YouTube Shorts Scraper Extract all YouTube Shorts from any channel with comprehensive metadata including titles, view counts, thumbnails, dimensions, and URLs. Perfect for YouTube Shorts analytics, trending analysis, content research, and viral content monitoring. ## Table of Contents - Features - How to Use - Input Parameters - Output Data - Best Practices - FAQ --- ## Features | Feature | Description | |---------|-------------| | Channel Username Support | Extract Shorts using YouTube channel username (@YouTube, @MrBeast, etc.) | | Complete Shorts Metadata | Get Short titles, view counts, thumbnails, and dimensions | | High-Quality Thumbnails | Vertical format thumbnail URLs (1080x1920 or 720x1280) | | Sorting Options | Sort by newest, popular, or oldest Shorts | | Flexible Limits | Control how many Shorts to scrape (0-5000) | | Channel Information | Get channel metadata including subscriber count and video count | | Pagination Support | Automatic pagination to fetch all available Shorts | | Localization Support | Choose from 30+ countries and languages for localized content | | Clean Table Views | Organized data views with thumbnails for easy browsing | | Fast & Reliable | Built-in error handling with user-friendly messages | --- ## How to Use ### Step 1: Find YouTube Channel Username To find a YouTube channel username: 1. Visit the YouTube channel 2. Look at the URL or channel handle (e.g., @YouTube, @MrBeast, @NASA) 3. Copy the username without the @ symbol Note: Not all channels have Shorts. Make sure the channel you're scraping has Shorts content. ### Step 2: Configure Input Basic Example: json { "channelUsername": "YouTube", "sortBy": "newest", "maxShorts": 50, "geo": "US", "lang": "en" } Scrape Popular Shorts: json { "channelUsername": "MrBeast", "sortBy": "popular", "maxShorts": 100, "geo": "IN", "lang": "hi" } Scrape All Available Shorts: json { "channelUsername": "YouTube", "sortBy": "newest", "maxShorts": 0 } ### Step 3: Run the Actor Click "Start" and the actor will extract Shorts from the channel. --- ## Input Parameters | Parameter | Type | Required | Description | Default | Example | |-----------|------|----------|-------------|---------|---------| | channelUsername | String | | YouTube channel username (without @) | - | "YouTube" | | sortBy | String | | Sort Shorts by newest, popular, or oldest | "newest" | "popular" | | maxShorts | Integer | | Maximum Shorts to scrape (0 for unlimited) | 30 | 100 | | geo | String | | Country/region code (ISO 3166-2) | "US" | "IN" | | lang | String | | Language code for localized results | "en" | "hi" | ### Input Details channelUsername (Required) - YouTube channel username without the @ symbol - Examples: YouTube, MrBeast, NASA, Veritasium - This is the handle that appears in the channel URL - Make sure the channel has Shorts content sortBy (Optional) - Sort Shorts by: - newest: Latest Shorts first (default) - popular: Most viewed Shorts first - oldest: Earliest Shorts first maxShorts (Optional) - Maximum number of Shorts to scrape - Range: 0-5000 Shorts - Default: 30 Shorts - Set to 0 for unlimited (scrape all available Shorts) - Each page returns approximately 12-30 Shorts geo (Optional) - Select from 31 countries including: - United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, Australia - Germany, France, Japan, Brazil, Mexico - And 21 more countries - Affects which Shorts and content are shown based on regional availability and trending topics lang (Optional) - Select from 30 languages including: - English, Hindi, Spanish, French, German - Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese - And 20 more languages including regional Indian languages --- ## Output Data ### Sample Channel Metadata Output json { "itemType": "channel_metadata", "channelId": "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ", "title": "YouTube", "description": "like & subscribe", "channelHandle": "@YouTube", "avatar": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/3s6evpqAiDU9tQR4sC2siJippbH2RWVPnwHgyl4V0th2iuQz0VDQZbUhQBGmsxLYo-mjG6TqZQ=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj", "banner": "https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/P8mZnDuGAB-OQBE70IPiTQ-8-h9Ye6AU2pcTxc-Il4c_GQk0n_sHGuVRmm9g_sgnZ7KdIu4TlQ=w2560-fcrop64=1,00005a57ffffa5a8-k-c0xffffffff-no-nd-rj", "subscriberCountText": "44.3M", "videosCountText": "1.2K videos" } ### Sample Short Output json { "itemType": "short", "videoId": "8Cdx6rR6x_U", "title": "you've been upgraded ✈️ by Veo in Shorts", "viewCountText": "16K views", "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8Cdx6rR6x_U/frame0.jpg", "thumbnails": [ { "url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8Cdx6rR6x_U/frame0.jpg", "width": 720, "height": 1280 } ], "width": 720, "height": 