Your YouTube channel was set up under one person's Google account, maybe yours, maybe a founder's, maybe an employee who has since moved on. Now a staff member, a video editor or an agency needs to upload videos, and you do not want to hand over a password to make that happen. There is a better way, and it takes a few minutes. To add a manager to your YouTube channel, you invite their own Google account from YouTube Studio and pick a role. If your channel sits on a Brand Account, you can share it too, and a second set of steps applies. Changing who owns the channel is a different job again, because a manager cannot simply be promoted to owner. This post covers both routes, which one fits your situation, and the exact sequence for handing over ownership. It is part of a short series on giving people access to the accounts that run your business, so related steps for other platforms are linked along the way.
Key Takeaways
YouTube recommends YouTube Studio channel permissions for giving people access, and says Brand Account roles should be used only when needed.
A video editor usually needs Editor or Editor (Limited), not Manager, because Editors cannot manage permissions or delete the channel.
Multiple Google Accounts can manage a Brand Account, and its owners invite them under Manage permissions in the Google Account.
Ownership moves by putting the channel on a Brand Account and transferring primary ownership.
Primary ownership transfer needs both people to have held their roles for seven days, and a channel move can permanently delete a destination channel's content.
How do you give someone access to your channel in a few minutes?
Start in YouTube Studio, signed in to the Google account that runs the channel. YouTube calls this feature channel permissions, and it exists so that people can work on your channel from their own Google accounts without ever seeing yours. YouTube Help says granting permissions is safer than sharing passwords or sensitive sign-in details.
The steps, as YouTube's help page lays them out:
- Open YouTube Studio and select Settings.
- Select Permissions.
- Select Invite.
- Enter the person's email address, which must be the Google account they will sign in with.
- Choose the access level, then select Done and save the invitation.
The person gets an invitation and has to accept it. Invitations expire after 30 days, so if someone says they never got access, check whether the invitation lapsed and send a new one. Menu names change from time to time, so if a label looks different on your screen, look for the section named Permissions under Settings.
If you are wondering whether the channel is worth the effort in the first place, our post on whether a YouTube channel is worth it for a small business covers that. This one is about who gets the keys.
Which role should your editor, manager or agency get?
YouTube offers six access levels in channel permissions. They are not interchangeable, and the most common mistake is giving a video editor the broadest one because it feels simpler.
| Role | Can do | Cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Manage permissions, link Google Ads accounts, manage live streams, delete the channel | Pass ownership to another user through channel permissions |
| Manager | Manage permissions, edit channel details, upload, publish, delete content, manage live streams, create posts, moderate chats, view channel data | Delete the channel |
| Editor | Edit, upload, publish, manage live streams, create posts, moderate chats | Manage permissions or delete the channel |
| Editor (Limited) | Everything an Editor can do | View revenue data |
| Viewer | View channel data | Edit anything |
| Viewer (Limited) | View channel data | View revenue data |
For a video editor who uploads and publishes, Editor is usually the right fit. If the person should not see revenue numbers, choose Editor (Limited). Manager makes sense only when someone must invite and remove other people or handle broader administration. Owner belongs to the one person who controls the channel itself.
A good test is to ask what the person would do on a normal week. If the answer is uploading, writing descriptions and replying to comments, that is Editor work. If the answer includes deciding who else gets access, that is Manager work. Start narrow; you can raise a role later from the same Permissions screen.
Can a Brand Account channel be shared?
Yes. A Brand Account is separate from an individual Google account and can be managed by multiple Google accounts. Google Account Help lists three roles on a Brand Account:
- Owner: takes the most actions and controls who manages the account.
- Manager: can use Google services that support Brand Accounts, including posting videos on YouTube.
- Communications manager: can use supported Google services but cannot use YouTube.
A Brand Account has one primary owner, and that matters for ownership changes later in this post.
To share a Brand Account channel, the sharing happens in the Google Account rather than inside YouTube Studio:
- Open the Brand Accounts section of the Google Account, at myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts.
- Select the Brand Account that runs your channel.
- Choose Manage permissions.
- Select Invite new users and enter the person's email address.
