How long a YouTube video on your channel can be, depending on if your account is verified
- How long a YouTube video can be will depend on if your account is verified.
- If you aren't verified, the length of your YouTube videos is limited to 15 minutes.
- If you are verified, your YouTube videos can be up to 12 hours long, or 128 GB, whichever is less.
- Here's everything you need to know about how long a YouTube video can be, and how to get around the limitations.
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If you're an avid YouTube viewer or creator, you probably know that video lengths can run the gambit from super short and snappy to the length of a feature film.
And when it comes to your own videos, there are some limitations on how long your videos can be.
Here's what you need to know about those limits:
How long a YouTube video can be, depending on if you're verified
It all depends on whether or not your YouTube account has been verified or not.
- Non-verified accounts can only upload videos up to 15 minutes long.
- Verified accounts are limited to videos that are 12 hours long, or 128 GB, "whichever is less," according to Google.
If you aren't sure if you've gone through the verification process for your account or not, go to your "Account Features" page - if you've already been verified, you'll see "Verified" beneath your channel name and the "Longer Videos" box will say "Enabled."
If not, you'll need to get verified to upload longer videos.
How to troubleshoot a long YouTube video upload
If you see that your channel is verified, but you aren't able to upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes, you may have a copyright claim on one of your videos, or a strike against you for violating YouTube's community guidelines.
You'll be able to check on those via the "Account Features" page of your channel.
If you have a video that exceeds the maximum video length, or size, there are a couple of solutions you may want to try.
For example, you could compress the video using an editing software so that it meets the maximum file size without losing quality. According to YouTube, a common method for this is encoding the video using the H.264 codec.
Or, if that isn't an option, you might try splitting it up into two or more videos and cross linking them so that each one meets those limitations.
Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:
How to verify your YouTube account, so you can upload videos longer than 15 minutes and customize thumbnails
How to see a list of your YouTube subscribers on a computer or mobile device
How to create your own YouTube channel for personal use, or a Brand Account for business
How to temporarily hide or permanently delete your YouTube account, and erase any trace of yourself from the site