How to Make Your YouTube Video Private

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YouTube is a great service for sharing your videos with the world. However, it is also a great way of sharing videos with friends and family, for their eyes only . Start with step one to find out how to make your video private .

Steps

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    You will find yourself on the home page, with a list of recommendations.
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    You will see all the people you subscribe to, and your library of playlists. Go to the top of the list, and just under "Home" click "My Channel".
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    You will see your uploaded video. Just above your channel art and your profile picture (if you have any of those), you will see your number of subscribers and your number of views overall, and then next to that, the third option will be "Video Manager". Click "Video Manager"
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    On the sidebar, where it is now your Creator Studio, click the "Video Manger" button there just under "Dashboard" and you will see two options under "Video Manager" which is "Videos" and "Playlists". Make sure you are on "Videos".
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    Then look along the tab of the video, and on the right side you will see a blue globe icon which stands for "public". Click on it.
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    Click on "Public" and you will get a drop-down list of options, and the three options are "Public", "Unlisted" and "Private". Click "Private"
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    Congratulations, your video is now private!
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    Why would a public video with no personal information whatsoever be changed to private?
    Community Answer
    Personal information isn't the only reason why a video on YouTube would be private. It may be humiliating to them in another way, or it can identify their online persona in a way that can ruin their reputation. They might also not be able to decide on the right title or description for the video, which could be why it is private until they can make a decision. Another reason why it may be changed to private is because of copyright reasons, if it violates copyright it may be locked to private, if not deleted entirely.
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    Not Helpful 2 Helpful 22
  • Question
    Would someone change a video to private because they can't decide what the title or description should be?
    Community Answer
    Yes.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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  • Question
    Do private videos ever contain illegal activity? Can the mafia and other gangs get away with crimes by making private videos?
    Community Answer
    They're private, so there's no way to know unless they reveal it.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
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      Warnings

      • This is how to change your video from public to private, so the video that you are going to make private must be already uploaded and public.
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