1280, "isOriginalAspectRatio": true, "channelId": "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ", "channelTitle": "YouTube", "channelHandle": "@YouTube", "shortUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Cdx6rR6x_U" } ### Output Fields #### Channel Metadata Fields | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | itemType | String | Type of item (channel_metadata) | | channelId | String | Unique YouTube channel ID | | title | String | Channel name | | description | String | Channel description | | channelHandle | String | Channel handle (e.g., @YouTube) | | avatar | String | Channel avatar/profile picture URL | | banner | String | Channel banner image URL | | subscriberCountText | String | Formatted subscriber count (e.g., "27M") | | videosCountText | String | Formatted video count (e.g., "5.4K videos") | #### Short Fields | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | itemType | String | Type of item (short) | | videoId | String | Unique YouTube video ID | | title | String | Short title | | viewCountText | String | Formatted view count (e.g., "16K views") | | thumbnail | String | Short thumbnail URL (vertical format) | | thumbnails | Array | Array of thumbnail objects with different sizes | | width | Integer | Thumbnail width (typically 720 or 1080) | | height | Integer | Thumbnail height (typically 1280 or 1920) | | isOriginalAspectRatio | Boolean | Whether thumbnail maintains original aspect ratio | | channelId | String | Channel ID | | channelTitle | String | Channel name | | channelHandle | String | Channel handle (e.g., @YouTube) | | shortUrl | String | Direct URL to the Short (youtube.com/shorts/...) | --- ## Best Practices ### Do's - Use correct channel usernames (without @ symbol) - Verify the channel has Shorts content before scraping - Select appropriate geo/lang for your target audience - Export data immediately after extraction - Use pagination to get all available Shorts (set maxShorts to 0) - Check the clean table view with thumbnails ### Don'ts - Don't include @ symbol in channel username - Don't ignore error messages - Don't expect data from channels without Shorts - Don't expect data from deleted/suspended channels - Don't forget to check data completeness --- ## FAQ ### How do I find a YouTube channel username? Visit the YouTube channel and look at the URL or the channel handle displayed on the page. It's usually shown as @ChannelName. Copy just the name part without the @ symbol. ### What's the difference between geo and lang? - geo: Controls which Shorts are shown based on regional availability and trending topics (some Shorts may be restricted in certain countries) - lang: Controls the language of UI elements and localized content ### Can I extract from private or unlisted channels? No, only public YouTube channels are supported. The actor cannot access private or unlisted content. ### How long does extraction take? Typically 10-60 seconds depending on the number of Shorts being scraped and network conditions. More Shorts take longer to extract. Pagination adds approximately 2-3 seconds per page. ### What data formats are supported? The actor outputs data in JSON format, which can be exported to CSV, Excel, or other formats from the Apify platform. ### How many Shorts can I scrape? You can scrape from 0 to 5000 Shorts per run. Set the maxShorts parameter to control the limit. Set it to 0 for unlimited scraping (all available Shorts). The actor will extract Shorts based on your selected sorting option (newest, popular, or oldest). ### Can I run this actor multiple times? Yes, you can run the actor as many times as needed. Each run is independent. --- ## 🏷️ Tags YouTube Scraper • YouTube Shorts Scraper • YouTube Shorts Data Extractor • YouTube Shorts Analytics • Channel Shorts Metadata Extractor • YouTube Video Scraper • Shorts Social Media Analytics • Content Research Tool • YouTube Automation • Channel Monitoring • YouTube Intelligence • Video Analytics • YouTube SEO • Content Strategy Tool • Shorts Competitive Analysis • YouTube Shorts Research • Channel Analytics • YouTube Shorts Data Mining • Social Listening • Brand Monitoring --- ## Get Started Now Ready to extract YouTube Shorts data? 1. Enter the YouTube channel username (without @) 2. Set maxShorts (0 for unlimited) 3. Select your preferred sorting, region, and language 4. Click "Start" to run the actor 5. View results in clean table views with thumbnails 6. Export data in your preferred format 7. Click "Try for free" to test the actor If this actor helps your workflow, please give it a star! Looking for more YouTube data? Check out these complementary actors: - YouTube Video Downloader - YouTube Comment Scraper - YouTube Search Scraper - YouTube Video Scraper - YouTube Subtitles Scraper - YouTube Transcript Scraper - YouTube Channel Videos Scraper --- Built with ❤️ by Sachin Kumar Yadav using Apify Platform