How to change your YouTube video's visibility

If you have a YouTube video and need to decide who can watch it, choose Public, Private, or Unlisted based on the access you want to give. This guide explains what each option means and where to change it, so you do not mistake a forwardable link for private access.

What each option lets people do

• Public: anyone can watch. The video may appear on your channel, in search results, and in related videos.
• Unlisted: it does not appear on your channel’s Videos tab. It can appear in search if someone adds it to a public playlist. Anyone with the link can watch and forward it, even without a Google Account.
• Private: only you and people you choose can watch. It does not appear on your channel’s Videos tab or in search. To share it, invite people by email in YouTube Studio; sending a URL alone is not enough.

Public and Unlisted videos can allow comments depending on their audience and comment settings; Private videos do not. If you want to share with a specific group while limiting access, choose Private and add those people. If you only want the video to stay out of your channel and search in most cases, Unlisted is different: the link can be forwarded.

If the video is Public but you still cannot find it or its channel in YouTube search, follow these checks for internal search.

Change visibility in YouTube Studio

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio and select Content from the left menu.
2. Find the video. For an uploaded live stream, open the Live tab.
3. Next to Visibility, open the dropdown and select Public, Unlisted, or Private.
4. Select Save. Return to Content and confirm that the video shows the status you chose.

If you choose Private and want to share the video, open it, select its visibility option, and choose Share privately. Enter the email addresses of the people who should have access, then save. Check that you invited the right accounts; the link alone does not grant access.

If the default status surprises you

YouTube says the default visibility is Private for creators aged 13 to 17 and Public for creators aged 18 or older. Everyone can change the setting for their videos. The default does not prevent you from choosing another visibility.

To temporarily hide comments, visibility is a separate control: see how to turn comments on or off. The steps and names Unlisted, Private, and Public follow YouTube Help on changing video privacy.

If YouTube age-restricted your video and you want the decision reviewed, see how to appeal that restriction.

If you hid the entire channel and can no longer find its content, follow how to restore a hidden YouTube channel. Changing an individual video’s visibility is a separate task.