What Happens if the Primary Owner Disappears

Is this your situation?

Where teams go wrong

• Assuming a Manager can take over Managers will not have the option to change the primary owner role on a Brand Account.Why it happens: Teams assume broad access includes ownership transfer.
• No second owner on record It is recommended to have at least one other owner besides the primary owner.Why it happens: Teams treat one owner as sufficient until access is lost.
• Waiting on an Editor The Editor role cannot manage permissions.Why it happens: Editors are mistaken for a fallback administrator.
• Promoting someone too soon A manager or owner can be made primary owner if the person making the change has been an owner for 7 days or more.Why it happens: Teams try to transfer ownership soon after adding someone.

What good practice looks like

How YouTube handles this

• A Brand Account must have one primary owner.
• Any manager or owner of a Brand Account can be made the primary owner if the person making the change has been an owner for 7 days or more.
• If the conditions for transferring primary ownership are not met, you will receive an error message.
• If you can't find the person you want to transfer primary ownership to, you need to add them as an owner first.
• On Android, managers cannot change the primary owner role.

Before you start

• Confirm a second owner exists on the Brand Account. At least one other owner besides the primary owner is recommended.Verify: Review the owners list in Manage permissions.
• Check how long you have held your role. Making this change requires 7 days or more as owner.Verify: Check your role start date next to your name.
• Confirm the candidate is listed as an owner. A person not found in the list must be added as an owner first.Verify: Check the owners list for the candidate's name.
• Check for an error message when transferring. An error appears if transfer conditions are not met.Verify: Check the screen for an error after the transfer attempt.

Which scenario is yours?

1. Is there another owner who has held the role for 7 days or more? Any manager or owner can be made primary owner if the person making the change has been an owner for 7 days or more.
2. Is the only remaining person a Manager? Managers will not have the option to change the primary owner role on a Brand Account.
3. Is the person you want to promote not yet listed as an owner? If you can't find the person you want to transfer primary ownership to, you need to add them as an owner first.
4. Have you held owner status for less than 7 days? If the 7-day ownership condition isn't met, you will get an error message when trying to become primary owner.
5. Is the only remaining person a Manager on Android? On Android, managers cannot change the primary owner role.

Keeping this working over time

• Add a backup owner before a single person becomes the only route to control.
• A Brand Account must have one primary owner.
• Any manager or owner of a Brand Account can be made the primary owner if the person becoming the new primary owner has been a manager or owner for 7 days or more.
• An owner of a Brand Account can change who is the primary owner of the account.

If control is already lost — What happens if the primary owner Google Account is deleted

Keeping track of who has access