How-To

How to Create a YouTube Channel (Personal or Business)

Updated 10 min read
Illustration of a blank channel banner and a widescreen video frame built from stacked emerald building blocks, with a plus-sign block, with the title 'How to Create a YouTube Channel (Personal or Business)'

To create a YouTube channel, sign in to YouTube on a computer or the mobile site, click your profile picture, open Settings, select Add or manage channel(s), then Create a channel. Choose a profile picture, name and handle, and click Create channel. That makes a personal channel only you can manage; a business name or a team calls for a Brand Account channel instead. Checked against YouTube Help: Create a YouTube channel

A channel is where our YouTube growth plan starts. This page also covers the age rules, the phone route and the settings to fill in before your first upload.

Table of Contents

What do you need to create a YouTube channel?

A Google Account, and the age to use YouTube: its Terms of Service set the minimum at 13, and some countries set a higher age to manage your own Google Account. The Google Account alone lets you watch, like and subscribe; uploading, commenting and making playlists need a channel. Checked against YouTube Help: Create a YouTube channel

Google’s examples of higher ages include 14 in South Korea, Spain and Italy, 15 in France and 16 in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Younger children can use YouTube only if a parent or guardian enables it, and a supervised experience may not allow a channel at all. Neither YouTube’s Terms nor Google’s age page sets a separate age for creating a channel. Checked against YouTube Terms of Service (US): Age Requirements

Personal or business channel: which should you create?

Create a personal channel if only you will ever run it, and a Brand Account channel for a business or other name, or when more than one person will manage it. That’s the line YouTube Help draws. Checked against YouTube Help: Create a YouTube channel

Ownership is where businesses get caught out. You can give helpers access to any channel later through channel permissions in YouTube Studio, but YouTube says a channel not connected to a Brand Account can change managers, not owners. Checked against YouTube Help: Migrate from Brand Account user access to channel permissions If an agency, an employee or a co-founder is setting the channel up, start on a Brand Account. Our YouTube Brand Account guide covers roles, permissions and handing a channel over.

How do you create a YouTube channel?

Follow YouTube Help’s steps for the kind of channel you chose; each set works the same on a computer and on YouTube’s mobile site.

A personal channel

On any device: YouTube on a computer or the mobile site (the Help article gives one set of steps for every device):

  1. Sign in to YouTube on a computer or the mobile site.
  2. Click your profile picture, then Settings.
  3. Go to the Account section and select Add or manage channel(s).
  4. Click Create a channel.
  5. Choose a profile picture, type in your name and Handle.
  6. Click Create channel.

Checked against YouTube Help: Create a YouTube channel.

A channel with a business or other name

On any device: YouTube on a computer or the mobile site:

  1. Sign in to YouTube on a computer or the mobile site.
  2. Go to your channel list.
  3. To create a channel, click Create a new channel. (To create a YouTube channel for a Brand Account that you already manage, choose a Brand Account from the list.)
  4. Choose a profile picture, name, and Handle.
  5. Click Create channel. This creates a new Brand Account.

Checked against YouTube Help: Create a YouTube channel.

If you pick an existing Brand Account from the list and it already has a channel, YouTube switches you to that channel rather than making a new one. YouTube also lists adding channels to your account as an advanced feature, so a second channel may need advanced features access. Checked against YouTube Help: Learn about feature access for YouTube Creators

Stuck on a name? Our YouTube name generator suggests channel names by niche and style.

Can you create a YouTube channel on your phone?

Yes, in a browser: YouTube Help gives one set of steps for a computer or the mobile site, and publishes no separate steps for the YouTube app. Checked against YouTube Help: Create a YouTube channel

If you try in the app and see “This action isn’t allowed”, YouTube says your app is out of date. Update it and try again, or create the channel in a web browser on a computer, then sign in to it in the app. Checked against YouTube Help: Can't create a new channel

What should you set up after creating your channel?

Before the first upload, add a banner, profile links and a contact email, then verify a phone number.

Banner and picture. YouTube recommends a 2560 x 1440 pixel banner of 6 MB or less, and shows the profile picture at 98 x 98 pixels, so keep the picture simple.

Links. A channel can show up to 14 profile links on its Home tab, with the first near the Subscribe button:

On a computer: YouTube Studio:

  1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
  2. From the left menu, select Customization > Profile.
  3. Under Links, click Add link and enter the title and URL of your site.
  4. Click PUBLISH.

Checked against YouTube Help: Manage your YouTube channel's profile (Computer).

A contact email. For business questions, a channel can publish one in YouTube Studio under Customization > Profile > Contact info. Checked against YouTube Help: Manage your channel's basic info

Phone verification. It unlocks YouTube’s intermediate features: videos longer than 15 minutes, live streaming on a computer, custom thumbnails and creating a podcast. Chapters and clickable links in long-form video descriptions need advanced features, which also take channel history or ID or video verification. Checked against YouTube Help: Learn about feature access for YouTube Creators Our guide to verifying your YouTube account has the steps.

Monetization, later. The Partner Program’s current thresholds are in our guide to what YouTube pays. YouTube has announced that its watch-hour and Shorts-view thresholds rise for new applicants from 1 February 2027. Checked against YouTube Official Blog: New opportunities to earn and changes to the YouTube Partner Program (10 Aug 2026)

Planning to stay off camera? Read how to start a faceless YouTube channel before you pick a format.

Can Outfeed set up your YouTube channel?

Start with Outfeed AI

Creating a YouTube channel: FAQ

How do I create a YouTube channel for free?

Sign in to YouTube on a computer or the mobile site, click your profile picture, open Settings, select Add or manage channel(s), then Create a channel. Choose a profile picture, name and handle, and click Create channel. YouTube Help’s steps ask only for a Google Account, a profile picture, a name and a handle.

Should a business create a personal channel or a Brand Account channel?

YouTube Help’s route for a business or other name, or for more than one manager, is a channel on a Brand Account, made with Create a new channel in your channel list. It matters later too: YouTube says a channel not connected to a Brand Account can change managers but not owners.

How old do you have to be to create a YouTube channel?

YouTube’s Terms of Service say you must be at least 13 to use YouTube, and Google sets a higher minimum age to manage your own Google Account in some countries, such as 14 in South Korea, Spain and Italy, 15 in France and 16 in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. Neither sets a separate age for creating a channel, and a supervised experience may not allow one.

Can I have more than one YouTube channel on one Google account?

Yes, through Brand Accounts: each time you choose Create a new channel in your channel list, YouTube creates a new Brand Account for that channel, and a Brand Account holds one channel. YouTube lists adding channels to your account as an advanced feature, so you may need advanced features access first.

Why does it say ‘This action isn’t allowed’ when I create a channel?

YouTube Help says the message appears on older apps and devices and means your YouTube app is out of date. Update the app and try again, or create the channel in a web browser on a computer, then sign in to it in the app.

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