shorts are in a playlist:
- There's a Shorts filter that shows only the Shorts saved to a playlist, but it's only available on computers.
- You can't reorder a playlist that contains only Shorts. Reordering works for playlists with long videos in them.
- There's a daily limit on how many public playlists a channel can create, shared across the YouTube app, YouTube Music and the API.
If you save lots of Shorts, the computer is the easier place to sort through them later because of that filter.
Your options at a glance
| What you want | How | Who it works for |
|---|---|---|
| Rewatch a Short later | More, then Save to playlist | Anyone signed in |
| Quick bookmark | Save to Watch Later | Anyone signed in |
| Watch videos without internet | Download in the app or browser | YouTube Premium members |
| Keep a copy of your own Short | Your Videos, Shorts tab, Save to device | The person who uploaded it |
Watching offline
YouTube's offline downloads come with YouTube Premium, where it's available in your location. You open a video's watch page and tap Download below it, and you can also download from a computer using Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Opera.
Two limits worth knowing: downloaded videos play offline for up to 29 days before your device needs to reconnect, and in some countries it's only 48 hours. YouTube's help page talks about videos in general and doesn't single out Shorts, so check the Download option on the Short itself.
Download a Short you made
If it's your own Short, you can save the file to your phone:
- Open the YouTube app and tap your profile picture.
- Tap Your Videos.
- Tap the Shorts tab.
- Find the Short, tap the menu and choose Save to device.
You can do the same from the YouTube Studio app under Content, then the Shorts tab. YouTube saves your uploads as MP4 files in 720p or 360p, depending on the video size.
A few reasons it might not work: the video's been removed, it has a copyright or Community Guidelines strike, it uses a preapproved audio track, or you've already downloaded it five times in the last 24 hours. Wait a day and the option comes back.
Saving other people's Shorts to your phone
YouTube is direct about this: you can't download other people's YouTube videos. I'd skip the sites and apps that promise to grab any Short. Saving it to a playlist keeps it one tap away and keeps the credit with the creator.
If you'd rather watch Shorts with the normal player controls, I've explained how to view YouTube Shorts as normal videos, which makes rewatching easier.
For creators
Saving Shorts you like into a private playlist is a simple swipe file. When you're ready to make your own, here's how to make a YouTube Short from start to finish.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Using Watch Later for Shorts
Watch Later is the fastest place to drop a Short you want to come back to. On a Short, tap More, then Save to playlist, then Watch later.
To clear it out, tap your profile picture to open the You tab, open Watch later under Playlists, tap More next to the video and choose Remove from Watch later.
One rule catches parents out: if a video is set as made for kids, you can't add it to a playlist or save it to Watch Later at all. If the save option's missing on a Short, that's often the reason.
Managing downloads in the app
If you do use Premium downloads, you'll find them under your profile picture, then the Downloaded filter. In Settings, Background and downloads lets you delete all downloads at once or set the download quality. Higher quality takes up more space on your phone.
Make the playlist private
When you create a new playlist from a Short, you choose its privacy setting there and then. Pick Private and only you can view it. That's the right choice for a personal collection, because a public playlist shows on your channel.
My advice
Make a private playlist called something like Shorts to rewatch and save straight into it from the three dots. Sort it on a computer, where the Shorts filter works. And if it's one you made, download it from Your Videos so you've got the file for your other channels.
Frequently asked questions
How do I save a YouTube Short?
Open the Short, tap More, then Save to playlist, and choose Watch Later, an existing playlist or a new one.
Can I download YouTube Shorts to my phone?
You can download Shorts you uploaded from Your Videos using Save to device. YouTube says you can't download other people's videos.
Why can't I reorder my playlist of Shorts?
YouTube says reordering isn't available for playlists that only contain Shorts.
Where do I see only the Shorts in a playlist?
Use the Shorts filter at the top of the playlist. YouTube says this filter is only available on computers.
How long do YouTube downloads last offline?
Downloaded videos can play offline for up to 29 days before your device needs to reconnect, and in some countries only 48 hours.
