Channel Permissions

YouTube channel permissions let an owner give other Google Accounts the Manager, Editor, Editor (limited), Subtitle editor, Viewer or Viewer (limited) role in YouTube Studio under Settings > Permissions, without sharing a password. Transferring a channel to a new primary owner needs a Brand Account and a 7-day wait.

To add a manager to a YouTube channel, open YouTube Studio, go to Settings > Permissions, click Invite, enter the person's email address, pick a role (Manager, Editor, Editor (limited), Subtitle editor, Viewer or Viewer (limited)) and click Done, then Save; the invitation expires after 30 days if it is not accepted. Channel permissions let a team work on one channel from their own Google Accounts, so nobody needs the owner's password and access can be removed with one click. Handing the channel itself to someone else is a different job: it needs a Brand Account and 7 days of waiting.

Quick facts

Where	YouTube Studio: Settings > Permissions
Roles	Owner, Manager, Editor, Editor (limited), Subtitle editor, Viewer, Viewer (limited)
Invitations	Expire after 30 days
Who sees the team	Only the owner and managers see names and emails
Not covered	YouTube Music, the YouTube Kids app and the YouTube APIs
Brand Accounts	Must migrate to channel permissions first
New primary owner	Owner or manager for 7 days or more

Roles

Role	Can	Cannot
Owner	Everything, including deleting the channel and managing permissions	Hand ownership to another user through channel permissions
Manager	Add and remove people, edit the channel, upload, publish and delete videos, run live streams, post and comment, use the Content detection tab, receive copyright emails	Delete the channel
Editor	See all data, edit nearly everything, upload and publish, run live streams, post and comment	Delete the channel or published videos, manage permissions, enter contracts, delete streams or stream keys
Editor (limited)	What an Editor can	See revenue data
Subtitle editor	Add, edit, publish and delete subtitles	Anything else
Viewer	See all channel details and revenue, make Analytics groups, watch streams being set up	Edit anything, manage streams, moderate live chat
Viewer (limited)	What a Viewer can	See revenue data

Source: Add or remove access to your YouTube channel, YouTube Help.

5:01 Editor is the usual choice for a video editor or a channel assistant, Manager for a business partner or agency trusted with the team itself, and the limited roles for people who should not see earnings. Subtitle editor suits translators (Captions and Subtitles). The roles carry over to Ask Studio, Studio's AI assistant: it answers from the asker's own permissions, so someone with Viewer (limited) cannot get revenue data through it either.

How do I add a manager to my YouTube channel?

Sign in to YouTube Studio as the channel owner or a manager.
Click Settings, then Permissions.
Click Invite and enter the person's email address.
Choose a role and click Done, then Save.

The person accepts from the email or from YouTube Studio; the invitation lapses after 30 days. In the YouTube Studio app the path is profile picture > Settings > Permissions > Invite. To remove someone, select them on the same page and choose Remove access. People added this way work in Studio as the channel, but they cannot use YouTube Music, the YouTube Kids app or the YouTube APIs on its behalf.

Brand Accounts

Older channels often sit in a Brand Account, a separate Google identity with its own owners and managers set in the Google Account settings, not in Studio. A Brand Account channel must migrate to channel permissions before people can be added or removed in Studio. Brand Accounts still matter for one thing channel permissions cannot do: change who owns the channel. In a Brand Account, a Manager cannot invite users, delete the channel, make purchases or join or leave a network, and a Communications manager can take no action on YouTube. George Vanous, who runs the Freedom! network, explains the primary owner, owner and manager roles in his video "YouTube roles explained: Primary owner - Owner - Manager - KYC #23".

How do I transfer a YouTube channel to someone else?

Ownership moves through a Brand Account, and Google requires two waits of 7 days or more: the person making the change must have been an owner for 7 days, and the new primary owner must have been an owner or manager for 7 days.

If the channel uses channel permissions, put it in a Brand Account (YouTube's move channel steps under Settings > Advanced settings, after opting out of channel permissions and removing the people added there).
In the Google Account's Brand Accounts page, select the account and choose Manage permissions.
Invite the new person as an Owner and wait for them to accept.
After 7 days, open Manage permissions again, click the arrow beside their name and choose Primary owner, then Transfer.

George's video "Transfer YouTube channel ownership!" walks through the same handover. Deleting the Google Account that is the primary owner deletes the channel with it (Help), so the old owner should leave only after the transfer is done. A monetized channel also has its own AdSense for YouTube link, which the new owner should check after the handover.

Security

1:53 Permissions are the safe way to share a channel: each person signs in with their own account and 2-Step Verification, and the owner can see and revoke access at any time. YouTube's hacked channel advice asks owners to review the people with access after any break-in: managers and editors should secure their own Google Accounts too, since a compromised manager account can also lead to a hacked channel, and YouTube suggests revoking their access until they have. Sharing a password instead gives the other person everything, including the power to lock the owner out.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add someone to manage my YouTube channel? In YouTube Studio, go to Settings > Permissions > Invite, enter their email, pick a role such as Manager or Editor, and save. They must accept within 30 days.

What is the difference between a YouTube Manager and Editor? A Manager can add and remove people and delete videos; an Editor can upload and edit nearly everything but cannot manage permissions, delete published videos or enter contracts. Neither can delete the channel.

Can I transfer ownership of my YouTube channel? Yes, through a Brand Account: add the new person as an owner, wait 7 days, then make them primary owner under Manage permissions. Channel permissions alone cannot transfer ownership.

Why can't I add people to my YouTube channel in Studio? If the channel is in a Brand Account, YouTube asks you to migrate to channel permissions first, and only the owner or a manager can invite people.

Can a YouTube channel manager delete the channel? No. Only the owner can delete a YouTube channel.

Can people with channel permissions see my YouTube revenue? Managers, Editors and Viewers can; the Editor (limited) and Viewer (limited) roles hide revenue data.