When did YouTube Shorts come out? Dates from 2020 to 2026
When did YouTube Shorts come out? India in September 2020, the US in March 2021, worldwide in July 2021. Every date since, and what each change meant.
November 6, 2026 · 6 min read
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codeBeboo
YouTube Shorts came out in India on 15 September 2020 as a beta, reached the United States in March 2021, and launched worldwide on 13 July 2021 (Wikipedia, citing The Guardian, The Verge and Variety, checked 6 November 2026). If you want the one-line answer, that is it.
The rest of this post is the YouTube Shorts history that matters to a creator: the release date for each country, when Shorts started paying, and the changes to length and view counting that make older advice wrong. It is a timeline you can check, not a retelling of the TikTok rivalry.
When were YouTube Shorts created?
YouTube Shorts was created as a response to TikTok's rise, and its first public version was the India beta of 15 September 2020. TikTok had been restricted in India on 29 June 2020, which left a large audience without its main short-video app.
That origin explains the early product. Shorts launched inside the main YouTube app, so a viewer could become a creator without installing anything.
The YouTube Shorts release date, country by country
Shorts did not launch everywhere at once. Three dates cover the rollout.
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 15 September 2020 | Beta launches in India | The Guardian, 15 September 2020 |
| March 2021 | Beta reaches the United States | The Verge, 18 March 2021 |
| 13 July 2021 | Global release | Variety, 13 July 2021 |
Dates checked 6 November 2026. The infobox on Wikipedia gives 12 July 2021 for the worldwide launch, so treat the global date as 12 or 13 July depending on time zone.
A beta is not a finished product. The US version in March 2021 was still a beta, which is why guides that say "Shorts launched in 2021" and "Shorts launched in 2020" are both half right.
YouTube Shorts history: what changed after launch
The launch date is the least interesting part. The changes since decide how you should make Shorts today.
| Date | Change | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| August 2021 | $100 million Shorts fund announced | Paid a bonus to creators before ads existed |
| February 2023 | Shorts joins the YouTube Partner Program | Ad revenue share for the first time |
| September 2024 | Maximum length raised to 3 minutes | Story Shorts became practical |
| 31 March 2025 | Public Shorts view counting changed | Views count at playback start |
Sources: Wikipedia's dated timeline (checked 6 November 2026) and YouTube Help for the length and view-counting rows.
The February 2023 change is the one that paid
Before February 2023 a Short earned nothing from ads. After it, Shorts creators shared an ad pool, and our Shorts monetization guide breaks down the 45% creator share, the 10 million view route and why one Short can pay $30 while its neighbour pays 11 cents.
My view: the fund years (2021 and 2022) are the ones people should ignore. The payouts were a marketing budget, not a business model, and nobody should build a channel plan on them.
The 3-minute update rewrote the format
Shorts began with a short cap, were limited to 60 seconds for years, and now run to 3 minutes (YouTube Help, checked 6 November 2026). The YouTube Shorts length guide covers which length wins in 2026. For faceless channels the change mattered most, because narrated stories need 90 to 180 seconds to land.
Views changed on 31 March 2025
YouTube Help states: "Starting 3/31/2025, we're updating how Shorts views are counted." A view is now a Short starting to play or replay, with no minimum watch time. The old metric survives in YouTube Analytics as "Engaged views", and Partner Program eligibility and revenue sharing are still based on engaged views.
So a view count on a Short before and after that date is not like for like. Compare Shorts by engaged views, and do not read a jump on that date as growth.
Why Shorts history changes how you should post
Three practical consequences follow from the dates.
- Old tutorials describe a different product. Anything that says Shorts cap at 60 seconds, or that views need 3 seconds of watch time to count, predates the current rules.
- Shorts pay late, not early. Ads arrived about 2 years after the beta. The fastest route into monetisation is still the long-video bar covered in the YouTube monetization requirements.
- The format rewards consistency, not a launch window. You are not too late. Shorts has been public for over 6 years and the channels that win in 2026 started long after 2021.
If you want to know what a view is worth, the views to make money statistics page has the arithmetic.
Where to start now
Start with the guide to making YouTube Shorts, then read how to make viral YouTube Shorts for hooks and retention. If you do not want to appear on camera, the faceless YouTube channel guide shows the route most automation channels take.
To skip the editing, the AI YouTube Shorts generator turns a topic into a captioned, voiced Short you can post the same day.
FAQ
When did YouTube have Shorts?
YouTube had Shorts from 15 September 2020 in India, from March 2021 in the United States, and worldwide from 13 July 2021. The format has been in the main YouTube app since the global launch.
When was YouTube Shorts created?
YouTube Shorts was created in 2020 and first released as an India-only beta on 15 September 2020, about 11 weeks after TikTok was restricted there on 29 June 2020.
When did Shorts start making money?
Shorts started sharing ad revenue with creators in February 2023, when Shorts joined the YouTube Partner Program. Before that, only the 2021 to 2022 fund paid Shorts creators.
How long can a YouTube Short be now?
A YouTube Short can be up to 3 minutes long (YouTube Help, checked 6 November 2026). Shorts were limited to 60 seconds before the September 2024 update.
Did YouTube change how Shorts views are counted?
Yes. From 31 March 2025 a Shorts view counts when a Short starts to play or replay, with no minimum watch time. The previous metric is now called Engaged views in YouTube Analytics.
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