In this article we shall learn how to delete a YouTube channel. You may need to do that when you find one or more of your primary or brand accounts useless and/or left idle. You can delete a YouTube account even when it’s suspended. Then again, sometimes you may prefer to hide a YouTube channel and its content instead of deletion. We will cover that topic here as well.
First things first: Be on the right YouTube account
First of all be sure to login to your particular YouTube channel that you intend to delete. In case you’re logged in to the associated Google account but landed on another YouTube account/channel, you need to switch channels. In order to do that go to the upper right corner of the screen and click on the channel icon. A menu will show up where you’re supposed to be allowed to switch channels, so just do that. (This blogpost is on how to delete a youtube channel)
If your desired channel is already hidden, in order to find that you need to click on the blue ‘More accounts’ link on the menu. In that case you’ll arrive on the page with link https://www.youtube.com/channel_switcher. This particular link is very important, you might want to remember or save it. Because this page shows all your primary and brand YouTube channels (both active and suspended) under a certain gmail account.
Click on the gear icon and be on your channel’s account page
Now that you’re logged in to the right YouTube account, you have to click on the channel icon once again. So the menu will show up where you’ll be clicking on the gear icon. As a result you’ll land on the account page of your channel. Now find the ‘Advanced’ link and click on it, you’ll be taken to a page with this link https://www.youtube.com/account_advanced.
At the bottom of this page you’ll see the ‘Delete channel’ button, you need to click on it if you’re willing to permanently delete the contents of your channel or simply hide them. (This blogpost is on how to delete a youtube channel)
YouTube will make sure only the authorized person is attempting the procedure
Remember that deleting the contents of a YouTube channel is a very sensitive matter which both you and YouTube need to handle carefully. That’s why during this procedure you may be asked a few times to enter your Google/YouTube account password. For example, when you click on the above-mentioned ‘Delete channel’ button, you’ll be prompted to enter your password.
However once you do that, you’ll see two options open for you: either to hide the contents of your channel or delete them. Whatever you choose, you’ll have to check a few boxes to acknowledge you understand what’s about to happen. If you choose to hide your contents, simply clicking on a button labeled ‘HIDE MY CONTENT’ will do the job. (This blogpost is on how to delete a youtube channel)
But if you choose to permanently delete the contents of your YouTube account/channel, you’ll have to type in a box either the name of your channel or your associated gmail address. This way it is made sure that the deletion procedure isn’t attempted by an BOT or artificial intelligence program and it’s you who is deleting your own contents. So after typing in the channel name or gmail id, click on the confirmation button, your job will be done.
Which is better: Hiding or deleting your channel?
If you’re certain that you’re attempting this procedure in 100% cool head/brain (in a totally pre-planned manner), then you can go ahead and delete the contents of your channel permanently if you feel you’ll never need them again. But if you’re not sure which one between hiding and deleting you should choose, then you had better choose to hide the contents of your YouTube account for the time being. Because if you hide your channel, you’ll still have the option to recover it later. (This blogpost is on how to delete a youtube channel)
Sometimes you may need to hide your channel in case of an emergency. Let me give you an example. Suppose you suddenly received two strikes of a type on your channel. So if you now receive a third strike of the same type, your channel may be terminated. In order to avoid that and receive the earnings accumulated on your channel dashboard/analytics page to your AdSense/MCN account, you may want to hide the contents of your channel right away. By doing that you can make sure your videos aren’t available for public to report.
How to delete a YouTube channel when it’s suspended
May be you have multiple YouTube accounts one of which has already been terminated. Now every time you attempt to switch between accounts, you have to see that channel/account’s icon and name which mentally disturbs you. If you want to get rid of this situation, you may choose to delete your suspended account.
In order to do that, first of all you’ll have to be on this page with link https://myaccount.google.com. Now go to the account icon area located in the upper right corner of the screen and switch between accounts if required. Just be on the primary or brand account that represents the suspended/active YouTube channel you wish to delete. (This blogpost is on how to delete a youtube channel)
Start the deletion procedure in the ‘Account preferences’ section
On the page of the above link, you’ll see a section named ‘Account preferences’. At the bottom of that section lies the ‘Delete your account or services’ link, just click on it. Now on the landing page you’ll have to choose one of the two options given to you: ‘Delete products’ or ‘Delete Google Account and data’.
Since you’re NOT willing to delete your entire Google account, instead you just want to delete a particular product (which in this case is YouTube), you need to click on the ‘Delete products’ link. After entering your Google password click on the trash icon next to YouTube logo. You’ll have to enter the password once again; remember that all these things are being done to you just in order to secure your account data. (This blogpost is on how to delete a youtube channel)
Now when you click on the ‘I want to permanently delete my content’ link, you will have to check a box which makes sure you understand what you’re about to do. After checking the box, you need to click on the blue ‘Delete my content’ button. As a result of this action a dialogue box will appear where you’ll have to type in either your channel’s name or your gmail address. Do that and hit the confirmation button; and then consider your suspended YouTube account gone once and for all. (This blogpost is on how to delete a youtube channel)
Also read: How to Take your Face and Presence off YouTube
How to recover a hidden YouTube channel
Now that you have learnt how to delete a YouTube channel, you also need to learn how to unhide/recover a hidden YouTube account. In order to do that in the simplest way click on this particular link: https://www.youtube.com/channel_switcher. Now if you carefully read this article to this point, you should have known how to get to this page in case you don’t have the link. Remember I previously told you this link would be important, because the page associated with this one shows all your active, hidden and suspended YouTube accounts.
So now that you can see all your hidden channels as well, you sure can click on the particular hidden channel you’re willing to recover. A single click on that icon will do the job for you. And this is how you got your hidden YouTube account back. Congrats, buddy!