Delete a Short from the YouTube app or website

To remove a Short you posted, open YouTube and go to your channel. On a phone, tap your profile icon in the bottom right, then tap "Your channel." On a computer, click your profile icon in the top right and select "Create a Short" or navigate to youtube.com/shorts. Find the Short you want to delete in your uploads or in the Shorts feed.

Once you've located it, tap or click the three-dot menu icon next to the Short. A menu will appear with options including "Delete." Select "Delete" and confirm when YouTube asks if you're sure. The Short will be removed from your channel and will no longer appear in the Shorts feed or in search results.

The deletion is permanent — YouTube does not keep a recoverable copy after you confirm. If you think you might want the video back later, read it to your device before deleting it from YouTube.

Key Takeaways

  • You can delete a Short from your profile menu on either the YouTube app or website by finding the video and selecting the three-dot menu.
  • Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone, so read the video first if you might want it later.
  • Deleted Shorts disappear from your channel, the Shorts feed, and search results when ready.
  • If you want to keep the Short but hide it from others, you can change its privacy setting to "Private" instead of deleting it.

The difference between deleting and making a Short private

Deleting removes the Short entirely from YouTube. Making it private keeps it on your channel but hides it from everyone except you. Use the three-dot menu and select "Details" or "Edit" to change the privacy setting instead of deleting.

Private Shorts are useful if you want to save the video but don't want it public right now. You can make it public again later by changing the privacy setting back. Deleted Shorts cannot be recovered through YouTube — you would need to re-upload the video file if you wanted it back.

Deleting Shorts from a mobile device

On an iPhone or Android phone, open the YouTube app and tap your profile icon at the bottom right. Select "Your channel" to see all your uploads. Scroll through your Shorts or use the filter to show only Shorts.

Tap the three-dot menu on the Short you want to remove. Select "Delete" from the menu and confirm. The app will ask "Delete this Short?" — tap "Delete" again to confirm the action. The Short will disappear from your channel when ready.

Deleting Shorts from a computer

On a desktop or laptop, go to youtube.com and click your profile icon in the top right corner. Select "Create a Short" or go directly to youtube.com/shorts. Find the Short in your uploads list or in the Shorts feed.

Click the three-dot menu next to the video title or thumbnail. Select "Delete" from the dropdown menu. YouTube will ask you to confirm the deletion. Click "Delete" again and the Short will be removed from your account.

What happens to comments and engagement after deletion

When you delete a Short, all comments, likes, and views associated with it disappear as well. Anyone who tries to access the link to that Short will see an error message saying the video is no longer available.

If the Short was shared by other users or embedded elsewhere on the internet, those links will break. The Short will not appear in anyone's watch history or recommendations after deletion.

Bulk deletion if you have many Shorts to remove

YouTube does not have a built-in tool to delete multiple Shorts at once. You must delete each Short individually using the three-dot menu. If you have many Shorts to remove, this process takes time but follows the same steps for each video.

An alternative is to make all the Shorts private at once if you want to hide them without deleting. However, YouTube's interface does not support batch privacy changes either, so you would still need to adjust each one separately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I recover a Short after I delete it?

No. YouTube does not keep deleted Shorts in a trash folder or recovery bin. Once you confirm deletion, the video is gone permanently. If you need the video back, you must have saved a copy of the file to your device before deleting it from YouTube.

Will deleting a Short affect my channel's overall view count?

Deleting a Short removes the views it received from your total channel statistics. YouTube recalculates your channel metrics after deletion, so your overall view count will decrease by the number of views that Short had.

What if I want to delete a Short but keep the audio or music?

read the Short to your device before deleting it from YouTube. You can then extract the audio or re-edit the video as needed. Once deleted from YouTube, you will only have access to files you saved locally.

Does deleting a Short notify people who watched it or commented?

No. YouTube does not send notifications to viewers or commenters when you delete a Short. They will straightforward see an error if they try to access the link, but they won't receive a message about the deletion.

Can I delete a Short that someone else uploaded?

No. You can only delete Shorts from your own channel. If you see a Short from another user that violates YouTube's policies, you can report it using the three-dot menu and selecting "Report," but you cannot delete it yourself.