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Can't sign in with YouTube username

We no longer support signing into your account with your YouTube username—but you can still access your account:

  • Enter your email address instead of your YouTube username. Your account has an associated email address. If you're not sure what it is, see below.
  • Your password still works. Your password hasn't changed—it's still the same password you've been using to sign into YouTube.

You're still signing into the same account as always—you just need to enter the email address on the account instead of your YouTube username.

I don't know my Google Account email or password, or I'm signing into the wrong account

For a limited time, if you enter your YouTube username and your account password correctly (just like before), you'll see this message:

To sign into your account, enter your Google Account email address (provided in the message) and the same password you used before.

Why do I need to sign into a Google Account on YouTube?

You may not know it, but every time you've signed into YouTube since 2011, you've been signing into a Google Account—you access YouTube with your Google Account. The password you've used to sign in is your Google Account password.

As we integrate services across Google, we can no longer support signing into Google Accounts with YouTube usernames. Instead, you need to sign into YouTube with your Google Account email address (this is often Gmail, but can also be a different domain like Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.).

You're still signing into the same account as before—you just need to sign in with your Google Account email address instead of your YouTube username; your password has not changed.

But I don’t like my Google Account email address! If the email address isn't Gmail, you can change your email address. Or, you can replace it by adding Gmail to your account. If you already have Gmail, you can add an alternate email address to sign in with.

Some old legacy YouTube accounts (created before May 2009) are not part of a Google Account. You can still sign into these with the YouTube username. Once you sign in, you'll then need to add the channel to a Google Account.

updated 04/19/2013

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