YouTube Shorts Downloader

YouTube Shorts Downloader

YouTube Shorts Downloader extracts direct, ready-to-use source media links from any public YouTube Shorts video — no browser, no login, no watermark. Paste a Shorts link, a regular watch/youtu.be link, or a bare 11-character video ID, and get back the video's title, channel details, stats, and the best download URL available at your chosen resolution.

Request any resolution from 360p up to 8K, get a single playable file when YouTube offers one or separate video + audio streams when it doesn't, and every link is checked live before the row is saved.

Copy to your AI assistant

Copy this block into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or any LLM to start using this actor: Actor ID parsebird/youtube-shorts-downloader on Apify — call it with ApifyClient (client.actor("parsebird/youtube-shorts-downloader").call(run_input={"shortUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Zk5XzLJSAw"], "preferredResolution": "1080p"})) — inputs are shortUrls (array of Shorts/watch/youtu.be/embed/live URLs or bare 11-char video IDs, required) and preferredResolution (one of 8k, 4k, 2k, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p, default 1080p — the highest quality to try, the saved row reports what was actually available) — output is one dataset row per Short with videoId, title, channelName, channelId, channelUrl, durationSeconds, thumbnailUrl, publishedAt, likeCount, commentCount, requestedQuality, downloadType (playable or separate_video_audio), bestDownloadUrl, videoDownloadUrl, audioDownloadUrl, bestFormat/videoFormat/audioFormat objects (formatId, quality, resolution, extension, codecs, filesize), media.mimeType, and availability (HTTP status + content type from a live link check) — API docs at https://apify.com/parsebird/youtube-shorts-downloader/api and API tokens at https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations.

What does YouTube Shorts Downloader do?

This YouTube Shorts downloader resolves each Short you give it straight to the CDN source files YouTube itself serves, the same links YouTube's own player uses:

• 📎 Accepts Shorts links, watch links, youtu.be links, embed links, live links, or a bare video ID — one per line
• 🎚️ Requests any resolution from 360p up to 8k; the saved row always reports the quality that was actually available for that Short
• 🎞️ Returns a single playable file when YouTube offers a combined video+audio stream at a close-enough quality, or separate video and audio download links when that gets you closer to the resolution you asked for
• 📊 Includes title, channel name/ID/URL, duration, thumbnail, publish date, like count, and comment count when public
• ✅ Range-checks the chosen download link before the row is saved, so availability.downloadLinkStatus tells you the link is live right now
• 🧯 Batches of Shorts run in parallel; one bad or unavailable URL never stops the rest of the batch

Run it from the Apify Console with no code, or call it from Python/JavaScript via the Apify API — schedule recurring pulls, wire it into an integration (Make, Zapier, n8n), and export results as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or XML straight from the dataset.

Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
shortUrls	array of strings	Yes	—	YouTube Shorts URLs or 11-character video IDs, one per line. Shorts, watch, youtu.be, embed, and live URLs all work as long as they identify a Short.
preferredResolution	string	No	1080p	Highest quality to try: 8k, 4k, 2k, 1080p, 720p, 480p, or 360p. The saved row reports the quality that was actually available.
maxConcurrency	integer	No	5	How many Shorts to resolve in parallel.
proxyConfiguration	object	No	Apify RESIDENTIAL proxy	Proxy used to reach YouTube. Residential is recommended — YouTube can throttle datacenter IPs at volume.

Output example

{
  "videoId": "8Zk5XzLJSAw",
  "title": "wax cracking is even more satisfying when you DIY it #soundon #wax #DIY",
  "channelName": "YouTube",
  "channelId": "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ",
  "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ",
  "durationSeconds": 25,
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8Zk5XzLJSAw/hqdefault.jpg",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-11T05:00:38+00:00",
  "likeCount": 1484,
  "commentCount": 145,
  "requestedQuality": "360p",
  "downloadType": "playable",
  "bestDownloadUrl": "https://rr5---sn-2oh0j5-5q.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?...",
  "videoDownloadUrl": null,
  "audioDownloadUrl": null,
  "bestFormat": {
    "formatId": "18",
    "quality": "360p",
    "resolution": "360x640",
    "extension": "mp4",
    "videoCodec": "avc1.42001E",
    "audioCodec": "mp4a.40.2",
    "filesizeBytes": 1867885
  },
  "videoFormat": null,
  "audioFormat": null,
  "media": { "mimeType": "video/mp4; codecs=\"avc1.42001E, mp4a.40.2\"" },
  "availability": { "downloadLinkStatus": 206, "downloadContentType": "video/mp4" }
}

Every row shares this field set. videoDownloadUrl and audioDownloadUrl are only populated when downloadType is separate_video_audio — otherwise download the single bestDownloadUrl. Download the full results as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or XML from the Actor's dataset, or pull them with the Apify API.

