How to Schedule a YouTube Shorts Upload

Scheduling a YouTube Short allows you to post content exactly when your audience is most active, without forcing you to be online at that specific moment. It’s the secret to maintaining a consistent upload cadence, batching your content creation, and keeping your channel growing steadily. This guide will walk you through exactly how to schedule YouTube Shorts on both desktop and mobile, plus share some best practices for getting the most out of every upload.

Why Bother Scheduling Your YouTube Shorts?

Before getting into the step-by-step, let's quickly touch on why scheduling is a game-changer for any serious creator. It’s not just about convenience, it’s a core strategy for sustainable channel growth.

• Maximizes Your Reach: Posting when your audience is most likely to be scrolling gives your Short the best chance of getting initial traction. The YouTube algorithm pays close attention to how viewers interact with your content in the first few hours. A strong start can lead to wider distribution on the Shorts shelf.
• Builds Consistency and Trust: When your subscribers know they can expect a new Short from you consistently - whether that's daily or three times a week - they're more likely to stay engaged. Scheduling makes this easy to manage and keeps you from falling behind when life gets busy.
• Enables Content Batching: The most efficient creators don’t create one video at a time. They batch-create. You can film ten Shorts in one afternoon, edit them the next day, and schedule them to go out over the next two weeks. This saves an incredible amount of time and mental energy.
• Helps You Stay Organized: Moving from a random posting schedule to a planned one gives you a high-level view of your content strategy. You can see gaps, plan Pinned-Post promotions, and make sure your content topics flow logically.

How to Schedule a YouTube Shorts Upload on Desktop

The most straightforward way to schedule a Short is through the YouTube Studio on your desktop computer. The interface is clear, and all the options are readily available. Here’s the process from start to finish.

Step 1: Open YouTube Studio and Upload Your Video

First, log into your YouTube account and navigate to YouTube Studio. You can get there by clicking your profile picture in the top-right corner and selecting "YouTube Studio." Once you're in the dashboard, click the "Create" button in the top-right corner and select "Upload videos."

A window will pop up allowing you to drag and drop your video file or click "SELECT FILES" to browse your computer. Choose the video file for your Short. Remember, for a video to be recognized as a Short, it must be:

• 60 seconds or less in length
• In a vertical or square aspect ratio (9:16 is standard)

Step 2: Add Your Video Details

While your video is uploading and processing, you’ll be taken to the "Details" screen. This is where you add all the essential information that helps viewers and the algorithm understand your content.

• Title: Create a compelling, short title that grabs attention. Include relevant keywords if possible, and don’t forget to add #shorts at the end to help YouTube categorize it.
• Description: While less prominent on Shorts, the description is still indexed for search. Write a brief sentence or two describing the video, include relevant links, and add a few more strategic hashtags.
• Thumbnail: YouTube will automatically select a frame from your video to use as a thumbnail, but you can also upload a custom one. A bright, clear custom thumbnail can significantly improve your click-through rate, even on the Shorts feed.
• Audience: Designate whether your video is "Made for Kids" or not. Be honest here, as miscategorizing can lead to issues with YouTube’s policies.

Step 3: Navigate to the "Visibility" Tab

After filling out the "Details" and clicking through the optional "Video elements" screen, you'll land on the "Visibility" tab. This is where the magic happens. By default, "Save or publish" is selected, with options for Private, Unlisted, and Public.

You want to look for the "Schedule" option at the bottom and select it.

Step 4: Choose Your Date and Time

Once you select "Schedule," a calendar and time input will appear.

• Select the date you want your Short to be published.
• Enter the exact time you want it to go live.
• Pay close attention to the time zone listed to make sure you're scheduling for the correct one. YouTube usually defaults to your local time zone, but it's always good practice to double-check.

That's it! Once you’ve set your desired date and time, click the blue "Schedule" button at the bottom-right. Your Short is now in the queue and will be automatically published at the exact time you specified. You can view all your scheduled content in the YouTube Studio under Content > Uploads.

