Short Links youtu.be and yt.be

The short link for any YouTube video is youtu.be/ followed by the video ID: https://youtu.be/4t4AQ15yj1M opens youtube.com/watch?v=4t4AQ15yj1M. Add ?t= and a time to start partway in: https://youtu.be/4t4AQ15yj1M?t=90 starts 90 seconds in. yt.be is different: it is a short domain YouTube uses for its own named campaign links, such as yt.be/NymaFlowers from the official YouTube channel. A video ID or a handle after yt.be does not work, so you cannot make yt.be links for your own videos or channel.

Quick facts

Every row was tested with curl on Nov 6, 2026; the redirects are listed under "What each link does".

How do I get a youtu.be link?

1. Under the video, click Share (in the app, tap Share).
2. To start at a moment, tick Start at and enter the time, such as 2:30 (Share videos and channels).
3. Click Copy. The copied link is a youtu.be address.

0:41 The copied link usually ends in ?si= and a code. It can be deleted: youtu.be/VIDEO_ID alone opens the same video. More ways to start at a time are on Link to an Exact Time.

To type one by hand, take the 11-character ID after watch?v= in the address bar and put it after https://youtu.be/.

What each link does

Tested Nov 6, 2026 with the Lofi Girl stream 4t4AQ15yj1M:

So youtu.be is for videos only: there is no youtu.be address for a channel. Share a channel with its full address, youtube.com/@handle (see Handles).

What is yt.be?

yt.be is a domain YouTube uses for short, readable campaign links that it sets up itself. In January 2024 the official YouTube channel's "#YouTubeBlack presents Flowers" series used yt.be/FlowersSeries, yt.be/SwoozieFlowers and yt.be/NymaFlowers in its descriptions, each leading to an episode. George Vanous, who runs the Freedom! network, tried yt.be/@handle and yt.be/<name> for ordinary channels and found they do not work: yt.be links exist only where YouTube made them. YouTube Help does not document yt.be, and there is no way to request one.

What creators say

2:06 In a Sep 30, 2024 video, Trevor Nace pointed out the gap between devices: on a computer you can right-click the video and copy its link at the current time, but the iPhone and Android apps' Share button copies the plain link, so on a phone you edit it yourself, deleting everything after the question mark and adding t= and the seconds. He called that "a little bit of work" next to the computer's one click.

Frequently asked questions

Is youtu.be an official YouTube link? Yes. youtu.be is the short link YouTube's own Share button copies, and it sends people straight to the video on youtube.com.

How do I make a youtu.be link start at a certain time? Add ?t= and the seconds, such as youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?t=90, or tick Start at in YouTube's Share panel before copying. Minutes and seconds also work: ?t=1m30s.

Can I make a yt.be link for my channel? No. yt.be/@handle returned 400 Bad Request and yt.be/VIDEO_ID returned 404 in a test on Nov 6, 2026; yt.be only serves campaign links YouTube creates.

What is the si= part of a YouTube share link? It is a code YouTube's Share button adds to copied links. Removing it does not stop the link working: the video opens the same way.

Does youtu.be work for Shorts? A Short's ID works after youtu.be like any video ID and opens the Short on the regular watch page (tested on Nov 6, 2026 with a Short from the official YouTube channel), but youtu.be/shorts/ID does not: tested on Nov 6, 2026, it sent the whole "shorts/ID" text to the watch page as if it were an ID. See Watch a Short as a Normal Video.

Sources

• Share videos and channels, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• How "Chicken Noodle Soup" paved the way for viral dance trends - #YouTubeBlack presents Flowers, YouTube, Jan 18, 2024 (video), its description read Nov 6, 2026
• How To Share A YouTube Video At A Specific Timestamp, Trevor Nace, Sep 30, 2024 (video)
• Tests of youtu.be and yt.be addresses with curl, Nov 6, 2026