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("parsebird/youtube-shorts-downloader").call(run_input={
    "shortUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Zk5XzLJSAw"],
    "preferredResolution": "1080p",
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["videoId"], item["bestDownloadUrl"])

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('parsebird/youtube-shorts-downloader').call({
    shortUrls: ['https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Zk5XzLJSAw'],
    preferredResolution: '1080p',
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Use cases

• Archive Shorts from your own channel before they're taken down or before a redesign changes URLs
• Pull source video files into a repurposing or editing pipeline (compilations, clip libraries, backups)
• Feed downloaded Shorts into a transcription or content-moderation workflow
• Monitor a competitor's or a creator's Shorts output and keep local copies alongside the metadata
• Build a media library or CMS import job that needs both the file and the stats in one API call

How it works

1. Add one or more Shorts URLs (or bare video IDs) and pick a preferredResolution.
2. The Actor resolves each ID against YouTube, reading the same signed manifest YouTube's own player uses.
3. It compares every available video+audio combination against your requested resolution and picks whichever gets closest — a single playable file if one exists at a competitive quality, otherwise the best matching video and audio streams.
4. It range-checks the chosen link against YouTube's CDN before saving, so the availability field reflects the link's real, current status.
5. The row — metadata, chosen format details, and download links — is pushed to the dataset immediately, so partial results are visible while the run is still going.

How much does it cost to download YouTube Shorts?

Event	Price per event	Price per 1,000
short-downloaded	$0.00249	$2.49

You're billed one short-downloaded event per Short successfully resolved and saved — failed or unavailable URLs are never charged. Pricing improves automatically with your Apify plan tier (Bronze $2.29/1,000, Silver $2.09/1,000, Gold $1.89/1,000). Apify's free monthly platform credits cover a meaningful number of runs before you pay anything out of pocket.

Input/Output

Set shortUrls and preferredResolution from the Input tab in Apify Console, or pass them as JSON via the API. Results land in the run's default dataset — open the Output tab to preview rows, or export as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, or XML.

Is it legal to download YouTube Shorts?

Downloading publicly available YouTube content for personal use, archiving, backup, or analysis is common practice, but redistributing, reposting, or monetizing someone else's video without permission can violate YouTube's Terms of Service and copyright law. This Actor only fetches links YouTube's own player already serves publicly for a given video — you're responsible for how you use the downloaded media. Read more on Apify's blog about the legality of web scraping.

Other YouTube scrapers by ParseBird

• YouTube Transcript Scraper — get captions or Whisper-transcribed text for any video
• YouTube Thumbnail Downloader — grab every thumbnail resolution for a video
• YouTube Search Scraper — scrape search results for any keyword
• YouTube Channel Search Scraper — find channels matching a query
• YouTube Community Posts Scraper — pull a channel's Community tab posts

FAQ

Does this work on private or age-restricted Shorts? No. Only publicly accessible Shorts can be resolved — private, unlisted-without-link, or fully age-gated videos will fail for that row while the rest of the batch continues.

What happens if my requested resolution isn't available? The Actor picks whatever gets closest to what you asked for, and requestedQuality vs. bestFormat.quality in the output row tells you exactly what you got.

Why is downloadType sometimes playable and sometimes separate_video_audio? YouTube doesn't always publish a single combined video+audio file at every quality. When a combined file exists at a competitive resolution, you get one bestDownloadUrl. Otherwise you get matching videoDownloadUrl and audioDownloadUrl links to mux yourself (e.g. with ffmpeg -i video -i audio -c copy out.mp4).

How long do the download links stay valid? YouTube's CDN links are signed and expire after a few hours. Download the media promptly after the run finishes, or re-run the Actor to get fresh links.

Can I run this on a schedule? Yes — use Apify's built-in Scheduler to re-check a Shorts feed daily or hourly.

I found a bug or a Short that won't resolve — where do I report it? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab in Apify Console with the URL that failed, and it'll get looked at.