Governance

How to revoke agency tools from YouTube

When an agency relationship ends, three separate surfaces hold their access — and YouTube will not clean them up for you.

An agency typically touched your channel in up to three places: Studio Permissions (their Manager or Editor role), Brand Account owners (if they were ever added as an owner), and third-party tools they connected on your behalf. Removing them from Studio alone is not enough — the other two surfaces stay active until you clear them manually.

Before you start

Before you start, confirm you have access to each surface the agency could have touched.

  • Owner or primary owner access to YouTube Studio

    You need to be an Owner (or the primary owner) to remove a Manager. Editors cannot remove other users.

    Verify: Open studio.youtube.com → Settings → Permissions and confirm your own role shows as Owner.

  • Access to your Brand Account settings

    If your channel lives on a Brand Account, the agency may have been added as a Brand Account owner — a higher level of access than a Studio role.

    Verify: Visit myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts while signed in as the primary owner.

  • Access to Google Account permissions

    Third-party tools the agency connected (schedulers, analytics platforms, ad tools) hold ongoing OAuth tokens that survive a Studio role removal.

    Verify: Visit myaccount.google.com/permissions to see all connected apps.

Remove the agency from every surface

Work through all three layers in order. Do not stop after step one.

  1. Remove the agency's Studio role

    In YouTube Studio, go to Settings → Permissions. Find each person associated with the agency — they may have individual accounts, not a single shared one. Select each and remove them.

    Where: studio.youtube.com → Settings → Permissions

    Confirm: The removed accounts should no longer appear in the Permissions list. If their invite was still pending, it will be cancelled.

  2. Remove any Brand Account ownership they were granted

    If the agency was ever given Brand Account owner status (which gives them control above and beyond a Studio role), you must remove them here separately. Check the current owners list and remove anyone from the agency.

    Where: myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts → select your channel → Manage permissions

    Confirm: Only your own accounts and any trusted backup owners should remain listed.

    If this fails: If you cannot remove them, see what happens when the primary owner disappears

  3. Revoke connected third-party apps

    Review every app with access to your Google Account. Revoke any tool the agency set up on your behalf — scheduling tools, analytics dashboards, ad management platforms. If you are unsure what an app does, revoke it and reconnect it yourself only if needed.

    Where: myaccount.google.com/permissions

    Confirm: Each revoked app should disappear from the list. Apps cannot recover their access unless you explicitly re-authorise them.

  4. Change your Google Account password and review 2FA

    If the agency ever had direct login credentials — even once — change your password and verify that your 2-Step Verification recovery methods are your own email and phone number, not theirs.

    Where: myaccount.google.com/security

    Confirm: Your recovery email and phone should be addresses and numbers only you control.

After you finish — confirmation checklist

  • No agency email appears in Studio → Settings → Permissions
  • No agency account appears under Brand Account owners
  • No agency-connected app appears under Google Account → Permissions
  • Your Google Account password has been changed if credentials were ever shared
  • Your 2FA recovery methods are your own email and phone number
  • You have a record of who currently has access and at what role

Common questions

No. Removing a Studio role cancels the person's ability to log in to Studio, but any third-party apps they authorised hold separate OAuth tokens. Those tokens stay active — and the agency's tools can keep pulling data — until you revoke them at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

Delvia

Access issues are easier to prevent when roles, owners, and responsibilities are recorded clearly

Most access problems trace back to the same gap — no clear record of who has access, what role they hold, and what should happen when that changes. Delvia helps you keep that record so problems are visible before they become incidents.

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.