Governance

How to remove former collaborators from YouTube

When a collaboration ends, removing their YouTube access should be the last step — not something you get to eventually.

YouTube does not expire access when a working relationship ends. An editor you stopped working with last year still has their role unless you explicitly remove it. This page covers how to remove former collaborators across the two places access lives: Studio Permissions and Brand Account owners.

If your situation is actually …

Before you start

Before removing anyone, confirm these two things.

  • You are signed in as a Manager or Owner on the channel

    Only Managers and Owners can remove people from Studio Permissions. Editors and Viewers cannot.

    Verify: Open YouTube Studio → Settings → Permissions and confirm your own role is listed as Manager or Owner.

  • The channel is on a Brand Account if you need to remove owners

    Owner-level access (above Manager) lives on the Brand Account, not in Studio. Personal-account channels do not have Studio Permissions at all.

    Verify: Check myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts. If the channel appears there, it is a Brand Account.

Remove a Manager, Editor, or Viewer from Studio Permissions

This covers the most common case — someone with a Studio role like Editor, Editor (limited), Viewer, or Manager.

  1. Open Studio Permissions

    Go to YouTube Studio, then open Settings and choose Permissions from the left menu. You will see everyone currently with a role on the channel.

    Where: studio.youtube.com → Settings → Permissions

    Confirm: A list of people with their assigned roles appears.

  2. Find the person you want to remove

    Locate the former collaborator by their Google Account email address. If you are not sure which account they used, check any old invite emails you sent them — the invite goes to the exact address you typed.

  3. Remove their access

    Use the remove option next to their name. The action takes effect immediately — they lose access to Studio without any further confirmation step on their end.

    Confirm: Their name disappears from the Permissions list. They can no longer open YouTube Studio for this channel.

Remove an Owner from the Brand Account

If the person was added as an Owner (not just a Manager or Editor), you need to act from the Brand Account settings, not from YouTube Studio. This is a higher-stakes action — Brand Account Owners have full control over the channel.

  1. Open Brand Account settings

    Go to myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts. Find the Brand Account that owns your YouTube channel and open its settings.

    Where: myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts

  2. Review the Owners list

    You will see everyone listed as an Owner, including the single Primary Owner. Confirm who you want to remove before proceeding.

    Confirm: Each person is listed with their Google Account email and their owner type (Primary Owner or Owner).

  3. Remove the former collaborator

    Select the person and remove their ownership. You cannot remove the Primary Owner this way — if the former collaborator is the Primary Owner, you must first transfer Primary Owner status to a trusted account before removing them.

    Confirm: Their name no longer appears in the Owners list.

    If this fails: How to transfer channel ownership

After removing someone — a quick check

  • Confirm their name is gone from Studio → Settings → Permissions
  • If they were an Owner, confirm they are gone from myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts
  • Check myaccount.google.com/permissions for any third-party apps they may have connected on the channel's behalf
  • If they had access to scheduling tools or social dashboards connected to the channel, revoke access there too
  • Note the removal date somewhere — useful if there is ever a question about who had access when

Common questions

No — these are two separate layers. Studio Permissions (Manager, Editor, Viewer) and Brand Account ownership (Owner, Primary Owner) are managed in different places. Removing someone from Studio does not affect their Brand Account role, and vice versa. Check both places when a collaboration ends.

Why this happens repeatedly

Access that is never reviewed becomes access that never goes away

Most channels accumulate former collaborators quietly — there is no prompt to review, no expiry date, no alert. The only way to keep the list clean is a regular habit of checking who still has access. Delvia makes that review straightforward.

Delvia is free on iPhone and Android. Keep a clear record of who has access to your accounts — and what to do when that changes — wherever you are.