We know you work hard to make quality videos and provide the best experience for your audience. This is why it's important to protect the Google Account connected to your YouTube channel to prevent your account or channel from being hacked, hijacked, or compromised.
If you're the owner of the channel, it’s important that you share account security best practices with anyone else who has access to your channel. Find other tips for staying safe online.
Did you lose access to your Google Account for other reasons (not a channel hack)? Learn how to regain access.
Secure Your YouTube Account
Secure your Google Account
Visit the Security Checkup page for personalized security recommendations and follow the steps below to better protect your account going forward.
Prevent malware
Malware is a type of software that can gain access to your account, spy on your activity, and steal personal data like cookies or passwords. To prevent malware, we recommend you:
- Use antivirus software
- Make sure Enhanced Safe Browsing is enabled before clicking or downloading files from sponsors or other users on Chrome
Turn on Enhanced Safe Browsing
One of the ways to detect links that may be suspicious is to enable Enhanced Safe Browsing for your account. Enhanced Safe Browsing works automatically in the background to provide faster, proactive protection against dangerous websites, downloads, and extensions.
Enhanced Safe Browsing provides real-time security scanning to keep you safe across all Google products when using Google Chrome.
- Go to your Google Account.
- On the left, select Security.
- Scroll to “Enhanced Safe Browsing for your Account.”
- Select Manage Enhanced Safe Browsing.
- Turn Enhanced Safe Browsing on or off.
Turn on 2-Step Verification and get backup codes
- Passkeys: Strongest protection against phishing
- Security keys: Physical device, secure second step
- Google Prompts: More secure than text codes
- Google Authenticator: Works offline
- Phone verification codes: Less secure, sent by text/call
Create a set of backup codes
Backup codes can help prove you own your account. They're a way to get back into your account if you lose your phone, computer, or can't use your regular 2-Step Verification method. To store your backup codes somewhere safe, you can print a copy of them.
- Go to your Google Account.
- On the left, click Security
.
- Under "How you sign in to Google," click "2-Step Verification"
. You may need to sign in.
- Under "Backup codes," click Continue
- From here you can:
- Get backup codes: To add backup codes, click Get backup codes
.
- Print your backup codes: Click Print codes
.
And take other actions.
- Get backup codes: To add backup codes, click Get backup codes
A strong password helps you keep your personal information safe and prevents someone else from getting into your account. Use Google Password Manager to create and save strong, unique passwords to your Google Account so you don’t have to remember them.
Create a strong and complex password: Use 8 characters or more. It can be any combination of letters, numbers, and symbols.
Make your password unique: Do not use your YouTube account password on other sites. If another site gets hacked, the password could be used to enter your YouTube account.
Avoid personal information and common words: Do not use personal information like your birthdays, common words like “password,” or common patterns like “1234.”
Create passkeys
Passkeys are a simple and secure alternative to passwords. With a passkey, you can sign in to your Google Account with your fingerprint, face scan, or device screen lock, like a PIN.
Passkeys provide the strongest protection against threats like phishing. Once you create a passkey, you can use it to easily sign in to your Google Account, as well as some third-party apps or services, and to verify it's you when you make sensitive changes.
To set up a passkey, you may need to sign in to your Google Account or verify it’s really you.
Create a passkey on the phone or computer you’re on
- Tap Create a passkey
- You'll be required to unlock your device.
To create passkeys on multiple devices, repeat these steps from those devices.
Create an account recovery emergency plan
- Block someone from using your account without your permission
- Alert you if there’s suspicious activity on your account
- Recover your account if you’re ever locked out