How to transfer ownership of a YouTube channel

YouTube changes a channel's owner through its Brand Account. The current owner adds the new person as an Owner of the Brand Account under Manage permissions, and once the new person has been an owner for 7 days or more, they set themselves as Primary owner. A channel that uses channel permissions has to opt out of them first, and YouTube says a channel that is not on a Brand Account can change managers but not owners.

This page is for a business, creator or agency handing a channel to a new owner, or taking it back from an agency. Giving an agency a role on a channel you keep is a different task: see how to give an agency access to your YouTube channel.

Which kind of channel do you have?

YouTube connects every channel to an account, and that decides the route:

• A channel on a Brand Account, using Brand Account roles. Several people manage it from their own Google Accounts. The owner can be changed with the steps below.
• A channel on a Brand Account that moved to channel permissions. People are invited in YouTube Studio. To change the owner, you opt out of channel permissions first, then use the Brand Account steps.
• A channel on a personal Google Account. The channel name is the Google Account's name. YouTube says you can change managers but not owners.

To check: go to myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts and look under "Your Brand Accounts". If the channel's account is listed, the channel is on a Brand Account. If nothing is listed, select your profile picture in the top right and check you are signed in to the right Google Account. YouTube notes that having a Brand Account does not mean you are using it on YouTube.

Check who owns it now

Before any step, see who is on the account:

• On a Brand Account: in the Brand Accounts section of your Google Account, select the account under "Your Brand Accounts", then Manage permissions. YouTube says you see everyone who can manage it, including the owners. There is one primary owner.
• With channel permissions: in YouTube Studio, click Settings, then Permissions. Only managers and the owner can see the names and email addresses of the people with access.

Write down who the primary owner is. YouTube's warning: if you delete the primary owner account linked to your channel, the channel will also be deleted. So never close the Google Account of a person who owns the channel, such as an employee who is leaving, before ownership has moved.

Brand Account: make the new person primary owner

YouTube's owners and managers article gives the steps in two halves.

The current owner invites the new owner:

1. Go to the Brand Accounts section of your Google Account.
2. Under "Your Brand Accounts", select the account.
3. Select Manage permissions.
4. Choose Invite new users and enter the new person's email address.
5. Under their name, choose the role. Owners can take the most actions and control who manages the account.
6. Select Invite, then Done. The new person gets an email and accepts.

After 7 days or more as an owner, the new owner makes themselves primary owner:

1. On a computer, go to the Brand Accounts section of the Google Account.
2. Under "Your Brand Accounts", select the account.
3. Click Manage permissions.
4. Find your name. Next to it, click the down arrow and choose Primary owner.
5. In the confirmation window, click Transfer.

If the option is missing, YouTube's checks are: you have been an owner for at least 7 days, the channel is opted out of channel permissions, and you are an owner rather than a manager, since managers can't change the primary owner. YouTube recommends at least one other owner besides the primary owner.

Channel permissions: opt out first

In channel permissions, YouTube says the Owner can do everything except transfer ownership to other users. So a channel that has moved to channel permissions goes back to Brand Account roles for the transfer:

1. In YouTube Studio, click Settings, then Permissions.
2. Select "Opt out of permissions in YouTube Studio".
3. Change the primary owner with the Brand Account steps above.

YouTube says to opt out only when you need to complete a transfer, and that going back to Brand Account roles means inviting everyone to the Brand Account again. After the transfer, the new primary owner can move the channel back to channel permissions: in YouTube Studio, Settings > Permissions > Move Permissions, then invite each person again with their role. Our YouTube access guide has those steps.

A channel on a personal account

YouTube's rule is short: if the channel is not connected to a Brand Account, "you can change channel managers, but not owners." Its instruction for a transfer is to "convert to a Brand Account by removing all roles in the permissions set up."

YouTube's channel move article explains how to create a Brand Account (on YouTube, go to your channel list and click Create a channel) and how to move a channel. The move itself is written for moving between Brand Accounts associated with the same Google Account, although the menu item reads "Move channel to your Google Account or to a different brand account". If your channel is on a personal account, check that option on your own screen before you plan around it, and remove everyone from channel permissions first, as YouTube requires.

Move a channel to another Brand Account

This route moves a channel between accounts you control. It does not hand the channel to another person; for that, use the primary owner steps above.

Before you begin, YouTube asks that:

• your Google Account is the primary owner
• the channel is opted out of channel permissions
• nobody else has access through channel permissions (remove them in Studio first)
• the account is not a supervised account

The steps:

1. Sign in to YouTube and click your profile picture.
2. Switch to the Google Account associated with the channel you want to move.
3. Click Settings, then Advanced settings.
4. Next to the Move channel section, select Move channel to your Google Account or to a different brand account.
5. Choose the account to move to.
6. If that account already has a YouTube channel, YouTube asks you to click Replace, then Delete channel. This permanently deletes that other channel, including its videos, comments, messages, playlists and history.
7. Check how the channel name will appear, then click Move channel. You may be asked to enter your password again.

YouTube lists what is lost. The account the channel moves from loses its watch and search history, the Creator Demographic information and gift settings. The channel that is replaced loses its videos, messages, playlists, channel history and verification badge. YouTube warns that a move done wrong can delete the wrong channel, so check twice which account you are signed in to.

Waiting periods and what you cannot undo

• 7 days as an owner before you can make yourself primary owner.
• 7 days as an owner before you can delete or restore a Brand Account.
• 30 days before a channel permissions invitation expires.
• Deleting the primary owner's account deletes the channel.
• Replacing a channel in a move permanently deletes it.

Taking a channel back from an agency

• The agency has a role in channel permissions: you don't need a transfer. Remove its access in YouTube Studio under Settings > Permissions: select the down arrow next to its role, then Remove access.
• The agency is an owner or the primary owner of the Brand Account: ask it to invite your business's Google Account as an owner. After 7 days, make yourself primary owner with the steps above, then decide who else stays.
• The channel sits on the agency's own personal Google Account: YouTube allows no owner change there, so the agency has to convert it to a Brand Account first, as described above, and then add you.

When you change agency, our guide to removing an old agency's access covers Google and Meta in the right order. If your Business Profile is held by the same agency, see requesting ownership of a Business Profile, and the access checklist for what to give the next agency.