Does youtube shorts watch time count for monetization 2026

No — as of 2026, watch time from the Shorts feed does not count toward the 4,000 public watch hour requirement. YouTube keeps long-form watch hours and Shorts views as two completely separate tracks. To qualify for full Partner Program access you need either 4,000 valid long-form watch hours in the trailing 12 months, or 10 million valid Shorts views in 90 days — the two can't be combined to hit one shared goal. There's also a lower entry tier for smaller creators: 500 subscribers and 3 uploads unlocks fan-funding tools like Super Thanks and Memberships once you reach 3,000 long-form hours or 3 million Shorts views, and the same separation applies there too. One narrow exception: if someone watches your Short through a direct link or your channel page rather than the dedicated Shorts swipe feed, that time can occasionally count toward long-form totals — but for the overwhelming majority of Shorts traffic, views are what matter, not hours.