To sign in to YouTube, you'll need to create a Google Account . A Google Account lets you use many YouTube features including Like, Subscribe, Watch Later, and Watch History.
- If you're already signed in with a Google Account, but want to make a new one:
Once you've signed in to YouTube with your Google Account, you can create a YouTube channel on your account. YouTube channels let you upload videos, leave comments, and create playlists.
You need a Google Account to sign in to YouTube. A Google Account works across all Google products (like Gmail, Blogger, Maps, YouTube, and more).
If you've signed in to any of these products before, you already have a Google Account. To sign in, enter the email address you used for those products. For example, if you use Gmail, it's your Gmail username. If you don't have a Google Account, you can create one on YouTube.
Here are a few important details to remember about Google Accounts and YouTube:
Some older, unused YouTube channels (created before May 2009) might not be part of a Google Account. These channels may need to be added to a Google Account before they can be used.
When you sign in to YouTube with your Google Account, you can take advantage of many YouTube features:
YouTube can also personalize video recommendations based on the videos you’ve liked and watched and your subscriptions.
Unless you create a channel, you won't have a public presence on YouTube. Your activity is fully private. If you want to upload your own videos, comment on videos, or create playlists, you can create a YouTube Channel at any time.
You can watch and like videos and subscribe to channels with a Google Account. But without a YouTube channel, you have no public presence on YouTube. Even if you have a Google Account, you need to create a YouTube channel to upload videos, comment, or make playlists.
You can create your channel on either the YouTube website or the YouTube mobile site.
Note: This feature may not be available with supervised experiences on YouTube. Learn more here.
Follow these instructions to create a channel that only you can manage using your Google Account.
Follow these instructions to create a channel that can have more than one manager or owner.
You can connect your channel to a Brand Account if you want to use a different name on YouTube than your Google Account. Learn more about Brand Accounts.
Learn more about using a channel with a business or other name on YouTube.
To verify your channel, you’ll be asked to enter a phone number. We’ll send a verification code by text or voice call to that phone number.
Once you've verified your account, you can:
You may also be asked to verify your account when you sign up.
We take spam and abuse seriously. Using phone numbers to verify identity is one way to protect our community and combat abuse.
We use the phone number to send you a verification code. We also make sure the phone number is not being used on many different accounts.
Note: We don’t sell your personal info to anyone.
You should get the code immediately. If you haven't, you can request a new code. Make sure you're not running into one of these common problems:
A supervised experience on YouTube is available for children under 13 (or relevant age in your country/region) with a Google Account managed by Family Link.
If you set up a supervised account, we change the videos they can find and watch, features they can use, default account settings, and ads protections.
Learn more from our most frequently asked questions.
Supervised accounts on YouTube are available on mobile and computer in the following countries/regions:
ArgentinaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBoliviaBosniaBrazilBulgariaCanada (excluding Quebec)ChileColombiaCosta RicaCroatiaCzechiaCyprusDenmarkDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGreeceGuatemalaHondurasHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanKazakhstanKenyaLatviaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacedoniaMalaysiaMaltaMexicoMontenegroNepalNetherlandsNew ZealandNicaraguaNigeriaNorwayPakistanPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalPuerto RicoRomaniaRussiaSenegalSerbiaSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSri LankaSwedenSwitzerlandTanzaniaThailandUgandaUkraineUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayVenezuelaVietnamZimbabweHong KongTaiwan
Some features normally available in YouTube will be turned off for different content setting options. We’ll continue to work with parents and industry experts to introduce more features over time.
Here are some of the features that won’t be available:
Watch
- Live stream videos (unavailable only in the Explore content setting)
- Posts
Engage
- Comments
- Live Chat
Create
- Channel
- Live stream
- Posts
- Public and unlisted playlist
- Stories
- Shorts
- Video uploads
Buy
- Channel memberships
- Creator merchandise
- Donations YouTube Giving
- Movies & TV Shows
- Super Chat & Super Stickers
YouTube Apps
- YouTube Go
- YouTube Music
- YouTube Studio
- YouTube TV
- YouTube VR
Misc
- Adding products on YouTube
- Cast on TV
- Connected gaming accounts
- Incognito
- Personalized ads
- Restricted Mode
Below are the minimum age requirements to manage your own Google Account.
Note: For younger children, parents can help create and manage a Google Account with Family Link. When a child reaches their country’s minimum age, they can manage their own account.
For all countries not listed below, 13 is the minimum age to manage your own Google Account.
Note: These requirements may not be applicable to Google Workspace, including accounts in Google Workspace for Education domains.
Some Google services have specific age requirements. Here are a few examples:
Across Google services, if we learn that you may not be old enough to have a Google Account, you'll have 14 days to update your account to meet age requirements or your account will be disabled.
