So You Want to Know How to Delete YouTube

How to Delete a YouTube Video, on Desktop

Supposing you want to delete a single video. Perhaps there's something objectionable in it, or someone is submitting fraudulent copyright claims against it, and fighting them is more trouble than it is worth, or you just noticed a mistake and need to replace it with a corrected version.

First, go to YouTube. Make sure you're on the homepage, not inside a video or a channel, or the correct set of options won't appear. You'll see in the upper right corner a small circular profile picture. Select it, and you'll see a menu that starts with “Manage Your Google Account.”

In this menu, you'll see “YouTube Studio” and an icon of gear with a play button on it. Select that. This will take you to your Channel Dashboard, which as you may already know is where you manage your videos, see viewership information, see who's subscribed to you, and get important notifications.

On the left side of this page, you'll see another menu of options. There will be an entry for “Content,” with an icon of a play button on a square. Selecting this takes you to a list of your videos. Hovering your mouse over the video you want to delete from this list, will bring up another pop-up.

Select “More” followed by a vertical line of three dots, and then from the options that appear when you do that, select “Delete forever” with the icon of a trash can.

You can also select the checkbox next to the video, and then go to the “More Actions” menu, from which you can select “Delete Forever.” This method will let you delete more than one video at once by checking multiple boxes.

A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm you really want to do this. If you do, select “Delete Forever” again. And it's worth pointing out that your video really is gone forever. Even if you choose to re-upload the same footage, this will count as a different video: comments, views, and likes cannot be transferred to a re-upload.

How to Delete a YouTube Video, on Android or iOS

First, open the YouTube app and sign in. Go to your profile, in the upper right, and tap the Library option, next to the icon of a play button inside a square.

This will bring up a view of your videos. Scroll down until you find the one you want to delete. You should see, depending on your mobile device, the video thumbnail on the left, the name of the video on the right, and then on the very right edge of that, you should see an icon of three dots. Tap that to bring up an options menu, and in that menu select “Delete.”

It can be a little tricky to be sure you're opening the options menu for the correct video since they're all lined up closely together. Double-check before you select “Delete.”

Once you tap “Delete,” you'll see a pop-up box that asks “Delete this Video?” Just tap “Delete” in that box, and you're done.

You can also use the YouTube Studio mobile app. In Youtube Studios, go to the Dashboard, then tap the options button in the top left, then from that menu select videos. Scroll down to find the video that needs to be deleted, select it, and then at the top of the screen, you should see an icon of a pencil. Tapping this takes you to the video's edit page. Swipe the menu at the top of this until you see “Advanced Settings.”

Tap that, then scroll down to the bottom, where you should see an option called “Delete From Youtube.” Tap that, and then when a pop-up asks “Are you sure you would like to delete this video?” tap “OK.”

Since this is the same process as on PC, note that the video is gone forever, with all the same effects as noted in the section above.

How to Delete a Youtube Channel

If just deleting one video isn't enough, you can delete your entire channel. This might be the right move if you've become the target of a stalker or a coordinated harassment campaign. Since such campaigns are usually less about specific objections to specific videos and more about finding what they think is an acceptable target, the quickest solution can be to simply no longer be an available target.

Repeat the steps above to go to “YouTube Studio.” Among the options in the menu on the left, you should see “Settings” next to an icon of a gear.

Selecting this will bring up a pop-up window. In this, select “Channel,” from the menu on the left side. Then select “Advanced Settings” from the options at the top of the pop-up. Scroll all the way to the bottom of ���Advanced Settings” and you'll find “Remove YouTube Content.”

It may ask you to re-enter or confirm your login information when you select this. Do so. Then select ��I want to permanently delete my content.” Select the boxes to confirm you really do want to delete your channel, and then finally select “Delete my Content.”

Doing this will remove all videos, all your comments, all your subscriptions, and all playlists you've created.

Note that, at the time of this writing, deleting a YouTube channel cannot be done from a mobile device. YouTube doesn't seem to have released any information about why this is, but possibly it's a security matter. A phone is easier to steal than a desktop computer, after all, and being able to delete someone's account from a stolen phone would be a significant security issue. This is one of many reasons you should consider adding two-factor authentication to your Google account.

How to Hide a Youtube Channel

You do have another option. If, as was mentioned above, you're currently the target of an organized harassment campaign, but you want to keep your channel secure until it blows over and it's safe to come back, you do also have the option of hiding your channel.

If you choose to hide your channel, all your videos, playlists, and other content will still be there, they will simply all be set to private. Other YouTube users won't be able to find your channel or any of your videos in YouTube's search function. None of your videos will appear in anyone's recommendations. People will only be able to see your videos if you give them specific access, and they won't be able to leave comments, or see who subscribes to you.

Hiding your channel will also delete all the comments you've made, on both your own videos and others' videos. These won't come back when you make your channel public again.

The difference between these options might be best summed up like this: if you need your channel to go away because of things that are on your channel, then deleting it might be better. If you need your channel to go away because of things that people are doing, then hiding it might be the better option.

It's also possible, though, that a harassment campaign will simply resume when you take your channel back out of hiding. Sometimes deletion may prove to be the only solution.

The first steps to hiding your channel are the same as the ones to delete it. go to “YouTube Studio,” and select “Settings” from the menu to the left. In the pop-up, select “Channel” then “Advanced Settings.”

At this point, you'll be asked to confirm your password. Once you do, select “I want to hide my channel.”

There will be three checkboxes. These are to confirm that you understand that your channel name, your likes, and your subscriptions to other channels will all be hidden. Then confirm that your comments will be deleted. And finally to confirm that nothing will happen to any data on any other Google service. Once you've checked those, select “Hide My Channel.”

How to Delete a Youtube Account

This is the most complete option possible. But it's worth pausing before you consider this. YouTube is owned and operated by Google, so your “YouTube Account” is really your Google account, and deleting it means deleting much more than just YouTube.

If you do this, you're also deleting everything off Google Docs, Google Drive, and Gmail. You're deleting anything you've saved in Google Maps or Calendar. If it has to be done, it has to be done, and that's your decision to make, but don't do it without first downloading and backing up any files you still need from any and all Google products.

Once you've done that, go to Google, log in or select the profile picture in the top right. Then select “Manage your Google Account.” From here, select “Data & personalization” next to the icon of a circle inside an oval.

From there, scroll down until you see “Download, delete, or make a plan for your data.” The bottom option in this section will have an icon of a blue trashcan, and will say “Delete a service or your account.” Select that.

You'll see four options here. Select “Delete your Google Account,” in the top right, with the icon that looks like a person standing behind a railing. Once you select this, it will ask for your password, and then give you an explanation of the results of deleting your account. Scroll to the bottom of this page.

Check the box that acknowledges financial responsibility for pending transactions, if any, then check the box that says you do really want to delete the account and all data.

Then select “Delete Account.” And that's it.

If you change your mind, you can contact Google to recover some of your accounts, though getting anything back is not guaranteed. If you're on a social networking cleanse, then check out our article on Why and How to Delete Your Reddit Account.