How to Schedule a YouTube Shorts Upload on Mobile

Scheduling a Short directly from the YouTube mobile app is a little less straightforward than on desktop. You can’t schedule it during the initial upload process. Instead, you need to upload it as a private video first and then schedule it from the YouTube Studio app. It's a bit of a workaround, but it gets the job done.

Step 1: Upload Your Short as a Private Video

Open the YouTube app on your phone. Tap the + icon at the bottom of the screen and select "Upload a video." Choose the vertical video you want to upload from your phone's gallery.

Add your title and other details. When you get to the "Visibility" setting, do not choose Public. Instead, select "Private" or "Unlisted" and finish the upload process. Uploading as private means only you can see the video, so it won’t accidentally go live before you're ready.

Step 2: Open the YouTube Studio App

Once the video is done processing, switch over to the YouTube Studio app (if you don’t have it, it's a must-have free download for any creator). The Studio app is where you'll find the scheduling functionality.

At the bottom of the Studio app, tap on the "Content" tab. You should see your newly uploaded private Short at the top of the list.

Step 3: Edit Your Short and Set a Schedule

Tap the three-dot menu next to your private Short and select "Edit video." This will take you to a screen where you can adjust the title, description, and other settings.

Find the "Visibility" option (it will currently say "Private"). Tap on it. On the new screen, you’ll see the option for "Public," "Unlisted," "Private," and at the bottom, "Schedule."

Step 4: Pick Your Date and Time

Tap "Schedule." You’ll now be able to select the publish date from a calendar and the publish time. Choose when you want the Short to go live, confirm the time zone, and then tap the back arrow to return to the edit screen.

Finally, hit the "Save" button in the top-right corner. Your video’s visibility will now change from "Private" to "Scheduled." Your work is done, and the Short will publish automatically at your chosen time.

Best Practices for a Winning Shorts Strategy

Knowing how to schedule is only half the battle. To truly leverage scheduling, here are some strategies that successful creators use.

Find Your "Golden Hour"

Don't just guess when to post. Use your channel analytics to make data-driven decisions. In YouTube Studio, go to the Analytics > Audience tab. Scroll down to the "When your viewers are on YouTube" chart. This chart shows you the days and hours when your audience is most active. Look for the darkest purple shades - these are your golden hours. Schedule your Shorts to go live just an hour or so before these peak times to capitalize on that initial wave of viewers.

Build a Simple Content Calendar

A content calendar doesn't need to be a complicated spreadsheet. It can be a simple note in your phone or a physical calendar. The goal is to plan out your content in advance. For Shorts, you might plan weekly themes, a multi-part series, or simply make sure you’re touching on a variety of topics that your audience loves. This prevents the "what do I post today?" scramble and allows you to be much more intentional with your content.

Batch Everything to Save Time

This is arguably the biggest benefit of scheduling. Instead of going through the entire create-edit-upload-publish cycle every single day, set aside one day a week for each task.

• Filming Day: Set up your lights and camera and film 7-10 Shorts in one session.
• Editing &, Prep Day: Edit all the videos, write titles and descriptions for each, and create custom thumbnails.
• Scheduling Day: Upload all of the finished Shorts to YouTube Studio and schedule one to go live each day for the following week.

This workflow transforms your content creation process from a daily chore into a manageable, organized system.

Final Thoughts

Scheduling your YouTube Shorts is a simple move that unlocks a more consistent, less stressful, and ultimately more effective content strategy. The desktop workflow in YouTube Studio is direct and easy, while the mobile option requires a quick workaround by first uploading as a private video. With either method, you gain control over your posting cadence and free yourself up to focus on creating great content.

We found that jumping between the main YouTube app and the Studio app to schedule Shorts felt like a few too many steps - especially when you’re also managing content for other video platforms like TikTok and Instagram. At Postbase, we built our visual calendar to bring everything into one simple view. You can upload and schedule your Shorts alongside your Reels, TikToks, and other social posts in one go, without the back-and-forth between apps. It’s designed to fit the modern creator workflow.