YouTube lets you give other people permission to manage your channel without sharing your password

A collaborator on YouTube is someone you invite to help run your channel. They can upload videos, edit titles and descriptions, respond to comments, and check your analytics — but they cannot change your password, delete the channel, or access your money. You control exactly what each person can do by assigning them a specific role.

You invite collaborators through YouTube Studio, the dashboard where you manage your channel. The person you invite needs a Google account, and they accept the invitation by email. Once they accept, they can sign into their own account and see your channel in their YouTube Studio.

Key Takeaways

  • Collaborators access your channel through their own Google account, so you never share your password.
  • You assign each collaborator a role that controls what they can do — Manager, Editor, or Moderator — and you can change or remove their access anytime.
  • The person you invite receives an email and must accept before they can see or edit your channel.
  • You can have multiple collaborators with different roles, so one person might upload videos while another only responds to comments.

How to invite a collaborator in YouTube Studio

Open YouTube Studio on a computer and go to the Settings menu in the left sidebar. Click on the "Permissions" option. You will see a section called "Users and permissions" with a button that says "Invite." Click it.

Type the email address of the person you want to invite. YouTube will show you a dropdown with suggestions if that person has a Google account. Select their name from the list or type the full email address. Then choose the role you want to give them from the dropdown menu — Manager, Editor, or Moderator. Click "Invite" to send the invitation.

The person receives an email from YouTube asking them to accept the invitation. They click the link in the email, sign into their Google account, and confirm that they want to manage your channel. Once they accept, they can open YouTube Studio and see your channel listed alongside any other channels they manage.

What each collaborator role can do

Manager is the highest level of access. A Manager can upload videos, edit all video details, delete videos, manage other collaborators, view analytics, and access the channel's monetization settings. Use this role only for people you trust completely — they can make major changes to your channel.

Editor can upload videos, edit titles and descriptions, delete videos, and view analytics, but cannot manage other collaborators or change monetization settings. This is the right role for someone who helps you produce content but should not make business decisions about your channel.

Moderator can only respond to comments, pin or remove comments, and view basic channel information. Use this role for someone who helps manage your audience but does not need to touch videos or see detailed analytics. A Moderator cannot upload or edit videos.

How to change or remove a collaborator

Go back to Settings > Permissions in YouTube Studio. You will see a list of all your collaborators with their email addresses and roles. Find the person you want to change and click the three-dot menu next to their name.

You can click "Change role" to give them a different level of access — for example, changing an Editor to a Moderator. Click "Remove" to take away their access completely. Once you remove someone, they can no longer see your channel in their YouTube Studio, and any invitations you sent that they have not accepted will be cancelled.

Changes take effect when ready. If you change someone's role or remove them while they are actively working on your channel, they will lose access the next time they refresh their browser or YouTube Studio.

What collaborators cannot do

No collaborator role lets someone change your channel password, delete your entire channel, or access your Google account outside of YouTube. They also cannot see your email address, phone number, or any payment information you have on file.

Collaborators cannot transfer the channel to themselves or another person. Only the original channel owner — the person who created the account — can do that. If you want to give someone permanent ownership of the channel, you have to contact YouTube support to transfer ownership, which is a separate process from inviting a collaborator.

Security tips for inviting collaborators

Only invite people you know and trust. Before you send an invitation, make sure you have the correct email address — if you type it wrong, someone else might receive the invitation by mistake. Double-check the spelling.

Review your collaborators regularly. Go to Settings > Permissions once a month and look at who has access. If someone no longer works with you or has left your team, remove them when ready. The longer someone has access after they stop working with you, the greater the risk.

Use different roles for different jobs. If someone only needs to respond to comments, give them the Moderator role, not Editor or Manager. Limiting what each person can do reduces the damage if their account is compromised or if they make a mistake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a collaborator see how much money my channel makes?

Only if they have the Manager role. Managers can view your channel analytics, including revenue data. Editors can see analytics but not revenue. Moderators cannot see any analytics. If you do not want someone to see your earnings, assign them the Moderator role.

What happens if I invite someone and they never accept?

The invitation stays in your permissions list as "Pending" until they accept or you remove it. You can click the three-dot menu next to their name and choose "Remove" to cancel the invitation. They will not receive a notification that you cancelled it — the email invitation will straightforward stop working.

Can I invite someone who does not have a Google account?

No. The person you invite must have a Google account to accept the invitation and access YouTube Studio. If they do not have one, they can create a free Google account using any email address, then you can send them an invitation.

Can a collaborator invite other collaborators to my channel?

Only if they have the Manager role. Managers can invite and remove other collaborators. Editors and Moderators cannot invite anyone — they can only see who else has access to the channel.

What if I want to remove a collaborator but keep their videos on my channel?

Removing a collaborator does not delete their videos. Videos stay on your channel regardless of whether the person who uploaded them still has access. You can remove someone's collaborator status without affecting any content they created.