How to Download YouTube Shorts to Your Phone

Choose the right way to save a Short

If the Short is yours, use YouTube's own creator tools whenever possible. If you only want offline viewing, YouTube's in-app download option keeps eligible videos inside the YouTube app rather than adding a video file to your phone's Photos or Gallery.

For a standalone video file, save only content you own or have permission to use. A public link is required, and private, removed, age-restricted, or members-only Shorts may not be available.

Copy the public Shorts link

Open the Short in YouTube and use Share, then Copy link. A standard watch URL, a youtu.be link, or a youtube.com/shorts link can all point to the same public video, so paste the link exactly as YouTube gives it to you.

Copy the link to the individual Short, not the creator's channel or a playlist. If the shared link opens a normal YouTube watch page instead of the Shorts player, it can still work as long as it points to that one video.

Save a YouTube Short on iPhone

Open Safari, paste the public link into the YouTube downloader, and choose an MP4 option. Safari saves the finished file to Files first; use the download arrow by the address bar if you do not see it immediately.

To put the file in your camera roll, open Files, find the MP4 under Downloads, tap Share, and choose Save Video. Open Photos and check Recents to confirm that iOS added the video.

Save a YouTube Short on Android

Open Chrome or another browser, paste the public link into the YouTube downloader, choose MP4, and accept the browser's download prompt. Android normally places the file in Downloads and shows a completion notification.

Open the notification or the Files app to confirm the MP4 plays. Many phones add a finished video to Gallery or Google Photos automatically; if yours does not, move the file from Downloads to the Movies folder and check again.

If the download does not start

First, reopen the Short and copy the share link again. Check that the video is public and still available, then try the full youtube.com URL if a short link has expired or changed destination.

If the file downloads but is not in your gallery, look in Files or Downloads before trying again. On iPhone, Safari does not automatically send video files to Photos; on Android, gallery apps can take a moment to scan a new file.

Step by step

1. 1

   Copy the Short's link

   Open the Short in YouTube, tap Share, and choose Copy link.

2. 2

   Paste it into the downloader

   Open the YouTube downloader in Safari or Chrome, paste the public URL, and press Download.

3. 3

   Choose an MP4

   Select the video quality you want and wait for the browser download to finish.

4. 4

   Find the saved file

   Use Files then Save Video on iPhone, or Downloads and Gallery on Android.