Monetization is paused for my channel

Your channel’s monetization will be paused when there isn’t an active and approved AdSense account linked to your channel. The YouTube Partner Program requires all partners to have an active, approved, and linked AdSense account. 

Note that without having an active, approved, and linked AdSense account for your channel, you can’t earn money from YouTube and ads won’t run on your videos. This includes revenue from advertising, YouTube Premium subscriptions, and other revenue sources such as channel memberships.

While your monetization is paused, you can still keep uploading original content and building your audience on YouTube. If you’re in the YouTube Partner Program and your monetization was paused, don’t worry – you’re still in the program. Monetization will resume after linking an active and approved AdSense account.

Set up an AdSense account

If you are in the YouTube Partner Program, but still need to create an AdSense account, follow the steps outlined on this page:

Set up an AdSense account for payments

If you already have an existing AdSense account, simply make sure that the address on file has been verified. To help keep your account secure, AdSense requires you to verify your address before we send you any payments. Learn more about what’s required here.

Link an AdSense account

If you’re in the YouTube Partner Program and would like to change the AdSense account associated with your channel, you can do so by following these steps: Learn how to link an AdSense account today.

Note that if you have a few channels that are in the YouTube Partner Program, an AdSense account needs to be linked to every channel.

After resuming monetization, will I get paid for the time my channel was paused?

No. Paused monetization means that your channel will not earn money from the duration it has been paused and that ads won’t run on your videos.

Does a channel being paused count as a “strike” against the Multi-Channel Network (MCN)?

No. Paused monetization doesn’t violate our channel accountability policy as it is not considered an abuse event under this policy. “Demonetization” is considered an abuse event and is unrelated to the paused monetization status. Learn more about disabled monetization.

Are claims closed while my channel’s monetization is paused?

No. If your channel’s monetization is paused, claims will not be closed.

How long does setting up an AdSense take?

While setting up a new AdSense account doesn’t take long, activation of the new AdSense account can take a while. Approval is usually within a day or so, but it could take several days. If you’re linking a new AdSense account where PIN address verification is required, it may take 2–4 weeks. Your linked AdSense account needs to be activated and approved before monetization can be resumed.

What will happen to my channel memberships?

When a channel's monetization status gets paused, their memberships feature gets paused as well and members will be informed. After 90 days of monetization paused, then the channel will lose access to memberships and they’ll lose their members.