YouTube is a great way to share information about your business and services with a huge network of users, but sometimes you will encounter videos you find objectionable or possibly detrimental to your company. While you can’t directly remove videos others have uploaded, there is a reporting system in place to have YouTube review and remove content if it violates the Terms of Service or the law.
Wave the Flag
Under each video on YouTube is a toolbar with buttons that perform different actions, with a Flag icon appearing on the far right. This is the flagging tool which allows you to report a video to YouTube staff for review. Click the button and provide details as to why the video should be removed. If the video violates YouTube’s Community Guidelines it will be removed; but if there is no violation, the video will not be removed no matter how often it is flagged.
Additional Reporting Options
If you’d like to have a video removed for copyright or trademark violations, defamation or other legal reasons, you can submit a claim via YouTube’s legal web forms (link in Resources). Select the appropriate type of legal complaint and fill out the form accordingly. Do not use the legal complaint forms for non-legal issues and do not abuse the legal complaint forms, as it can result in your YouTube account being terminated.
You just uploaded the perfect video... wait a minute… you just uploaded the WRONG video to YouTube. Now what? Thankfully, it’s super simple to delete a video from YouTube.
If you’ve never had to do it before, or it’s been a while and you could use a refresher, we’ve got you covered. Here, you’ll find a step-by-step guide on how to delete a video from YouTube.
Delete Videos From YouTube Using Your Desktop
Step 1: Sign In to Your YouTube Account
As always, the first step is to go to www.youtube.com in your web browser and to sign in to your YouTube account (go ahead and continue to the next step if you’re already logged in).
But if you aren’t logged in, you’ll have to click on your profile icon on the top right corner of the page to do so.
Step 2: Open Your YouTube Studio
The next step is to select “YouTube Studio” from the drop-down menu that will pop up.
Here you can either click the “Go to Videos” under Published videos or use the “Content” link on the left side.
Step 3: Select the Video You Wish to Delete
The rest is a really, really simple process. At this point, you should see all the videos you have uploaded to YouTube – the good, the bad, and the one you need to delete like, yesterday. This is where you’ll choose the video in question.
Now, this next piece of advice is super important and we cannot stress this enough... Make sure you choose the RIGHT video for deletion because, once you delete a video from YouTube, it is gone forever.
You don't want to rush through the process of removing that video and accidentally delete your best-performing video with 10k views.
Step 4: Take Action to Delete Video From YouTube
Once you click the checkbox to select the video for deletion, you’ll see a grey bar that confirms that [number of] video(s) has been selected for deletion. You’ll also see an option that says “More Actions” to the far right of this. Click that.
Step 5: Delete A Video From YouTube – Forever
There you go, you can delete that darn YouTube video now! But you may want to download a copy of the video before deleting it because once it’s deleted, it’s gone for good (yes, we’re reminding you again, once it’s gone, it’s gone!).
But if you’re ready to say good riddance and aren’t worried about seeing it again, click the “Delete Forever” button.
Don't worry, YouTube reminds you that [number] of videos are about to be deleted. And you need to confirm you understand this is a permanent deletion.
Then click “Delete Forever”.
See, that’s a fairly simple and straightforward method.
Use Your Mobile Device to Delete YouTube Videos
If you notice an important video needs to be deleted while you’re on the go, don’t panic. The YouTube app lets you delete a video from YouTube right from your iPad, iPhone, or Android device.
Start by opening the YouTube app on your iOS or Android device and simply tap your profile picture in the top-right of the screen (just like on your desktop). Sign in to your account if you’re not already.
From the next list of options, select “Your channel”.
From your channel page, make your way to the “Manage Videos” button. v
Tap the three dots to the right of the video you want to delete. Tap “Delete” from the list of options.
In the mobile app, you don’t receive the final confirmation you’ve chosen the right video and that you’re about to delete forever, as you do in the desktop version.
For more features, you could always download the YouTube Studio app.
I Deleted a Video From YouTube, Now What?
As we’ve mentioned time and time again, after you delete a video from YouTube, you cannot get it back. This is why YouTube constantly asks you to confirm that yes, you’re deleting a certain number of videos. Yes, you’re absolutely sure. Yes, you truly are.
When your video is removed, your comments, likes, and dislikes will be deleted as well. And when users try to search for the video, they won’t be able to find it. Anyone who attempts to view the link will see a “video deleted” message, even if it was embedded, saved, or copied.
Rather Than Deleting, Consider Making It Unlisted or Private
It’s possible that the video you want to delete wasn’t uploaded in error, but is just a little dated or isn’t performing well (and you don’t want it in your feed anymore). Or you’re worried about deleting the wrong video. In any case, you can always change the visibility settings to “private” rather than deleting your video completely.
If you make your video private, know that it won’t show up in public searches or on your feed. But the great thing about it is you can always re-enable it to bring it back later if you like.
To do this, you follow the same steps as if you were deleting your video. Instead of clicking “More Actions”, click “Edit”.
Choose the fourth option down in the dropdown menu, “Visibility”.
You can then choose from public, unlisted, or private and update your settings.
- Public: You can make your video public to everyone, and it will be listed in searches and on your channel page.
- Unlisted: Only people who have the link to your video can watch it. Your video will not appear in recommendations, searches, or on your channel.
- Private: Your video can only be viewed by you and those you invite.
And that’s it! That’s all there is to learn how to delete a video from your YouTube channel. Please be careful you have the right video title before permanently deleting your video, or consider making it private if you unlisted it.
You can read more about YouTube videos in our article How to Add Music to YouTube Video: A Process Made Easy.