- Choose Owner, Manager or Communications manager, and send the invitation.
The invited person must accept. For a YouTube channel, a Communications manager role does nothing, so pick Manager or Owner.
Which route should a small business use?
YouTube currently recommends channel permissions for managing access to a channel, and says Brand Account roles should be used only when needed. So, for an editor, a freelancer or an agency, the answer is the Studio route in the first section: Settings, Permissions, Invite, narrowest role.
Brand Account roles matter in one situation above the rest: when you need account-level ownership. That means a channel that has to change hands, a channel created under one employee's personal account that the business must control, or a successor who needs to become the primary owner.
| YouTube Studio channel permissions | Brand Account permissions | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you manage it | YouTube Studio, Settings, Permissions | Google Account, Brand Accounts, Manage permissions |
| Roles | Owner, Manager, Editor, Editor (Limited), Viewer, Viewer (Limited) | Owner, Manager, Communications manager |
| Best for | Day-to-day help from editors, staff and agencies | Account-level ownership and primary owner changes |
| Can ownership change hands here | No, the Owner role cannot transfer ownership to another user | Yes, through primary owner transfer |
| Invitation | Expires after 30 days | The person must accept |
If you are not sure which route your channel uses, you can check in about ten minutes.
Check how your channel is set up
- Sign in to the Google account that runs the channel and open YouTube Studio.
- Select Settings, then Permissions, and write down every person shown and the role next to each name.
- Open myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts in the same browser.
- If your channel appears there, select it, open Manage permissions, and record the primary owner, other owners, managers and communications managers.
Write the list down before you change anything. A channel that appears under Brand Accounts has an ownership structure separate from the ordinary Studio permissions list, and you want to know what it looks like before you move anything. If you only have one route to the channel today and it runs through a single person's login, that is the gap this post helps you close.
How does a manager become the owner of a YouTube channel?
A manager does not become the owner by changing a role. YouTube says the Owner role in channel permissions cannot transfer ownership to another user. If your channel is not connected to a Brand Account, managers can be changed, but owners cannot. Ownership changes go through a Brand Account.
The sequence YouTube describes looks like this:
- Check the access list. YouTube's transfer steps say to remove channel permission users first if required, so review who is on the list.
- Create or select a Brand Account. This is the account that will hold the channel.
- Move the channel. The current owner signs in, opens YouTube Settings, selects Advanced settings, finds Move channel, and chooses to move the channel to a Google Account or another Brand Account.
- Invite the successor. After the channel is connected to the Brand Account, invite the new person as a Brand Account Manager or Owner under Manage permissions.
- Wait seven days. To make a manager or owner the primary owner, the current owner must have been an owner for at least seven days, and the person receiving primary ownership must have been a manager or owner for at least seven days.
- Transfer primary ownership. An eligible owner does this in the Google Account's Brand Account permissions.
Google also says an owner must have held ownership for seven days before removing managers or owners. So, if you are handing a channel to a business partner or a new marketing lead, start the invitation days ahead of the date you need the change, not the morning of.
Protect the destination channel before you move anything
Read this one twice. If a channel is already attached to the destination Brand Account, replacing it can permanently delete that destination channel and its videos, comments, playlists, messages, history and other content. YouTube's page on moving a channel spells this out. Before you press the final button, confirm which channel sits on the Brand Account you are moving to, and that you are fine losing nothing, or that it is empty.
Also keep the original Google account alive until the successor has signed in independently and confirmed access. Deleting it early is how a channel gets stranded with nobody who can reach it.
How do you take access away when someone leaves?
Act the same day. In YouTube Studio, select Settings, then Permissions, find the person, open the Role menu and select Remove access. If your channel uses Brand Account roles, remove the person under Google Account, Brand Accounts, Manage permissions instead. Someone can hold access through both routes, so check both lists.
If anyone has been using a shared password, that is the moment to change it, turn on two-step verification and replace the shared login with a named invitation. YouTube's safety guidance says never to share sign-in information and recommends channel permissions or Brand Account permissions instead.
A few mistakes cause most of the avoidable trouble, listed here in a practical order of risk:
- Sharing the owner's password instead of inviting a named account.
