Can You Have More Than One YouTube Channel?

Yes, multiple YouTube channels can come from one account or email address

By
Marziah Karch
Marziah Karch
Marziah Karch
Writer
  • Michigan State University
  • Emporia State University
Marziah Karch is a former writer for Lifewire who also excels at Serious Game Design and develops online help systems, manuals, and interactive training modules.
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Updated on January 21, 2021
Reviewed by
Christine Baker
Reviewed by Christine Baker
Christine Baker is a marketing consultant with experience working for a variety of clients. Her expertise includes social media, web development, and graphic design.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

YouTube lets you make multiple channels using one email address. It's as easy as logging into your existing account and clicking a couple of buttons to set up the new channel. If you want, you can also make a Brand Account that's tied to your personal account, which you can use for business or branding purposes.

Your Options for Several Channels

If you only want to keep family videos out of the public eye, you can use your regular YouTube account and adjust the privacy settings of individual videos. However, if you have two different audiences for your content, it's better to set up different channels. 

In the past, you would create a separate YouTube account for each audience, and that method still works. To do it, just create a new Gmail account for every YouTube channel you want to create. 

However, that's not the only—or necessarily the best—option. Another way to get multiple YouTube channels is to click the new channel option from your existing account.

Yet another type of account you can get on YouTube is a Brand Account. They're a little like Facebook Pages, so they're separate accounts that are managed by proxy by your personal account—usually for commercial purposes.

With a YouTube Brand Account, the connection to your personal Google account isn't displayed, and you can share management of the account or manage it by yourself.

The directions below are for making a new regular YouTube channel, so you'll need different instructions if you plan to make a Brand Account.

How to Create Another YouTube Channel

Log in to your YouTube account to make a name for your new channel.

  1. Visit your list of Channels, and log in to your YouTube account if asked.

  2. Click Create a new channel.

    If you already have a YouTube channel that you manage, you'll see it listed here, and you can just click it to switch to it. If you already have a Brand Account but haven't set it up as a YouTube channel, you'll see the name listed separately under Brand Accounts for ; just click it.

    Create a new channel button on YouTube

  3. Give your new account a name, and then click Create.

    New Brand Channel Create button on YouTube

  4. You'll immediately be taken to your new channel where you can customize your account and upload videos.

You can manage this new YouTube channel just like you do your personal account. Any comments you make on videos from this account show up as having come from that account, not any of your other ones.

Consider adding different channel icons—the user profile image on YouTube—to distinguish which account you're using. Taking this step also makes it easier for you to keep track of which account you're actively logged in to, and also lets subscribers and visitors differentiate your accounts.

Switch between accounts by using the channel switcher link in Step 1 above, or by clicking the user profile picture on the top right of the YouTube screen, and then going to Switch account.

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