How to Manage Your YouTube Account Settings

10 tips for managing your YouTube account

Updated on November 12, 2021

What to Know

Select Account to edit profile and channel settings, Privacy to manage playlists, and Billing and payments for purchases.
Choose Notifications to set email alerts, Playback and performance for video quality, and Connected apps to earn YouTube rewards.
Go to Advanced Settings to remove or delete account. Manage more advanced settings on the YouTube mobile app.

After creating a YouTube account with your Google username and password, you can manage your new account's settings. This article provides a breakdown of what you can customize on the YouTube website and the mobile app.

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Access YouTube Account Settings

On the YouTube website and app, click your profile image, then select Settings to see everything you can manage, such as notifications, playback and performance, and privacy settings.

This article addresses what you can manage when you click Settings in the drop-down menu. You can choose Your Channel or YouTube Studio to go directly to your YouTube channel and make even more customizations.

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Edit Your Profile on Google

This is the page you're directed to after clicking Settings on the YouTube website. Click Edit on Google to change your name or profile image (these are the same as your Google name and profile image). There, you can update your contact information, gender, and birthday. You can also choose to make the information public or private.

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Adjust Your YouTube Channel Settings

Your YouTube channel contains your public information. You don't need one to watch videos on YouTube, but you need one to upload videos, comment on videos, and create playlists.

Select Add or manage your channels to add a new channel, or select Channel Status and Features to edit the following (mostly optional) channel settings:

General: The type of currency you accept.
Channel: Add your location, keywords, and choose your audience (kids or not).
Upload defaults: Assign a default title, description, or tags to all videos. Set all videos to public, private, or unlisted.
Permissions: Allow certain people to edit, manage, and upload videos to your channel.
Community: Add moderators, block users and links, and set commenting rules.

Go to the YouTube Studio and select Customizations to add art (a banner at the top of your YouTube channel), links, a watermark to display on the videos you upload, or to change the email address connected to your YouTube account.

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Set Preferences for YouTube Notifications

In the Notifications section, set your preferences for YouTube notifications. You may want to receive messages about recommended videos, when a new video is uploaded to a channel you subscribe to, activity on your channel, when someone replies to your comments, and more.

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Control Video Playback and Performance

The Playback and Performance section lets you set your preferences for watching info cards on videos, caption settings (on or off), and whether you can watch high-quality videos. These playback settings differ for each device.

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YouTube Account Privacy Settings

The YouTube Privacy settings control who can see your playlists and subscriptions. This section doesn't allow you to change your Google Ad settings or Google data and personalization settings.

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Connect Apps to YouTube for Rewards

Click Connected Apps to connect to a YouTube rewards partner and earn in-game rewards when you watch certain live streams on YouTube.

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Add Billing and Payment Information

Whether you're paying for YouTube Premium, donating to a YouTuber, or paying for a movie, you need to set up your payment method in the YouTube Billing and Payments section. YouTube also lets you set up Quick Purchase, which means you won't have to verify your identity from any of your devices before making a purchase.

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Delete or Move Your Account in Advanced Settings

You can see your User ID and Channel ID in Advanced Settings. This is also where you go to move your channel to a brand new account or delete it altogether. Deleting your YouTube account doesn't delete your Google account.

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More Settings on the YouTube App

The settings on the YouTube mobile app are the same as the ones on the website, plus there are several more. You can set reminders to take a break or go to bed. (YouTube knows how tempting it is to watch video after video on the app.)

You can play HD videos on Wi-Fi only, set videos to skip forward and backward by five to 60 seconds when you double-tap on the screen, and connect the app to your TV to watch videos on a larger screen.

The app also allows you to connect to Google Translate, manage your watch history, choose the upload quality of your videos, set mobile notifications, and watch muted, captioned videos in your feed.

Explore all the YouTube settings to personalize and fully enjoy the YouTube experience.

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