Change the privacy settings for your video
Change privacy setting
When you upload a video, by default it’s set as a “Public” video, which means that anybody can view it. You can easily change the privacy settings of your videos. Choose it while you’re uploading the video in the “Privacy Settings” section or, if you’ve already uploaded the video, change the privacy settings by following the steps below.
- Sign in to YouTube
- Open the Guide in the upper left corner of the screen and navigate to Uploads
- Touch the menu icon next to the video you want to change
- Select Edit
- In the “Privacy Settings” drop-down menu, select Public, Unlisted, or, Private
- Touch OK to save changes.
- Sign in to YouTube
- Open the Guide in the upper left corner of the screen and navigate to My Channel
- Touch the Videos tab
- Find the video you want to change and touch the menu icon
- Select Edit upload
- In the “Privacy Settings” menu, select Public, Unlisted, or, Private
- Touch Done to save changes
- Visit your Video Manager
- Find the video you’d like to change, then click the Edit btn
- In the “Privacy Settings” drop-down menu, select Public, Unlisted, or, Private
- Click Save changes
You can also update these settings on mobile in the YouTube Creator Studio App:
- From the dashboard, tap the navigation guide in the upper left corner
- From the menu, select Videos
- Find the video you want to edit by scrolling through your list of videos or by searching for it
- Tap the video you’d like to review
- Tap Edit Video or the edit icon
- Change your title, description, tags, privacy setting, or another setting
- When finished tap Save and you’ll return to your list of videos
Manage video privacy
When you upload a video, by default it’s set as a “Public” video, which means that anybody can view it. You can manage the privacy settings and control who has access to view this content.
A private video can only be seen by you and the users you select. The video won’t appear on your channel or search results and will be invisible to other users.
Channel connected to Google+
You need to link your channel with Google+ in order to share a private video with other users.
If your channel is connected to Google+, you’ll see a field under the “Privacy Settings” drop-down menu where you can add the profiles or email addresses of the people with whom you’d like to share your video. They’ll need a Google account to view your video. You can also share your videos with Google+ circles.
Channel not connected to Google+
If you have not linked your channel with Google+, you won’t be able to share private videos with other users.
If you have private videos that you previously shared with users will continue to be visible by them. You won’t be able to modify the list of users who are able to view your private video, except to remove all users’ access to the video. To share it with other users you will need to connect your account with Google+.
Making a video unlisted means that anyone who has the link to the video can view it. Your unlisted videos won’t appear to others who visit the Videos tab of your channel page and shouldn’t show up in YouTube’s search results unless someone adds your unlisted video to a public playlist.
To share an unlisted video, just share the link with the people who you’d like to have access to it, and they’ll be able to see it. Unlike private videos, the people you share the video with do not need a Google account to see the video. Anyone with the link can also re-share it in a number of ways, such as simply forwarding the link. If you don’t want to allow others to re-share your video, make it Private.
Your YouTube account needs to be in good standing to be able to create unlisted videos.
Can’t see private videos
Private videos can only be seen by people who have been invited to view the video.
Here are some possible reasons why you or somebody you’ve shared the video with aren’t able to see a private video:
- Viewers need to have a YouTube account and be signed into it when trying to view the video.
- If the viewer has multiple YouTube accounts, they must be signed into the account which the video has been shared with.
- Since private videos don’t appear on a Channel page, the person will need to use the specific link to the private video. YouTube will send them an email with the link once you’ve invited them, but you can also send it yourself.