Creating your own YouTube channel and a Brand Account

Watching videos, subscribing and saving playlists all work without a channel, but uploading, livestreaming and commenting publicly require one. A channel always belongs to a Google Account: it can be the account's personal channel, or a channel linked to a Brand Account that several people can manage. It is worth deciding at the start which one fits the purpose.

Personal channel or Brand Account?

• Personal channel: belongs directly to the Google Account, and only the account owner can sign in with it. Enough for an individual creator, for commenting, and for a smaller channel for personal use.
• Brand Account channel: belongs to a separate Brand Account with its own name and picture. One Google Account can manage several such channels, and ownership or management can be handed over to someone else. For a company, an association, a joint project, or a channel that may change hands later, this is the better choice.
• The channel is not tied to the Gmail address: viewers see only the channel name and handle, not the email address.

Creating a personal channel

1. On a computer, on youtube.com, after signing in, click the profile picture in the top right corner, then choose to create a channel. In the mobile app, the same is available by tapping the profile picture or the “You” tab.
2. In the window that appears, enter the channel name and check the suggested handle (@handle); both can be changed later.
3. Upload a profile picture if you like, then the create button finishes the channel.
4. From then on, the channel is managed in YouTube Studio: videos are uploaded there, and the channel's description and look are set there.

Creating a Brand Account channel

On the youtube.com/account page, go to the list of channels, where adding or creating a new channel is offered. Enter the brand name here: this becomes the channel name, and a new Brand Account is created with it. The creator becomes the primary owner of the Brand Account. If a Brand Account without a channel already exists, a new channel can be assigned to it by selecting it in the list. Switching between channels is done in the profile picture menu.

Channel name and handle (@handle)

The channel name is the display name and does not have to be unique. The handle, however, is unique: the channel can be reached at youtube.com/@handle, and it is used to mention the channel in comments. Both can be changed under “Customization” in YouTube Studio.

• According to YouTube Help, a handle is generally 3–30 characters long, may contain letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens and periods, and must not resemble a URL or phone number. If the desired name is taken, try adding a period, a number or an underscore.
• The handle can be changed at most twice within 14 days. YouTube reserves the old handle for 14 days, and the old URL keeps working until then; after that, others can claim it.
• Changing the name and handle often confuses viewers, so it is worth choosing a final one at the start.

Giving others access

Never share the channel's password: anyone who knows it has access to the whole Google Account. Instead, under “Settings” > “Permissions” in YouTube Studio, send an invitation to the team member's email address and choose a role. The invited person works with their own Google Account, and their access can be revoked at any time. If the account of someone with access is hacked, the channel is at risk too: Hacked YouTube channel: first steps.

• Manager: can manage almost everything and invite other people, but cannot delete the channel.
• Editor: can manage content (upload, edit, livestream); the limited version does not see revenue data.
• Subtitle editor and Viewer: can only create subtitles, or only view the data, respectively.
• On older Brand Account channels, people with access may still be listed in the Brand Account settings; the primary owner can move them to the new permissions system in Studio.

Some features require verification

On a new channel, some features (for example, uploading longer videos, custom thumbnails or livestreaming) are only available after phone or other verification. Their status can be checked under “Settings” > “Channel” in YouTube Studio, in the feature eligibility section. Enabling livestreaming after verification can take up to a day.