Change video privacy settings
You can easily change the privacy settings of your videos and manage who has access to viewing.
Privacy settings
- Public videos and playlists can be seen by and shared with anyone.
- Private videos and playlists can only be seen by you and the users you choose.
- Unlisted videos and playlists can be seen and shared by anyone with the link.
| Feature | Unlisted | Private | Public |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can share URL | Yes | No | Yes |
| Can be added to a channel section | Yes | No | Yes |
| Shows up in search, related videos, and recommendations | No | No | Yes |
| Posted on your channel | No | No | Yes |
| Shows in Subscriber feed | No | No | Yes |
Change video privacy settings
You can manage the privacy settings and control who has access to view this content.
Public
- Go to your Video Manager.
- Find the video you want to change, then click Edit.
- In the "Privacy Settings" drop-down menu, choose Public.
- Click Save changes.
Private
A private video can only be seen by you and the users you select. Your private videos won’t appear to others who visit the "Videos" tab of your channel page and shouldn't show up in YouTube's search results. You can share a private video with other users over email if you want them to see it.
Comments are not available on private videos. If you want to allow comments on a video that's not publicly available, post an unlisted video instead.
Set video to private
- Go to your Video Manager.
- Find the video you want to change, then click Edit.
- In the "Privacy Settings" drop-down menu, choose Private.
- Click Save changes.
Share a private video
You can share a private video with other users over email.
- Go to your Video Manager.
- Find the video you want to share, then click Edit.
- Under the "Privacy Settings" drop-down menu, click Share.
- Add the email addresses of the people with whom you’d like to share your video.
- Click Save changes. The users will get an email with a link to the video.
Unlisted
Unlisted videos can be seen and shared by anyone with the link.
Your unlisted videos won’t appear to others who visit the "Videos" tab of your channel page and shouldn't show up in YouTube's search results unless someone adds your unlisted video to a public playlist.
You can share an unlisted video's URL with other users. Unlike private videos, the people you share the video with don't need a Google Account to see the video.
Anyone with the link can also re-share it. For example, they can forward the link or add the video to a public playlist. If you don't want to allow others to re-share your video, make the setting private instead.
- Go to your Video Manager.
- Find the video you want to change, then click Edit.
- In the "Privacy Settings" drop-down menu, choose Unlisted.
- Click Save changes.
To share an unlisted video, just share the link with the people who you’d like to have access to it, and they’ll be able to see it.
What happens if you change a video's privacy setting to public?
If you change the privacy setting for a video from private or unlisted to public, your subscribers are updated in their subscription feed and via notifications (if they've opted in).
Subscriptions feed
We use the time the video was set to public to determine its placement in the subscriptions feed. This means that as soon as it's set to public, the video shows up in the subscriptions feed.
Notifications
If they've opted in, your subscribers will get notifications for a public video when:
- You first upload a public video.
- You first change a video's setting from private or unlisted to public. They won't get a notification every time you change that video's privacy setting.