Why do my YouTube Shorts get views but no subscribers?

The Shorts feed is designed for continuous swiping. A viewer watches your Short, then the next one from someone else, and the one after that. Liking a Short costs nothing; subscribing is a decision that says "I want more of this specific thing". If your Shorts jump between topics, a funny moment one day, a product the next, a trend after that, a viewer has no idea what subscribing would get them, so they do not.

Look at your Shorts that did win subscribers. In YouTube Studio, the analytics for each Short shows subscribers gained, and the pattern is usually clear: they come from Shorts that are part of something recognisable. A bakery in Satellite Town posting "one cake a day, start to finish", a mechanic showing "one common fault per Short" or a teacher answering "one exam question a day" gives viewers a reason to come back. Make more of whatever already converts, even if other Shorts got more views.

Then give viewers somewhere to go. Use the related-video link to point each Short at the full video it came from. End some Shorts with a reason to continue rather than a request to subscribe: "the full repair is on the channel" works better than "please subscribe". Finally, check your channel page, because people who tap your name after a Short land there. If it shows a confusing mix of videos with no clear description, fix that before chasing more views.