How to delete your YouTube channel and permanently erase its content, or temporarily hide it

Ron Lyons, Jr.
·3 min read
using laptop at home with camera
To delete or hide a YouTube channel, you need to be logged in on a web browser. Svante Berg / EyeEm/Getty Images

  • You can permanently delete your YouTube channel through your account settings menu, using any web browser.

  • If you don't want to delete your channel, you can instead hide it, which makes it private to everyone but you.

  • Once a YouTube channel is deleted, it can't be recovered, but a hidden channel can always be made public again.

  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Maybe you still have embarrassing high school videos on your YouTube channel, or you just have no use for it anymore. Whatever your reason, deleting your YouTube channel is simple and can be done quickly.

Just note that deleting your channel means deleting your videos, comments, playlists, votes, and more. And once you've deleted your account, all that data is gone forever - there's no recovering it.

If you prefer a less permanent solution, you can also hide your channel, which will make everything on the account private to everyone but you. Only your comments and replies will be permanently deleted. If your channel is hidden, you can always make it public again by filling out a form.

Here's how to delete your YouTube channel, or temporarily hide it.

How to delete a YouTube channel

1. Go to your YouTube account in a web browser.

2. Scroll down on the left side of the homepage and click on "Settings."

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Click "Settings" on the left side. Ron Lyons Jr./Business Insider

3. On the Account tab of the Settings menu, click "View advanced settings" in the "Your YouTube channel" section.

4. Click the blue "Delete Channel" hyperlink.

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Click "Delete Channel." Ron Lyons Jr./Business Insider

5. On the following page, you'll be given two options: "I want to hide my channel" and "I want to permanently delete my content." Choose "I want to permanently delete my content."

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Select "I want to permanently delete my content." Ron Lyons Jr./Business Insider

6. A drop-down will appear telling you what will be permanently deleted. Click the checkbox and then click "Delete My Content."

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Select "Delete My Content." Ron Lyons Jr./Business Insider

7. To confirm, you'll then be asked to type in the email address associated with your YouTube channel.

8. After typing in your email address, hit "Delete My Content."

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Hit "Delete My Content" to confirm. Ron Lyons Jr./Business Insider

9. Your channel will be immediately deleted. Channels with more content may take a few minutes to delete.

How to hide a YouTube channel

The process to hide a channel is essentially the same - you'll just be picking a different option on the "Delete account" page.

1. Go to your YouTube account in a web browser.

2. Scroll down on the left side of the homepage and click on "Settings."

3. In the "Account" tab of the Settings menu, click "View advanced settings" in the "Your YouTube channel" section.

4. Click the blue "Delete Channel" hyperlink.

5. On the following page, you'll be given two options: "I want to hide my channel" and "I want to permanently delete my content." Choose "I want to hide my channel."

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Click "I want to hide my channel." Ron Lyons Jr./Business Insider

6. A drop-down menu will appear and tell you what will be hidden and what will be permanently deleted.

7. Check all the boxes and click "Hide My Channel."

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Check the boxes and hit "Hide My Channel." Ron Lyons Jr./Business Insider

8. A pop-up will appear asking to confirm that you want your content hidden. Click "Hide My Content."

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Choose "Hide My Content." Ron Lyons Jr./Business Insider

9. Your channel is now hidden. If you have a lot of content on your channel, it may take a minute to complete the process.

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