While most of us are used to making videos for YouTube, Shorts are much newer. They were primarily a response to other platforms and their short-format videos, and they’re built for people to watch and then swipe past. In some ways, it’s like the video version of scrolling through your Facebook or Instagram feed.
Unfortunately, getting views on your YouTube Shorts works differently than getting views on your longer videos. One reason is that Shorts surface in their own feed and their own tab rather than in the everyday home feed. In other words, Shorts are graded a bit differently, and they face different competition in the algorithm.
For this reason, many of us have to ask why are my YouTube Shorts not getting views? There are four main reasons for low view counts. Let’s take a look at them. Then, we’ll talk about how to correct and avoid these issues when possible.
Key Takeaways
✅ YouTube changed what counts as a view. Since March 31, 2025, a view is counted every time a Short starts to play or replay, with no minimum watch time. If your numbers look different from what you remember, the metric moved.
✅ The old metric still exists under a new name. YouTube calls it Engaged views, and that is the figure Partner Program eligibility and Shorts ad revenue sharing are based on. Views tell you reach. Engaged views tell you whether people stayed.
✅ Four causes explain most low view counts: your Short never triggered the algorithm, you have not given it enough testing time, your hashtags do not match the content, or the video is horizontal.
✅ Length is a lever, not a rule. Shorts can now run up to three minutes, but shorter videos are easier to finish and more likely to replay, and both of those feed the signals YouTube is measuring.
✅ Format is not optional. Shorts play in a vertical frame, so horizontal footage gets cropped or letterboxed and loses the screen space that keeps people watching. For the wider picture on where video attention is going, the video marketing statistics are the place I start.
The anatomy of YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts are a new format on the platform. It used to be that YouTube was mostly long-form videos and that shorter ones were mixed in. For instance, the quintessential cat video on YouTube was frequently only a couple of minutes long, if that.
They’re meant to be short, engaging, vertical videos. YouTube raised the ceiling to three minutes for videos uploaded on or after October 15, 2024, so the old 60-second limit no longer applies. While shorter YouTube videos can also be in landscape mode, Shorts are limited to vertical orientation. That is because YouTube intends for Shorts to mostly be watched from a mobile device. The shorter format also makes this content type excellent for people to watch while they’re on a break at work or while commuting.
Finally, it’s important to note that YouTube Shorts are typically watched one after another. That’s because you can scroll through them. Frequently, people will watch the same Short two or more times before they move on to the next one.
4 potential reasons why your YouTube Shorts are not getting views
Of course, like with any other content on YouTube, you need eyeballs for the video to be successful. For this reason, if your content doesn’t perform well, it’s important to think about why your YouTube Shorts are not getting any views. Frequently, your Shorts are getting views. They just aren’t getting as many. They might still show up in somebody’s keyword search, or get watched by subscribers browsing your channel page. It just means you aren’t getting very much traffic.
Here are some reasons why your Shorts are underperforming.
1. It’s not triggering the algorithm
YouTube’s algorithm follows your audience’s response by testing your video with different groups of viewers. If your video isn’t getting views, chances are your audience isn’t responding well to your Shorts. In other words, your Shorts aren’t earning enough engagement to keep that testing going.
One of the biggest factors with the YouTube algorithm is that it tracks engagement and views. Often, getting those first few views is difficult, especially if your channel is small and not very well established yet. And if your channel is new, YouTube may not quite understand your target audience either. All of these factors can make it difficult to win with the algorithm.
2. You haven’t given it enough time
Sometimes, YouTube takes time to test your Short with different audiences. That window can run from days to weeks. Over time, YouTube works out which audiences find your content most engaging, and that group is usually your existing audience or some variation of it. Waiting is not the only thing happening, though. Because a Short replays automatically when nobody swipes away, YouTube Shorts looping gives an early video more chances to pick up the watch signals the algorithm is testing for.
Remember, YouTube makes money when your Shorts and channel views generate advertising revenue. Therefore, they have the incentive to bring viewers to your channel and to keep them watching videos.
3. You are using the wrong hashtag
Using the wrong hashtags can also throw off your Shorts into oblivion. Make sure the spellings are correct, and the hashtags are relevant. Obviously, you still want to use any branded hashtag that you are promoting since it helps to foster brand recognition. However, like many other social media companies, Google discourages keyword stuffing.
Let’s look at it another way. If you are looking for a particular type of video as a viewer, chances are you will search using keywords and hashtags. If somebody misclassifies a video, it’s annoying, and you’ll swipe away from it immediately. That swipe is exactly the signal YouTube uses to decide a video isn’t worth showing to more people.
