How to Change Someone’s Role on YouTube

Is this your situation?

The short answer

Before you start

• Confirm you can manage permissions Only managers and the owner can view who has channel access.Verify: Check that your role is Owner or Manager.
• Know the role names Channel permissions support five different levels of access.Verify: Review the roles explained list.
• Locate the person's current role You want to change this person's access.Verify: Check the Permissions list for their name.
• Know what a Manager can still do The Manager role can manage permissions in YouTube Studio.Verify: Confirm this matches the access the person needs.

How YouTube handles this

• Channel permissions let you give other users access to your channel via specific roles.
• Only managers and the owner can view names and emails of people with access to the channel.
• To remove access, go to Settings, click Permissions, find the person, click the down arrow under Role, then select a new role or click Remove access.
• A Brand Account owner must switch to channel permissions to add or remove access to a channel.

Step by step

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio You want to change someone's role on the channel.Where: YouTube StudioConfirm: Check that the channel dashboard loads.
2. Open Settings Open the settings menu.Where: YouTube Studio → SettingsConfirm: Check that the Settings panel opens.
3. Open Permissions Open the Permissions tab.Where: YouTube Studio → Settings → PermissionsConfirm: Check the Permissions list for the person you want to change.
4. Find the person You look for their name in the list.Where: YouTube Studio → Settings → PermissionsConfirm: Check the Role column next to their name.
5. Open the Role dropdown Click the down arrow under Role next to their name.Where: YouTube Studio → Settings → PermissionsConfirm: Check that a list of role options appears.
6. Select the new role Select a new role.Where: YouTube Studio → Settings → PermissionsConfirm: Check the Role column next to their name.If this fails: Refresh the Permissions page and try again.
7. Review the change Check the updated role against what the person needs to do.Where: YouTube Studio → Settings → PermissionsConfirm: Check the Role column shows the new role.
8. Confirm the person's access matches the new role Ask the person to check what they can now do on the channel.Where: YouTube Studio → Settings → PermissionsConfirm: Check that the role listed matches what they report.

Common mistakes

• Wrong role assumptions The Manager role cannot delete the channel.Why it happens: Managers are assumed to have owner-level control.
• Editor expected to manage permissions The Editor role cannot manage permissions.Why it happens: Editors are given tasks that need permission changes.
• Removing access instead of reducing it Selecting Remove access ends the person's access entirely.Why it happens: The Remove access option sits next to the role list.Already happened: See how to restore access after removing someone.
• Assuming an Editor can delete published videos The Editor role cannot delete the channel or published content.Why it happens: Editors are given upload duties and assumed to have matching delete rights.

Roles at a glance

Keeping track of who has access