YouTube Shorts hashtags: where they go, how many count, and which three to write

Does YouTube Shorts use hashtags?

Yes, in two documented ways. A hashtag in a Short’s title or description becomes a link to a results page of videos sharing that hashtag, and YouTube’s hashtag help page says hashtags help viewers find related content through search. That is the whole claim.

The pages checked for this guide do not say a hashtag changes who sees a Short in the Shorts Feed. How YouTube Works describes recommendations built on what viewers watch, like, dislike and subscribe to, and on their feedback. The guide to what YouTube says its recommendation system uses goes through that list.

Should hashtags go in the title or the description?

Put them in the description. YouTube reads hashtags in both places, and a tag in either one links to its results page. The difference is display: up to three description hashtags appear by the title, so the description puts tags in front of viewers without spending any of the title, which YouTube's Create Shorts page caps at 100 characters.

The title has a job of its own. Shorts appear in search results, and How YouTube Works says search ranks on relevance, engagement and quality, weighted differently by type of search. The pre-upload checklist for Shorts asks for a searchable phrase in the title for that reason.

A hashtag in the title is allowed and links like any other. This guide leaves it out so the title reads as a sentence: “G to C chord change without the pause” for a guitar Short, with #GuitarChords, #ChordChange and #BeginnerGuitar in the description.

Text added to the Short is a third case. Start a hashtag there and YouTube suggests relevant ones from signals such as your past uploads and, in some countries, the text you typed; ones you used before carry a clock icon. The help page does not say what that hashtag does once the Short is live.

How long can a YouTube Shorts title be, and does it matter?

A YouTube Shorts title can be up to 100 characters. The Create Shorts page says “max 100 characters”, and the Edit video settings page gives the same limit for every video, with 5,000 for the description. Neither field accepts invalid characters.

The title matters for search. YouTube's page on how search works names three elements: relevance, which includes how well the title, tags, description and video content match the query; engagement, such as watch time for that query; and quality. The description and its hashtags count as well, so the title does not have to carry every word.

Spend the characters on the search phrase. “G to C chord change without the pause” is 37 characters, which leaves 100 − 37 = 63 unused, and they can stay unused. A title that promises what the Short never shows is a different problem: YouTube's spam policy lists maliciously misleading titles, thumbnails and descriptions as a violation.

A title can be changed after upload. In YouTube Studio, open Content and click the Short's title. YouTube's pages do not say whether a new title changes views; it changes what search can match.

How many hashtags should a YouTube Short have?

Three, by this guide’s rule, because three is the most YouTube shows by the title. YouTube’s own limits sit far above that. Put more than 60 hashtags on one video and YouTube ignores every hashtag on it, and the help page warns that over-tagging can remove a video from uploads or from search.

One tag past the limit switches off every tag. Here is the guitar Short done wrong: its 3 descriptive tags, 40 more pasted from a list, and an 18-hashtag channel footer make 3 + 40 + 18 = 61 hashtags. That is one over 60, so YouTube ignores all 61, the three good ones included. Footers count too.

Do not copy that footer either. YouTube’s hashtag policies prohibit ordinary descriptive tags, the plain words without a #, and repetitive sentences in the description. A stock block of tags and repeated lines under every upload breaks that rule as well as crowding the 60 limit.

Under the limit, YouTube still picks which three appear by the title. Every tag in the description should be one you would be glad to see there. Three descriptive tags pass that test.

Why a pasted list of popular hashtags is the wrong tool

A copy-and-paste list of top hashtags for YouTube Shorts is written for every Short at once, so it describes none of them. YouTube’s hashtag policies name the ways it goes wrong.

• Unrelated tags. YouTube does not allow misleading or unrelated hashtags and says it may remove a video that uses them. #minecraft on a guitar lesson is unrelated, however popular it is.
• Volume. Past 60 hashtags YouTube ignores them all, and over-tagging can take the Short out of search.
• Empty tags. #viral, #trending and #shorts name no subject. Leave them out.
• Spaces. YouTube’s rule is no spaces inside a hashtag, so write #ChordChange, never #Chord Change.

Popularity is the wrong test anyway. YouTube’s help page gives no counts for hashtags, and this guide prints none. The TikTok hashtag tier method on this site sorts tags by post count; on YouTube, sort by what each tag says about the Short.

Pick three hashtags that describe the Short

Each of the three tags answers one question about the Short: what is on screen, what it shows or solves, and who it is for. Write the title first, then the tags. If the subject itself is still open, the Shorts ideas page starts there.

1. Subject. The thing on screen: #GuitarChords.
2. Task. What the Short shows how to do, or the question it answers: #ChordChange.
3. Viewer. Who the Short is for, or the level of the lesson: #BeginnerGuitar.
4. Check YouTube’s suggestions. Type # in the description and read what YouTube offers. Swap one in only if it fits this Short better than your own.
5. Open each results page. Every hashtag links to videos sharing it. If those videos look nothing like yours, the tag describes some other Short. Drop it.

Every row is 1 subject + 1 task + 1 viewer = 3 tags. The subject tag can repeat across a series of chess Shorts. The task tag changes with each upload, because each Short shows one thing.

Where the Hashtag Finder fits a Short

Go Viral, an app for iPhone and iPad, analyzes Shorts clips: import the file or paste the Short’s link. Its Hashtag Finder suggests relevant hashtags balanced for reach and competition.

Read those suggestions as candidates for the three slots. Keep a tag only if it names the subject, the task or the viewer of this Short, and put the three in the description. Drop the rest.

The app reads the clip and does not connect to your YouTube account, so it cannot see which three tags YouTube shows by the title or how the Short does in search after posting.