4. You are making horizontal videos
YouTube Shorts are meant to be vertical. And if for some reason you’ve been uploading horizontal Shorts, it’s not helping you. You can start from non-vertical footage, but parts of the frame have to be cropped away to fit. In other words, your options are a square frame or a vertical rectangle.
Square images tend not to do very well in video generally. Worse, in most cases making that square video will mean cropping a large part of the original image. This way, you end up sacrificing a lot of the artistic value of your footage, making your video less engaging.
By contrast, a vertical video has a higher chance of creating visual appeal. Make sure your video looks right when you film it vertically. A compelling Short should look like it was always intended for that format, which is mostly a matter of framing your subject for a tall screen instead of cropping a wide one down. You can still build a Short out of repurposed footage, so long as it looks natural, and the YouTube app handles most of the work if you follow the standard process for making YouTube Shorts.
The art of making engaging YouTube Shorts – 6 Tips and Tricks
Once you have figured out why are my YouTube Shorts not getting views, you should be able to fix the problem. Sometimes, it’s as simple as changing the hashtags to ones that fit your content and audience better. However, in other situations, you may have to remove or rework the video. Let’s take a look at some of the options and best practices.
1. Know your audience
First and foremost, keep in mind whom your target audience is when brainstorming short ideas. What are they interested in? What kind of content do they respond to? If you already have a YouTube presence, it should be easy for you to find this information. Simply look at your existing analytics data for longer format videos.
Another option is to think about what works well for Instagram Reels or TikTok videos. Both of these content types are similar to your YouTube Shorts, so many of the patterns can apply across platforms. At the same time, if you have put out a lot of YouTube Shorts, then you can see which ones are performing a bit better. Analyze these videos and see what you can learn about your audience and what works for them. In other words, you can increase your performance by analyzing and building on successes.
The LinkedIn Playbook for Real Business Growth
My latest book helps professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners turn LinkedIn from a static profile into a real source of clients and growth.
Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth gives you clear, practical steps to build a profile that gets noticed and a network that actually sends business your way.
Grab your copy on Amazon and put it to work this week. Click the cover or the button below to get started.
2. Create a strong hook
Your first 3 seconds are very crucial. If you cannot grab your audience’s attention in 3 seconds, you will lose them forever. Make sure your hook, verbal or visual, is pretty captivating. Sometimes the hook is clever, sometimes it’s an attention-grabbing statement. But either way, it invites people to finish watching your short.
For example, I know of a YouTube channel that has nothing but Shorts. The topic is a black lab dog who likes to make commentary on everyday life. What’s so clever about this is that the dog always asks something that seems so typical of a dog, such as asking if anyone has seen an intruder before. Then, he talks about how he treated the intruder.
Needless to say, if you love dogs this channel is hilarious. You should make your channel equally engaging.
3. Keep it short and sweet
With the attention span of most people being limited, it’s important to get your point across quickly. Shorter is almost always the safer bet. A 15 to 30 second Short is easy to finish and easy to replay, and that was the original length range for TikTok videos before either platform started allowing longer uploads.
You can now create Shorts up to three minutes long. But the downside of a longer video is that people may not complete it, and that’s a negative signal to YouTube’s algorithm. The trick is to find a happy medium between telling your story and keeping it short. Of course, you can always post a link in your description to more content. This lets you expand the value of your short besides an awareness campaign.
4. Make the title and thumbnail eye-catching
Your title and thumbnail are the first things a viewer sees everywhere except the swipe feed. Inside the feed the Short just plays, so the thumbnail does no work there at all. Everywhere else, in search results, on your channel page, in the subscriptions tab, on the homepage, the image is what decides whether anyone presses play.
That equation changed in July 2026. YouTube used to restrict Shorts to a frame pulled from the video itself, which is why so much older advice tells you to bake a designed image into the first second of your footage. Now YouTube Partner Program creators can upload a fully custom thumbnail for a Short, and YouTube says access will expand to more creators over time.
You have three paths depending on your account and your device. On desktop, YPP creators upload a custom image through YouTube Studio, and you can also pick from three suggested frames. On mobile, the YouTube app still lets you select any frame from the video. Whichever route you take, size the image at 9:16, or 2160 by 3840 pixels, the same vertical shape as the Short itself.
The payoff is the same as it has always been. A title and thumbnail that actually promise something get viewers to watch the whole video, and that watch time is what the algorithm reads. Viewers who stay are also the ones who like and comment. If you are not in the Partner Program yet, the old workaround still holds up: design your image, drop it on the first frame of the video, and select that frame.