Your child’s experience will look much like the regular YouTube app and website. But, the videos they can find and watch, features, default account settings, and privacy protections will be different.
The videos they can watch will depend on the content setting you choose for their supervised account. Some features normally available in YouTube won’t be available. Go to our list of some affected features.
Since self-expression and community are integral parts of the YouTube experience, we’ll work with parents and experts as we consider what features to include.
YouTube Kids is our dedicated app built with kids in mind, while a supervised experience gives parents the choice to let their kids enjoy a supervised version of regular YouTube.
Videos in YouTube Kids are a diverse but smaller selection of videos than what is available on regular YouTube. Videos are selected through a combination of human review, curated playlists from experts, and algorithmic filtering.
Learn more at youtube.com/kids.
Restricted Mode is an optional setting on YouTube. It helps screen potentially adult content that you may prefer not to see or don’t want others using your device to see. It’s used by certain users, such as libraries, schools, and public institutions, who want a more limited viewing experience on YouTube.
Parents of teens over 13 who have supervised accounts managed by Family Link can also use Restricted Mode. They can control the videos their child can see. Supervised experience on YouTube is available for children under 13 (or relevant age in your country/region) and gives parents other filters and controls to manage their child’s YouTube experience.
The new supervised experience is not yet available for teens over the relevant age in their country/region who have added supervision to their existing Google Accounts.
There are three content settings for you to choose from:
- Explore: Generally aligns with content ratings for viewers 9+. Videos include vlogs, tutorials, gaming videos, music videos, news, and more. No live streams, except for Premieres. Some videos contain instances of mild violence, offensive language, controlled substances, and educational videos related to body image and changes, mental and sexual health.
- Explore more: Generally aligns with content ratings for viewers 13+. This setting will include an even larger set of videos. Videos include live streams, vlogs, tutorials, gaming videos, music videos, news, educational videos, DIY, arts and crafts, dance, and more. Some videos contain instances of real-world violence, limited profanity, controlled substances, non-explicit sexual references and topics related to physical, mental, and sexual health and wellbeing.
- Most of YouTube: This setting includes almost everything on YouTube except for videos marked as 18+ and other videos that may not be appropriate for viewers using supervised experiences. Videos include live streams, vlogs, tutorials, gaming videos, music videos, news, educational videos, DIY, arts and crafts, dance, and much more. Some videos will contain sensitive topics that may be appropriate for older teens, such as graphic violence, adult content, nudity, explicit profanity, and topics such as mental illness, dieting, and sexual health.
We care deeply about our users and work hard to exclude unsuitable videos, but no automated system of filters is perfect. You can change app permission and content settings for your child at any time. If you find something you believe is inappropriate for YouTube, you can report it.
To better protect children, ads in certain categories are prohibited and personalized ads are turned off. Viewers of "made for kids" content may see an ad bumper before and after a video ad is shown. This helps alert them when an advertisement is starting and ending. If you have a YouTube Premium family plan, your child is eligible for ad-free viewing and other shared benefits of membership.
Videos where the creator has told us there’s a paid product placement or endorsement in their video through YouTube’s paid product placement and endorsement notification tools will be shown to supervised accounts on YouTube. These videos must also comply with the ad policy on videos that are made for kids.
YouTube is a part of Google and adheres to Google’s privacy policies and principles. We know it’s important for you to understand what personal info we collect in association with your child’s Google Account, why we collect it, and how you can update, manage, export, and delete that info. The Google Privacy Policy and our Privacy Notice for Google Accounts for children under 13 (or relevant age in your country/region) explain our privacy practices for your child’s account.
Your child can manage and learn more about their YouTube privacy settings and controls under "Your Data in YouTube" in their account. This page includes a summary of their video and activity data, settings to manage this data, and info on how their data is used to improve their YouTube experience, like reminding them what they’ve watched, and giving them more relevant recommendations and search results. As the parent manager of your child’s Google Account, you can pause or clear their search and watch history from Family Link, or from your parent settings page in YouTube.
Our beta is available for personal accounts, not accounts for schools or educational organizations. How you're signed in to your device may affect if YouTube can be used. Learn more about supervised accounts.
You can set up a supervised experience on YouTube for your child who is under 13 (or relevant age in your country/region).
You’re not eligible for a supervised experience on YouTube if:
- Your child is over 13 (or relevant age in your country/region), unless you created your child’s supervised Google Account before they reached the relevant age in your country/region, and your child has not taken over management of their account.
- You live in the European Union, you set up supervision for your child before April 2021, and your child was under the relevant age in your country/region at that time.