How long should a YouTube outro be?

Between five and twenty seconds — the window YouTube gives end screen elements. Most channels use ten to twenty so the elements have time to be read.

Can the outro itself have clickable buttons?

No. Clickable end screen elements are added in YouTube Studio after the upload; the outro is the animated background they sit on, which is why it leaves space for them.

Do Shorts have end screens?

No. End screens are only available on regular uploads, so an outro is made in 16:9 at 1920×1080 or 4K.

Building and previewing it are free. Exporting the finished file is $5 once for that project, in any format and size, as many times as you export it.

YouTube Outro Maker — End Screens That Fit

An outro is the only graphic designed around something that is not in it. YouTube places its own end screen elements over the last seconds of your video, and the outro's job is to frame them rather than fight them.

The rules come from YouTube. A video has to be at least twenty-five seconds long to carry an end screen, the elements appear in the final five to twenty seconds, and there can be up to four of them — a video, a playlist, the subscribe button, a link. An outro drawn without knowing where those will sit ends up with its best part under a thumbnail.

So building one starts with the empty spaces. Decide where the next video and the subscribe element will go, keep the outro's own type and motion out of those areas, and let the animation move around them: a background that keeps living, the channel name, one line that says what to watch next.

The library has 15 outros and end screens to start from, each with room left for the elements; opening one puts every layer and keyframe in front of you to change.

Keep it the same from video to video. The end screen is the moment a viewer decides what to watch next, and an outro that has the same shape every time teaches them where to look; one that changes every week makes them search.

What you can change

Layout: Where the outro's own type and motion sit, kept clear of the areas you will give the end screen elements in YouTube Studio.
Length: Five to twenty seconds, matching the end screen you plan. The hold is a keyframe you can drag.
Background and colour: Your channel's palette across every layer at once; a background that keeps moving under the elements without drawing the eye from them.
Text: The channel name and a line about what to watch next, each an editable layer in any language.
Formats: 1920×1080 or 4K for a regular upload, and a transparent version in ProRes 4444 or WebM to lay over your own footage.

Or start from one that already moves

All 15 outro templates

Before you start

How long should a YouTube outro be?: Between five and twenty seconds — the window YouTube gives end screen elements. Most channels use ten to twenty so the elements have time to be read.
Can the outro itself have clickable buttons?: No. Clickable end screen elements are added in YouTube Studio after the upload; the outro is the animated background they sit on, which is why it leaves space for them.
Do Shorts have end screens?: No. End screens are only available on regular uploads, so an outro is made in 16:9 at 1920×1080 or 4K.
What does it cost?: Building and previewing it are free. Exporting the finished file is $5 once for that project, in any format and size, as many times as you export it.

Other things to make

Browse the whole library · Which export format your editor reads