5. Be creative
This goes without saying. With YouTube being such a vast platform, there’s definitely room for creativity. Think outside the box and develop concepts to make your videos stand out from the rest. Especially when you consider the stiff competition for video views on YouTube, anything that you can do to create an advantage is worth doing.
Perhaps just as importantly, even a small improvement can make a big difference. Once the algorithm starts picking up your video as something that people want to watch, and it knows who wants to watch it, your video views can increase very quickly. In turn, you can get more subscriptions and other types of engagement from people who discover your channel through Shorts.
More video views and subscriptions can boost your revenue in a number of different ways. Monetization scales with audience size, which is why the creative work and the growth work end up being the same work. Fresh concepts start with YouTube Shorts ideas worth testing, and the payoff shows up in getting more subscribers on YouTube. For brands, greater engagement and a larger audience will boost the return on investment for this specific form of content marketing.
6. Try to find an ideal balance between quality and quantity
You need to balance quality and quantity when it comes to YouTube Shorts. If you produce too many videos, you risk their being low quality. That’s because in many cases you won’t spend a lot of time working on each piece of content. It will look and feel like a production line, and people don’t like to spend their valuable free time on this.
On the other hand, if you don’t produce enough videos, people will lose interest. For most YouTube users, having something from their favorite content creator appear in their feed regularly is important. Otherwise, they’ll be less interested in watching when the content does pop up.
There’s another aspect to regular content, too. The discussion around your content can help to build a community. This is valuable for content creators because it helps them earn viewer loyalty and in some cases the purchase of products. For a brand, communities also build loyalty.
The key is to find a sweet spot that works for you and your channel. When you have found the right combination, you shouldn’t have to ask why are my YouTube Shorts not getting any views. As the saying goes, if you build it, they will come. Just don’t build a house of cards.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Short sitting at zero usually means the algorithm has not started testing it yet, not that it was blocked. YouTube counts a view the moment a Short starts to play, so a true zero means almost nobody has been served the video. Check YouTube Studio for upload flags or copyright claims first, then give it several days before you change anything.
Anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. YouTube tests a Short against small audiences first and widens distribution only if the early response is strong, so a slow start is not the same as a failed video. In my experience the views usually accumulate gradually rather than arriving in one burst.
YouTube allows Shorts up to three minutes, but what is allowed and what performs are different questions. Shorter videos are easier to finish and more likely to replay, and both help a Short hold its place in the feed. I would start under 30 seconds and go longer only when the content genuinely needs it.
They help YouTube classify the video, so mismatched or misspelled hashtags push your Short toward the wrong audience. That hurts twice: the wrong viewers swipe away fast, and the swipe-away rate tells the algorithm the video is not working. Use a small number of accurate hashtags instead of stuffing the description.
A sudden drop usually reflects a shift in what the algorithm is testing rather than a penalty on your channel. Compare your last few Shorts against the ones that performed well, looking at hook, length, and topic consistency instead of any single metric. If nothing obvious changed on your side, keep publishing on schedule.
Conclusion
Knowing why your YouTube Shorts are getting few if any views can be tricky. There are a lot of factors that go into scoring well on the YouTube algorithm. Fortunately, we know enough about maximizing videos for the algorithm that content creators can produce what their channels need for the best results. Once you do that, your channel should grow much faster.
Well, my first shorts performed well, ctr above 60% and retention more than 150% but all of a sudden the last three shorts are blocked at 20/30 views, no exposure and also the analytics of these shorts are excellent (ctr above 90% and retention 200%). Same topic (cats), even better thumbnails, good seo, shared at same time. I have had another channel in the past that I closed because the same happend. Can you help me understand? If you want to take a look,my channel is “Cats NiceRascals”. I’m going crazy! Thanks anyway
Google, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram … these are all controlled by algorithms for which we have no control. They change on a regular basis. What I find helpful is to always keep an eye on my competition and when there is a change, see who benefited and who didn’t. If no one benefited, there might not be much that you can do. But if there are some people who benefited while others didn’t, you should do some more research for some ideas. I know this isn’t the answer you wanted but hoping it helps…
YouTube shorts don’t let you choose your thumbnail image :(
now another problem my shorts are not shown in shorts feed but showing in youtube search
Interesting! Maybe they are tweaking things and it’s only a matter of time until it re-appears in Shorts?
for the first short i got 2920 views and then other shorts are getting 0 views i mean my shorts not shown to anyone. when the get normal views ? what happened to my shorts?
