YouTube Allows Creators to Change Channel Name Without Affecting Their Google Account
June 1, 2021
Article Overview
10min readYouTube, the Google-owned video-streaming giant, has recently come up with a top-requested feature from creators. The platform will now allow its creators to change the name of their channel without changing the name on their Google account. Previously, a YouTube creator had to change the name displayed across all Google services to change the name of their channel. But with this new update, creators can use one name for their YouTube channel and another name for messages sent from their Gmail account. This online video sharing and social media platform also let its creators change their profile pictures on YouTube. The highlight is that all these changes will only affect the YouTube channel instead of their entire Google account.
Why is changing the name of a channel on YouTube a highly requested feature?
If you’re dealing with social media management for a brand or a business on YouTube, you are most likely trying to use the latest features of YouTube to promote those brand’s primary products or services. This new feature is one such because YouTube now lets creators with personal accounts and brand accounts change their channel name without changing their Google account name. This update will help keep a creator’s YouTube name and content separate from their Google services – such as Gmail and Google Docs – so that if they need to send an email for school or work, their real name will appear, not their YouTube name. Creators can make these changes either in YouTube Studio on desktop or in the YouTube mobile app.
How to change the name of your YouTube channel on PC and Mobile?
Here is how you can change the name of your YouTube channel on PC
- First, you have to sign in to YouTube Studio
- Select Customization from the left-hand menu and then Basic info
- Then click Edit to update your channel name
- Now, enter your new channel description
- Then click publish
The following is the procedure for changing the name of your YouTube channel on mobile:
- Open the YouTube mobile app and tap your profile picture
- Select your channel
- Then, select Settings from the right-hand corner of your channel page
- Then, tap EDIT CHANNEL – here, you can update your channel name
However, YouTube creators or social media companies dealing with this platform for their clients should keep in mind that a channel’s name can be changed only three times every 90 days.
It is also possible to change the URL of a channel on YouTube. Users can set a “custom” URL for their channel that can be changed up to three times per year. This means that YouTube creators need to choose from selecting recommended URLs based on the channel’s name. This is done to prevent creators from having potentially misleading URLs.
The most important thing to consider is that if creators with verified YouTube channels change the name of their channel, they may lose their verification badge – to prevent YouTube channels from impersonating other channels – and need to reapply. Still, there will be no impact on their custom URL or Official Channel Music Note. However, YouTube creators will be able to get their verification badge back by changing the name of their channel and applying for verification again using the new name. This may take some time; hence social media agencies dealing with this platform need to consider the risks before going ahead with their client’s request for a name change.