YouTube Shorts in Playlists: How They Affect Your Total Time

What Are YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts are vertical videos under 60 seconds. They appear on the Shorts shelf but can also be added to regular playlists.

The Problem With Shorts in Playlists

When a playlist contains both long-form videos and Shorts, the total duration can be misleading. A playlist showing "50 videos" might have 20 Shorts that each last 30 seconds — massively reducing the actual watch time.

How PlaylistCalc Handles Shorts

PlaylistCalc includes Shorts in the total duration calculation since they are legitimate videos in the playlist. However, the video list view lets you see each video's duration so you can identify the Shorts easily.

How to Identify Shorts

In PlaylistCalc's video list:

Filter or sort by duration

Videos under 60 seconds are likely Shorts

Videos marked with "#Shorts" in the title are definitely Shorts

Should You Remove Shorts From Your Playlist?

It depends on your use case. For a study playlist, Shorts might be distracting. For entertainment, they add variety. Use PlaylistCalc to see how much they contribute to your total duration.