Sorry to hear about your experience but there are many reasons why this might be the case. You need to analyze the different factors covered in this post and become a detective to see what the potential reasons are. For instance, is the hashtag aligned with the content? Is the content of the Shorts the normal type that you publish for your channel? You mentioned the other video had 2920 views but how much time was that over? And how many views did it get in its first few days, etc. These are important things to consider to figure out what happened. Hope this helps!
i deleted and published videos 5 times may be that’s the reason
from there on they stopped getting views is there a hane to get normal views
Yes, the algorithm might have flagged you for deleting. So you might want to NOT delete videos for some time and see if that improves things. There is always a reason if you put your mind to it, so good luck!!!
do you when the flag will be removed by algorithm ?
No idea – I would keep posting without deleting for the next several weeks to build up trust with the algorithm again.
Hi, I was wondering, if i acquire my 1000 subs, but not 10 million views within 90 days to get monetized, what happens then? Can I retry again for another 10million views or is it only one shot for one channel? Much appriciated for an answer :)
I believe that it is NOT one shot but it is rolling – so whenever you get the required numbers, you will be able to apply then.
Okay cool thanks for the answer
My short videos have about 20 views while they are of good quality. Previously, my short videos had between 2 and 10 thousand views. But now I don’t have visitors, what is the reason?
Wow – that is quite a drop! There are many things that could explain it, but I wonder if somehow someone reported one of your previous videos? Because that is a steep drop. You will have to analyze the contents, timings, and other things and build your views up again – unfortunately there is no shortcut, and just like the Google algorithm, the YouTube algorithm cannot be 100% controlled by us…I do wish you the best of luck and hope you find out what issues you might have had and are back on your road to success.
I think YouTube is messing around. You know nothing about YouTube algorithm. It just sucks. YouTube will die for sure. You mark my words. They have bullshit system. Amatureish programmers work. Suck YouTube. I hope YouTube die soon.
I have been thinking the same but this made me feel better. I can now be better in making my shorts.
Glad to hear!
In one day I have 2k views, after that view s are not growing
That can sometimes happens. It gives you lots of views the first day, and then newer videos win out. But sometimes the views will accumulate over time, but it might be more of a gradual increase. Of course anything can happen – this is just based on my own personal experience.
At this point it’s not that the content is not engaging. Out of 6 videos there is a total combined of 16 views… the videos are objectively well constructed and perform extremely well on TikTok with an average of 900 views per post. Most of my shorts are not shown to anyone -> 0 people reached. This means the algorithm is not even testing to see if that video could work.
I have found that sometimes the YouTube Shorts algorithm takes some time to kick in, especially when compared to the immediacy of TikTok and Instagram…
no views
Not true audience
You cannot have audience and your first video could have zero or could jump to tousands of views
Is youtube that have to push it to viewers screens
Of course – that is the nature of the algorithm!
i am sreekar from india my shorts are showing in india only for the last 2 weeks
Keep going then!
YouTube doesn’t allow content creators to upload or modify Shorts thumbnails at this time, so making a catchy thumbnail isn’t an option.
It’s late answer at this time, but i found a tricky way to add custom thumbnail, and it worked in ’23 february. Upload video, check which frame is the generated thumnail, then add the custom thumbnail image at that frame number over the video in any video editor. Export the video and upload again. The custom thumbnail is still there on my shorts.
Nowadays it’s way more simple, since they added thumbnail selection on phone. Must add custom thumbnail image over the first frame in video editor(on phone i recommend capcut), then upload via phone. On upload page, open thumbnail selection, then ok at first frame.
Hope it helps!
Sorry, i just found this page because i’m searching for solutions why i still don’t get views with my content after 14 years (even on 2 channels), and why others get millions of views with similar animations and musics like my works.
Thanks for your comments and sorry to hear that your content is not getting the views they deserve. There could be lots of reasons, and I am sure you went over them all already, but just in case:
1) niche – do all of your videos focus on one niche or are they “all over the place” – YouTube really likes to push videos from channels that are focused in particular areas
2) thumbnails
3) title
4) descriptions
5) lengths of videos
and on and on. I recommend starting to analyze using a YouTube tool like TubeBuddy or VidIQ and following their suggestions.
There are so many reasons why videos don’t get views but I hope the above helps…
Youtube is shadowbanning they learn how to control video audience
Around 2010s YT gave free equitment to small group of creators how do they know those would be their YT stars?
I dont belive about algorithm they use that as shield to avoid sue, you can control it on same code, that why they keep updating it
Dont tell me you have to fix title, thumbnails blah blah amd vuala
Copya a video and try if you can have same results i doubt it
If they left the YT as the beginnings everybody has a shot to make views but now no more thanks to “sponsors” thats a lie too ad agencie dont care and put ad everywhere same for the bigcompanies