Handles

0:00 To change a YouTube handle, open YouTube Studio, go to Customization > Profile, edit the Handle field and click PUBLISH, or go straight to youtube.com/handle; a handle can be changed twice within 14 days, and the old one stays reserved for you for 14 days before anyone else can take it. A handle is the short @name that identifies one channel and no other, so viewers can mention it in comments, descriptions and posts, and it gives the channel its address, youtube.com/@handle. Unlike a channel name, which many channels can share, every handle is unique.

Quick facts

How do I change my YouTube handle?

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio on a computer.
2. In the left menu, choose Customization, then Profile.
3. Under Handle, type the new handle. Studio says at once whether it is available.
4. Click PUBLISH.

The same change can be made at youtube.com/handle, the shortcut YouTube's own handle guidelines give. After the change, both the old and the new handle addresses work for 14 days, in case the owner wants to switch back; after that, the old handle is released and another channel may claim it. A second change inside the same 14 days is allowed; a third waits. Changing the handle does not touch the channel name, and it does not remove a verification badge, while renaming the channel does (Help).

Handle rules

1:54 A handle must be 3 to 30 characters long. Scripts that pack more into one character have their own ranges: Han and Hangul handles run 1 to 10 characters, and Ethiopic, Hiragana and Katakana handles 2 to 20. Allowed are letters and numbers, plus underscores, hyphens, periods and Latin middle dots, though not as the first or last character. YouTube ignores capitals, so @MyChannel and @mychannel are the same handle.

0:56 A handle cannot look like a web address or a phone number, cannot already belong to another channel, and has to follow the Community Guidelines: YouTube refuses violent, offensive, sexualized or spammy handles. When the handle a creator wants is taken, Help suggests adding periods, numbers or underscores (Help). George Vanous showed it at youtube.com/handle: a plain "George" was refused as taken, so a name like his needed a number to be unique.

Handles cannot be bought or sold

2:45 YouTube does not allow handles to be sold or transferred. George Vanous, who runs the Freedom! network, has pointed out that buying one makes no sense anyway, since YouTube hands them out for free, and that handle marketplaces attract scams. A handle someone offers to "transfer" for money breaks YouTube's rules, and the seller can lose it, or simply never deliver.

Custom URLs and the 2022 switch

0:44 Before handles, channels could claim a custom URL such as youtube.com/c/name, which needed 100 subscribers; handles dropped that threshold, so every channel gets one. YouTube announced handles on Oct 10, 2022 and rolled them out gradually; in most cases a channel's existing custom URL became its first handle, and old links redirect to the new @ address. New custom URLs can no longer be set up, and existing ones cannot be changed, but they keep working. The only way to delete a legacy custom URL is to delete the whole channel. Older youtube.com/user/ and youtube.com/channel/ addresses also still open the channel; the channel ID behind the second one never changes (Find a Channel ID).

0:00 George's video "YouTube Handles in 2023 - Secure your handle!" was made on Jan 7, 2023, a few months after the launch, when creators were urged to claim a handle before someone else took the name they wanted. Today every channel has a handle, and the rules for changing it are the ones above.

What creators say

3:07 In a Jan 7, 2023 video, "YouTube Handles in 2023 - Secure your handle!", George Vanous of Freedom! compared handles to Twitter names and told creators to claim theirs at once, since handles go first come, first served. His advice for anyone with more than one brand or identity was to give each its own channel, because a channel gets only one @name ("one brand, one at name"), which then serves for mentions in comments, the channel's address and Shorts.

Frequently asked questions

How many times can I change my YouTube handle? YouTube allows two handle changes within any 14-day period. After that, wait until the 14 days have passed.

What happens to my old YouTube handle? It is held for 14 days, during which both the old and new handle addresses lead to your channel, so you can switch back. After 14 days the old handle is released and anyone can claim it.

Is a YouTube handle case-sensitive? No. YouTube treats @Name and @name as the same handle.

Can I buy or transfer a YouTube handle? No. YouTube does not allow handles to be sold or transferred between channels.

Does changing my handle remove my YouTube verification badge? No. Changing the handle keeps the badge; changing the channel name removes it until you reapply.

Do old YouTube custom URLs still work? Yes. Existing custom URLs keep working and redirect to the handle address, but new ones cannot be created and old ones cannot be edited.

Can I hide my YouTube handle? Not on its own: Help says the only way to hide a handle is to hide or delete the channel.

Sources

• Channel handle guidelines, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Manage your channel handle, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Custom URL overview, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Verification badges on channels, YouTube Help, read Nov 6, 2026
• Introducing handles: A new way to identify your YouTube channel, YouTube Official Blog, Oct 10, 2022
• YouTube Handles in 2023 - Secure your handle!, Freedom!, Jan 7, 2023 (video)
• Handles on YouTube, YouTube Creators, Oct 10, 2022 (video)