Public videos are open to anyone and eligible for discovery on YouTube. Private videos are limited to you and people you select. Unlisted videos can be watched by anyone who has the link, which they can also pass along, but they generally do not appear in YouTube search or your channel’s Videos tab. Choose based on whether you want discovery, controlled access, or link-based viewing.
Private, unlisted, and public videos compared
| Setting | Who can watch | How people find it | Comments | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public | Anyone on YouTube | Appears on your channel and may appear in search, related videos, recommendations, and subscriber feeds. You can also share it by URL. | Available | Broad access and discovery |
| Private | You and people you select to share it with | Does not appear in public search or your channel’s Videos tab. A URL alone does not grant general access. | Unavailable | Sharing with specific people |
| Unlisted | Anyone with the link; recipients can reshare it | Generally absent from search and your channel’s Videos tab, unless someone adds it to a public playlist. You can also share it by URL. | Available; anyone with the link can see comments | Link-based viewing without ordinary public discovery |
YouTube’s privacy settings guide notes that public and unlisted videos can be added to channel sections or public playlists. That means unlisted is not a guarantee that a video will remain undiscoverable: a public playlist can expose it to people who do not have your original link.
All three visibility settings can still be reviewed by YouTube’s systems and human reviewers for ad suitability, copyright, and abuse prevention. Private means restricted viewing for your chosen audience; it does not mean invisible to YouTube.
Which setting should you choose?
Choose Public for reach
Set a video to Public when you want anyone to watch and want it to be eligible for normal channel and platform discovery. Public visibility supports a public channel presence, search eligibility, recommendations, and subscriber feeds, though it does not guarantee a particular placement or audience.
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Choose Private for selected viewers
Choose Private when only you and specifically selected people should be able to watch. Use YouTube Studio’s private sharing flow and enter invitees’ email addresses. Sending the video URL by itself is not a substitute for granting access.
Choose Unlisted for link sharing
Choose Unlisted when you want viewers to watch through a link without needing a Google Account, and you are comfortable with them forwarding that link. Unlike Private, Unlisted supports comments. Anyone who has the link can watch and see comments, so do not treat it as confidential access control.
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How to change a video’s visibility
On a computer
- Sign in to YouTube Studio.
- Open Content.
- Select the video you want to change.
- Open Visibility, then choose Public, Private, or Unlisted.
- Select Save.
YouTube’s desktop instructions use these labels; interface wording or steps can change.
In the Android apps
YouTube and YouTube Studio for Android also offer visibility controls in their video-editing flows. Open the video’s edit options, change its visibility, and save. The precise screen sequence can vary with app updates.
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Default visibility for younger creators
YouTube’s current help guidance says uploads default to Private for creators aged 13–17 and Public for creators aged 18 or older. Everyone can change a video’s visibility. Check the setting before publishing rather than relying on the default, especially if the intended audience matters.
What happened to some older unlisted videos?
YouTube says that starting July 23, 2021, older unlisted videos uploaded before January 1, 2017 were made Private unless their owners opted out. For an affected video, the old link no longer lets viewers watch or share it, and an embed may stop working. This change applies to that dated group of older videos, not to all unlisted uploads. See YouTube’s Older unlisted content guidance for the available options.
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You can keep an affected video Private, return it to legacy Unlisted status, make it Public, or reupload it as a new Unlisted video. Reuploading creates a new URL and does not transfer the original video’s views or comments.
Common questions to check before sharing
- Can someone watch a Private video if I send them its link? Not just because they have the URL. You must share it with the selected viewers through YouTube’s private sharing flow.
- Can an Unlisted video be reshared? Yes. Anyone with the link can pass it to others, who can then watch it.
- Can people comment on a Private video? No. Comments are available on Unlisted and Public videos; on Unlisted videos, anyone with the link can see them. YouTube’s comment guidance covers availability.
- Does Unlisted mean the video is hidden everywhere? No. It is generally excluded from search and the channel’s Videos tab, but someone can add it to a public playlist, and link holders can reshare it.
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