How to Upload a Private Video on YouTube

March 4, 2022
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When you upload videos to YouTube, it often means you want to share your creation with the world, right? However, sometimes you just want to let a select few watch your videos. To do that, you need to know how to upload a private video to YouTube.

Besides enabling you to let only the people you want watch your videos, uploading videos and making them private on YouTube can also benefit you if you’re a YouTuber. This is because you can fine-tune your videos and publish them later.

If you’re thinking about uploading a private video to YouTube, you’ve come to the right article. We’ll discuss everything you need to know about how to upload a private video to YouTube, why you should make a YouTube video private in the first place, and how to give access.

Without further ado, let’s dig in.

What Does A Private Video on YouTube Mean?

A private YouTube video is a piece of video content uploaded to YouTube that you can only view if the video uploader granted you permission or access. You can set any video private on your YouTube account; you only need to change the visibility settings to private.

Furthermore, private videos do not appear anywhere other than your account, and only you plus a maximum of 50 people with Google accounts can watch them. The people you invite also can’t send the link anywhere else. 

In other words, private videos won’t appear on the home page, search results, channel video tabs, playlists, or subscribers’ feeds; it only exists in a bubble that consists of you and the people you’ve granted access to. 

Why Make a YouTube Video Private?

At the beginning of the article, we briefly mentioned a few benefits of making a YouTube video private, such as letting you fine-tune your videos before uploading them later.

In this section, we’ll name a few more to give you a better idea of what private YouTube videos can help you with.

  • You can share private videos with family and friends without worrying they’ll be shared without your permission.
  • You can use private videos for reviewing information with your coworkers without the risk of the video being shared without your authorization.
  • You can use YouTube as a free cloud storage platform that maintains the original resolution and video quality to backup your videos from your computer.
  • Uploading private videos can help you share confidential information for audit purposes without subscribing to expensive hosting plans or services.

How to Upload Private Videos to YouTube?

1. Go to YouTube

  • Go to the YouTube website and sign in. 
  • Navigate to the top right section and click on the upload video button.

2. Select Video

Click select files and choose which video you want to upload on the next screen.

3. Fill in The Necessary Details

Input video details like the title, description, tags, video thumbnail, etc. If you do this correctly, your videos might just rank higher on YouTube as the four components we mentioned are crucial aspects of YouTube SEO.

Learn more: YouTube SEO Checklist To Get More Views On YouTube in 2022

4. Set Video Visibility as Private

Afterward, go to the Visibility tab and Click on Private.

5. Save Private Video

Click the save button, and you’re done! You’ve successfully uploaded a private video and it won’t be visible to anyone unless you give them access. If at any point you want to let everyone watch your private video, you can simply switch the visibility option from Private to either Public or Schedule as Public. 

If you want to change the video visibility to everyone after uploading,  change the option to “Public” or “Schedule as Public” in the visibility option.

Pro Tip: If you’re a YouTuber, we suggest you upload your videos in private mode so you’ll have more time to re-check aspects like titles, descriptions, etc., more thoroughly to ensure there are no mistakes when you upload them.

How Do I Give Access to Someone to See A Private Video?

We’ve mentioned previously that you’re able to share your videos privately with a select group of people. Follow these steps below to do just that.

  • Go to YouTube Studio, and select “Content”.
  • Click on the video you want to share privately.
  • Navigate to the “Visibility” column.
  • Click the “Share Privately” button under the “Private” option.
How Do I Give Access to Someone to See A Private Video?
  • Input the email addresses of the people you want to give access to. Ensure they’re all Google accounts.
  • To notify each of them, tick the “Notify via email” box.
  • Click “Done”, and that’s it!

How to Change a Published YouTube Video from Public to Private In a Web Browser?

If you have published a public video and wish to make it private, you can do it in a few simple steps.

  • Navigate to YouTube Studio.
  • Select “Content” and select the public video you want to make private.
  • Navigate to the “Visibility” column and change your video visibility to “Private”.
How to Change a Published YouTube Video from Public to Private In a Web Browser?
  • Click on “Done”.
  • Finally, click on “Save” that’s right next to “Undo Changes”.

How to Make a YouTube Video Private on The Mobile App?

The YouTube mobile app is highly intuitive for users and is one of the main reasons mobile devices accounted for 63% of global YouTube watch times in Q2 2021. 

The app’s user-friendly interface extends to making any public YouTube video to private. If you want to make a YouTube video to private on the mobile app, there are two ways to do it:

  • When uploading a new video
  • Changing a public video to private.

Here’s how you can make your video private when uploading a new video:

  1. Tap the “+” icon at the center bottom of your screen.
  2. Click “Upload a video”.
  3. Choose a video from your gallery.
  4. Tap “Next” twice.
  5. Click on “Visibility” and choose “Private”
  6. Tap “Next”
  7. Finally, Tap on “Upload” and you’re done!

If you’ve already uploaded the video and it’s made public, follow these steps to change it to private:

  1. Go to “Library”.
  2. Tap “My videos”.
  3. Look for the video you want to make private.
  4. Tap on the three dots on the right side of the video and tap “edit”.
  5. Tap on “Visibility” and tap on “Private” to make only the people you select to be able to watch the video.
  6. Tap on “Save”.

FAQs: How to Upload a Private Video to YouTube

What is the difference between a Private and Unlisted video on YouTube?

Private videos can only be viewed by the video uploader and the people they’ve granted access to and has a Google account. Meanwhile, You can only watch Unlisted videos via a shareable link, and the people watching don’t necessarily have to have a Google account.

Are private videos secure?

Private videos are 100% secure as the only people who can view them are the ones who have been granted access.

Can subscribers see private videos?

No. Subscribers can only watch public videos.

How to change privacy settings on a YouTube video?

  1. Go to YouTube studio.
  2. Click on the video that you want to change the privacy settings.
  3. Change the visibility from “Public” to either “Private” or “Unlisted”.
  4. Click on “Save”

Conclusion: How To Upload A Private Video To Youtube

While YouTube is an excellent place to share videos with the world. However, sometimes we just want to share it with the right people. 

And if you’re a YouTuber, initially uploading a video in private mode can be highly beneficial for you. One of the main advantages is having more time to do final checks on titles, descriptions, etc., to ensure no mistakes.

We hope that by the time you’ve reached this point in the article, you’ve got a better understanding of how to upload a private video to YouTube. And with that, we wish you good luck in uploading your videos into private mode on YouTube!

Written By
Rifqi Renanda

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