- Giving an editor Manager access when Editor would do.
- Assuming a Studio Manager is the owner of the channel.
- Letting the channel live under one employee's personal Google account.
- Forgetting to remove former employees, contractors or agencies.
- Starting a channel move without checking what is on the destination.
- Letting an invitation expire after 30 days and assuming it was accepted.
Do you need help, or can you do this yourself?
An editor invitation is a five-minute job in YouTube Studio, and you do not need to hire anyone for it. Adding a manager to a Brand Account is just as short.
Paid help becomes reasonable when the problem is ownership rather than ordinary access: the channel belongs to a former employee, the original Google account is out of reach, more than one Brand Account is involved, a destination channel could be overwritten, or you need a written handoff before an employee or agency leaves. In those cases the work is identifying the real owner, keeping the right channel, choosing the narrowest roles and confirming that the business can sign in without anyone else's help.
The same ownership habits apply on the other platforms your business uses. Our posts on giving someone access to an Instagram business account and adding someone to a TikTok business account walk through the equivalent steps, and a channel set up with named roles everywhere is far easier to hand over.
Can you set up YouTube channel access correctly?
Pick an answer to begin.
1. A video editor needs to upload and publish videos but should not see revenue or manage who has access. Which role fits?
2. Your channel is run through YouTube Studio permissions and you want a manager to become the owner. What does YouTube say?
3. What does Google require before primary ownership of a Brand Account can be transferred?
Frequently Asked Questions About add manager to youtube channel
How do I add a manager to my YouTube channel?
In YouTube Studio, open Settings, then Permissions, select Invite, enter the person's email, choose Manager, and save the invitation. They have 30 days to accept it.
Can I add an editor without sharing my password?
Yes. Channel permissions let people work from their own Google accounts, and YouTube says this is safer than sharing sign-in details.
Can a YouTube Manager become the owner?
Not through channel permissions. YouTube says the Owner role cannot transfer ownership to another user. Move the channel to a Brand Account, add the new person as a Brand Account manager or owner, and transfer primary ownership after the seven-day period.
Can a Brand Account channel be shared with other people?
Yes. Multiple Google accounts can manage a Brand Account. An owner invites them under Manage permissions in the Brand Accounts section of the Google Account, and each person must accept.
What role should a video editor have?
Editor or Editor (Limited), depending on whether the person should see revenue data. Editors cannot manage permissions or delete the channel.
Does moving a channel to a Brand Account risk deleting anything?
It can. If the destination Brand Account already has a channel, replacing it can permanently delete that channel and its videos, comments, playlists, messages and history. Check the destination first.
What This Means for You
Giving someone access to your YouTube channel is a small job when you use the route built for it. Invite the person's own Google account in YouTube Studio under Settings and Permissions, choose the narrowest role that covers the work, and remove access the day they leave. If your channel is on a Brand Account, the same idea applies through Manage permissions, and the roles there are Owner, Manager and Communications manager.
Ownership is the part that needs a plan. A Studio Manager cannot be promoted to Owner, so the sequence is a Brand Account, a channel move, an invitation for the successor, a seven-day wait and then the primary owner transfer. Check the destination before you move anything, and keep the original account until the new owner has signed in on their own.
If your channel is tied to one person's login, or you want a handoff written down before someone leaves, Web Leveling can sort out who owns what and set the access up so the business keeps control. Our video marketing work covers the channel itself, and we will tell you plainly when a five-minute invitation is all you need. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Tell us how your channel is set up today, and we will help you sort the access.
Terms
YouTube access words in this post
Tap a term to see what it means.
Channel permissions. The YouTube Studio feature that lets you invite other Google accounts to work on your channel with a chosen role.
Brand Account. A Google account that is separate from a personal Google account and can be managed by multiple Google accounts.
Primary owner. The single owner of a Brand Account, who can be changed after the seven-day eligibility period.
Manager. A role that can manage permissions and channel content in Studio, or use Google services that support Brand Accounts, including posting videos on YouTube.
Editor (Limited). An Editor role that cannot view revenue data.
Communications manager. A Brand Account role that can use supported Google services but cannot use YouTube.
