Upload videos

You can upload videos to YouTube in a few easy steps. Use the instructions below to upload your videos from a computer or from a mobile device.

Note: This feature may not be available with supervised experiences on YouTube. Learn more here.

Upload videos in YouTube Studio

  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
  2. In the top-right corner, clickCREATEand thenUpload videos .
  3. Select the file you'd like to upload.

Note: You can upload up to 15 videos at a time. Be sure to click Edit on each file to edit your video details.

​If you close the upload experience before you finish choosing your settings, your video will be saved as a draft on your Content page.

Details

Add important details to your video.

Title The title of your video. This field is required.
Description

Info that shows below your video. For video attributions, use the following format:

[Channel Name]|[Video Title]|[Video ID]
Thumbnail The image viewers will see before clicking your video.
Playlist Add your video to one of your existing playlists, or create a playlist.
Audience To comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), you're required to tell us whether your videos are made for kids.
Age restriction Age-restrict videos that may not be appropriate for all audiences.

At the bottom of the Details page, select SHOW MORE to choose your advanced settings.

Paid promotion Let viewers and YouTube know that your video has a paid promotion.
Automatic chapters

You can add video chapter titles and timestamps to your videos to make them easier to watch. You can create your own video chapters or use the automatically generated chapters by checking the 'Allow automatic chapters (when available and eligible)' checkbox.

Any video chapters entered will override auto generated video chapters.
Tags

Add descriptive keywords to help correct search mistakes.

Tags can be useful if the content of your video is commonly misspelled. Otherwise, tags play a minimal role in your video's discovery.
Language and caption certification Choose the original video language and caption certification.
Recording date and location Enter the date the video was recorded and the location where your video was filmed.
License and distribution Select if your video can be embedded on a different website. Indicate if you'd like to send notifications to your subscribers for your new video.
Shorts permissions Allow others to create Shorts using the audio of your video.
Category Select the category of your video, such as education or comedy.
Comments and ratings Choose whether viewers can leave comments on the video. Choose whether viewers can see how many likes are on your video.

Monetization

Ad suitability

If you're in the YouTube Partner Program, you can use the ad suitability page to rate your videos against our advertiser-friendly content guidelines. This action helps us make monetization decisions faster and accurately. Learn more about Self-certification.

Video elements

Add cards and end screens to show your audience related videos, websites, and calls to action.

Subtitles and captions Add subtitles and captions to your video to reach a broader audience.
End screen Add visual elements to the end of your video. Your video must be 25 seconds or longer to add an end screen.
Cards Add interactive content to your video.

Checks

Visibility

On the Visibility page, choose when you want your video to publish and who you want to see your video. You can also share your video privately.

Note: The default video privacy setting for creators aged 13–17 is private. If you're 18 or older, your default video privacy setting is set to public. Everyone can change this setting to make their video public, private, or unlisted.

  • Save or publish: To publish your video now, choose this option and selectPrivate, Unlisted, or Public as your video's privacy setting. If you choose to make your video public, you can also set your video as an instant Premiere.
  • Schedule: To publish your video later, choose this option and select the date you want your video to be published. Your video will be private until that date. You can also set your video as a Premiere.

Preview your changes and make sure they follow YouTube policies, then click SAVE.

Watch how to upload videos

Check out the following video from the YouTube Creators channel on how to upload videos.

How To Upload Videos with YouTube Studio

Learn more about uploading videos

How many videos you can upload per day

There's a limit to how many videos a channel can upload each day. To increase your daily limit, see this article.

Upload audio files

You can't upload audio files to YouTube. See a list of supported file formats that can be uploaded to YouTube.

To add your content to YouTube, try converting your audio file to a video file by adding an image. YouTube doesn't have a tool to do this, but you can try other video editing software.

Learn the difference between "upload" and "publish"

When you upload a video, the video file is imported to YouTube.

When you publish a video, the video is made available for anyone to watch.

Upload vertical videos

When you upload and publish your video, YouTube will figure out the best way to display the content. For the best experience, don't add black bars to the sides of your vertical video. Whether the video is vertical, square, or horizontal, the video will fit the screen.

Figure out why your video's upload date and publish date are different

  • Upload date: The date you uploaded your video. Shows next to your video on your Videos page.
  • Publish date: The date your video became public. Shows beneath your live video and is always in Pacific Standard Time (PST).

These two dates can be different if:

  1. You uploaded your video as private or unlisted, and made it public later.
  2. You're in a time zone that's ahead of PST.

Understand video quality processing

When you upload a video, it will initially be processed in low resolution. This process helps you complete the upload process faster. When the upload flow is complete, your video will be available to stream in low resolution, on a wide variety of devices.

Higher resolutions, such as 4K or 1080p, can take more time to process. While this processing happens, your video may seem to be missing higher resolutions for several hours. Once high-resolution processing is finished, higher resolutions will be available on your video. Learn more about video processing after upload.

Related links

  • Common uploading errors
  • Get an overview of channel performance
  • Channel customization
  • Edit video settings
  • Creator updates

Was this helpful?

How can we improve it?