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PlaylistTime / Creator tools / Shorts to normal video

Watch YouTube Shorts as a normal video: Shorts to video link converter

Paste a YouTube Shorts link and get the normal video link, so the Short opens in the regular player with a seek bar, playback speed, captions and quality settings.

More options

This converter turns a YouTube Shorts link into a normal video link. Paste a link like youtube.com/shorts/ followed by the video ID and you get youtube.com/watch?v= with the same ID, which opens the Short in YouTube's regular video player instead of the Shorts player. You also get the short youtu.be link and, if you want, a start time. It works in your browser, needs no sign-in and downloads nothing: a Short and a normal video share the same 11-character ID, so the converter only rewrites the link. If you want to watch YouTube Shorts as a normal video, with a seek bar, playback speed and captions, this is the quickest way, and below is how to do it by hand.

How to watch YouTube Shorts as a normal video

Every Short has an ID, the 11 characters after /shorts/ in its link. The normal video page takes the same ID after watch?v=. So the change is one word in the address:

youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID becomes youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID

By hand on a computer: open the Short, click the address bar, replace shorts/ with watch?v= and press Enter. Anything after a ? in the Shorts link, such as a share code, can go.

With the converter: paste the link above and press Open. It removes share codes and extra parameters, keeps the ID and gives you the clean link.

How the Shorts to video converter works

The converter looks for a YouTube video ID in what you paste: after /shorts/, after watch?v=, after youtu.be/, after /live/ or /embed/, or a bare 11-character ID. It then builds the two standard links for that ID. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you press Look up title and length, which asks the official YouTube Data API for the title, channel and length.

Worked example

We opened this exact normal link in a desktop browser on 26 October 2026: YouTube kept it on the normal video page, in the regular player.

How to use the converter

Step 1: Copy the Shorts link

In the YouTube app tap Share and then Copy link, or copy the address from your browser's address bar while the Short is playing.

Step 2: Paste it here

Paste the link into the box and press Convert. You can paste several links at once.

Step 3: Pick a start time if you want

Under More options, type a start time such as 0:30 and the links will start there.

Step 4: Open or copy the normal link

Press Open to watch the Short in the normal video player, or Copy to share the normal link. Share the page link to keep the result.

What the normal video player gives you

We checked the regular player on a Short opened through its watch link in a desktop browser on 26 October 2026. It had:

You also get the normal page around the player: the full description, comments and the channel link.

One click: a bookmarklet that opens Shorts as normal videos

Drag this button to your browser's bookmarks bar: Shorts to video. When a Short is playing in your browser, click the bookmark and the same video opens on the normal video page. It only changes the address of the tab you are on; it does not send anything anywhere.

Does it work on iPhone and Android?

The converter itself works in any phone browser: paste, convert, copy. What happens when you open the normal link on a phone depends on where it opens. We tested the normal player in a desktop browser. The YouTube app can handle links its own way, so if the app opens the link as a Short again, open it in your phone's browser instead, and use the browser's desktop site option if the mobile site sends you back to the Shorts player.

How to start a Short at a specific time

Type a start time under More options, such as 0:30, and both links get it: &t=30s on the normal link and ?t=30 on the youtu.be link. For several timestamps or chapters, use the YouTube timestamp link generator.

Is this a YouTube Shorts converter or a downloader?

It converts links, not videos. Nothing is downloaded or copied: the result is a YouTube link, and the Short plays on YouTube as before, with its views, likes and comments where they belong. Downloading other people's videos is against YouTube's rules and often their creators' rights, so PlaylistTime does not do it.

What else is a Shorts link?

When the converter cannot help

Sources

Why we built this converter

The Shorts player is built for scrolling: a Short starts again when it ends and the next one is a swipe away. That is fine for scrolling, but not for a tutorial, a recipe or a clip you want to study, where a seek bar, a speed menu and a start time help. Nitin Raja, who builds PlaylistTime, tested a lot of these pages before building this one: after testing out a lot of websites, he found what people need and what they do not, and built around that. People want the normal link fast, from a pasted link or several, without ads in the way or a download button they did not ask for. So that is what this page does.

What this converter does

Why it is different

This converterA typical Shorts converter
What it gives youThe normal YouTube link, youtu.be link and start timeOften a download page
Several links at onceYesOne at a time
Share codes in the linkRemovedOften kept
Doing it by handExplained, plus a bookmarkletNot explained
Sign-in or uploadNoneSometimes

Built by Nitin Raja. Last updated 26 October 2026.

Questions

How do I watch a YouTube Short as a normal video?

Change shorts/ in the link to watch?v=, so youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID becomes youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID, or paste the link into this converter and press Open. The Short then plays in the regular player with a seek bar, speed and captions.

Is there a way to turn a Short into a normal video link automatically?

Yes. Paste one or several Shorts links into this converter to get the normal links at once, or drag the bookmarklet on this page to your bookmarks bar and click it while a Short is playing.

Can I change the playback speed of a YouTube Short?

Open it as a normal video: the regular player's settings menu has Playback speed, and the < and > keys change the speed on a computer.

How do I stop a YouTube Short from looping?

Open it with its normal watch link. In the regular player the video plays once instead of replaying. Turn autoplay off in the player if you do not want another video to start after it.

Does this download the Short?

No. It only rewrites the link. The video stays on YouTube, plays there and keeps its views, likes and comments.

Does it work on a phone?

The converter works in any phone browser. The YouTube app can open links its own way, so if it shows the Short again, open the normal link in your phone's browser, using its desktop site option if needed.

All of them in one place: YouTube creator tools.