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30 YouTube Shorts Ideas Without Showing Your Face (With First-Video Examples)

The best YouTube Shorts ideas without showing your face are formats where something else carries the video: an animated character, a narrated story, a text chat, a quiz, your hands or your screen. Here are 30 ideas, grouped by format, each with a first video you can make today.

By Ayaz Alam8 min read
Found your idea? Here is how to post it every day.

Quick answer

  • Faceless Shorts work when something else is the star: animated characters, a stickman story, a text chat, a quiz, your hands, or your screen.
  • Story formats (true stories, mysteries, "what would you do") hold viewers longest. Quizzes and "comment your answer" videos get the most comments.
  • Pick one format and one niche per channel, and post on a schedule. Variety belongs inside the videos, not across the channel.
  • Every idea below lists a first video you can copy, and most can be made and posted automatically.
Make a faceless Short
YouTube Shorts ideas without showing your face: animated characters, stickman stories and text chats on vertical phones

How to choose a faceless Shorts idea

A Short without a face needs a different hook. With no person on screen, the first second has to be a question, a number, a conflict or a strange picture. Before you pick an idea, check three things:

  • Can you make 50 of them? A good format is a series, not a single video.
  • Does it work on mute? Captions and on-screen text carry half the viewers.
  • Does it make people comment? Questions, choices and guesses get comments; comments push Shorts further.
Faceless Shorts formats in Autoclips: Character Explainer, 3D stories, Talking Objects, Miniature, Stickman, Text Story, Quiz and Fruit stories
Eight faceless formats, each one a Shorts idea on its own.

Story ideas (highest watch time)

  1. Real money stories. First video: "The man who sold half of a pizza company for a used car". Format: stickman true story. See true story animation videos.
  2. Unsolved mysteries. First video: "The lighthouse keepers who vanished in 1900". Format: narrated cinematic story.
  3. History in 60 seconds. First video: "What a Roman soldier ate in a day". Format: narrated story or time-travel vlog.
  4. You decide. First video: "$7 million lands in your bank account by mistake. Keep it or return it?" The comments pick part 2. Format: You Decide stickman.
  5. Workplace drama in fruit form. First video: "The banana who took credit for everyone's work". Format: fruit micro-drama, made as a series.
  6. Horror stories. First video: "The night shift call that came from inside the store". Format: stickman with a dark look.
  7. Rise and fall of companies. First video: "How a video rental giant turned down a tiny streaming startup".

Explainer ideas (easy to make every day)

  1. Two characters explain a topic over gameplay. First video: "Why do planes fly so high?" Format: character explainer.
  2. Body facts. First video: "What happens to your body when you skip breakfast".
  3. Space facts. First video: "If you fell into Jupiter, this is what you'd see".
  4. Psychology tricks. First video: "Why you remember unfinished tasks better".
  5. How things are made. First video: "How a pencil gets its lead inside".
  6. Talking food. First video: "An avocado explains why it's good for you". Format: talking objects.
  7. Money explained simply. First video: "What actually happens when you pay with a card".

Interactive ideas (most comments)

  1. Timed trivia. First video: "Only 1 in 10 people get all 5 of these flags". Format: quiz.
  2. Guess the price. First video: "Guess the price of these 4 famous paintings".
  3. Would you rather. First video: "Would you rather lose your phone or your wallet abroad?"
  4. Spot the fake. First video: "One of these facts is false. Which one?"
  5. Text-message stories. First video: a chat where someone realises they texted their boss by mistake. Format: Text Story over gameplay.

Calm and satisfying ideas

  1. Tiny worlds. First video: a miniature city waking up, with ambient sound and no voice. Format: miniature.
  2. Satisfying process. First video: a cake being decorated, filmed from above (hands only).
  3. Rain and lo-fi scenes. First video: an animated rainy window with soft music.
  4. Desk and setup tours. First video: your workspace in eight shots, no face, voiceover only.

Ideas you film with your hands or screen

  1. Phone tips. First video: "3 iPhone settings to turn off today" (screen recording).
  2. App and AI tool tutorials. First video: "Make a logo in 30 seconds with this free tool".
  3. Cooking from above. First video: "3-ingredient breakfast in 60 seconds".
  4. Drawing and crafts. First video: "Drawing a cat in one line".
  5. Unboxing without a face. First video: "Is the cheapest gadget on this site any good?"
  6. Before and after. First video: a messy drawer to tidy in 30 seconds.
  7. Language bites. First video: "5 Spanish words you can't translate" with text on screen.
Twelve topic categories for faceless Shorts in Autoclips, such as Space and Cosmos, Weird and Unusual and Food and Cooking
Topic categories that work well for faceless Shorts.

Ideas 1 to 20 can be made and posted on a schedule. Pick one, set a time, and it runs.

Create an automation

Turn one idea into a channel

  1. Pick one idea and one niche from the list above.
  2. Make 5 to 10 videos and watch which ones people finish.
  3. Put the winner on a schedule with an automation: see YouTube Shorts automation.
  4. Post at the same time every day, and check results once a week. See how many Shorts to post per day.

Want the ideas that also pay best per view? Read faceless YouTube niches with high RPM.

Made with Autoclips

Real videos people made in the app. Tap one to watch it with sound.

When Bayer Sold Heroin as Cough Syrup
The Slave Army That Broke the Mongols
Correct Me If I’m Wrong
Same Wallet
Why the Most Visited Website in History No Longer Exists
Dead Peasant Insurance
Make one like this

Frequently asked questions

What Shorts can I make without showing my face?

Animated stories, character explainers, text-message stories, quizzes, satisfying or calm videos, screen recordings, and anything filmed with only your hands. All of them can do well when the hook is strong.

Do faceless YouTube Shorts get views?

Yes. Many of the biggest Shorts channels are stories, quizzes and animations with no presenter. Views come from the hook, the topic and posting consistently, not from a face.

Can faceless Shorts be monetised?

Yes, once the channel meets the YouTube Partner Program requirements and the videos are original. Copied or repetitive content is what gets refused, not faceless content.

What is the easiest faceless Shorts idea for beginners?

A character explainer or a stickman story: you choose a topic and the video is made around it, with no filming or drawing. Quizzes are a close second.

Do I need my own voice for faceless Shorts?

No. AI voices read the script in many languages, or you can clone your own voice if you want the channel to sound like you.

How do I make faceless Shorts every day?

Pick one format and niche, then use an automation that makes and posts a new Short at set times. Check the results once a week and adjust the topic.

Pick an idea and post it every day

Autoclips makes faceless Shorts in your format and niche, and posts them for you.

Make a faceless Short

Ayaz Alam · Founder of Autoclips

Ayaz builds Autoclips and makes the tutorials on its YouTube channel. Every step in these guides is tested in the app before it is published.

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