Best YouTube role for assistant

Is this your situation?

Where teams go wrong

• Granting Manager by default The Manager role can manage permissions in YouTube Studio.Why it happens: Owners default to broad access to avoid repeat requests.
• Expecting an Editor to delete content The Editor role cannot delete the channel or published content.Why it happens: Owners assume upload access includes full content removal.
• Using Viewer for someone who edits The Viewer role can view but not edit all channel details.Why it happens: Owners underestimate the editing an assistant will do.
• Assuming Editor can manage access The Editor role cannot manage permissions.Why it happens: Owners expect any trusted assistant to add others.
• Giving an assistant Manager to let them chat live The Manager role can chat or moderate chat within Live Control Room.Why it happens: Owners equate live chat moderation with a need for full management access.

What good practice looks like

How YouTube handles this

• Channel permissions let people be granted access to channel data, tools, and features without needing access to the Google Account.
• Channel permissions support five different levels of permissions that multiple people can be granted.
• Granting channel permissions is safer than sharing a password or other sensitive sign-in details.
• Only managers and the owner can view names and emails of people that have access to a channel.
• Granting channel permissions lets the granter specify an access level for more control over who can view or update the channel.

Before you start

• Confirm which tasks the assistant actually performs. You list what the assistant edits, schedules, uploads, or only checks.Verify: List the specific actions the assistant needs weekly.
• Check whether the assistant will ever need to remove or add other users. The Editor role cannot manage permissions.Verify: Confirm no permission-management task is expected of them.
• Check whether the assistant needs to delete published videos. The Editor role cannot delete the channel or published content.Verify: Confirm deletion needs, if any, before assigning Editor.
• Check whether read-only access is sufficient. The Viewer role can view but not edit all channel details.Verify: Confirm the assistant will not need to make changes.

Which scenario is yours?

1. Does the assistant upload, schedule, or edit channel details? The Editor role can edit everything.
2. Does the assistant only need to check channel information? The Viewer role can view but not edit all channel details.
3. Will the assistant need to manage who else has access? The Manager role can manage permissions in YouTube Studio.
4. Does the assistant need to delete draft videos but nothing published? The Editor role can delete drafts.
5. Does the assistant need to monitor live streams without managing them? The Viewer role can view or monitor created streams, pre-live and while live.

Keeping this working over time

• Review the assistant's role whenever their day-to-day tasks change.
• Confirm the assistant does not hold permission-management rights they do not use, since the Editor role cannot manage permissions.
• Audit channel access periodically, including old collaborators whose roles no longer match their tasks.
• Remember that only managers and the owner can view the names and emails of people that have access to a channel.

If control is already lost — Someone removed me from my YouTube channel

Keeping track of who has access