A YouTube verification badge is a grey checkmark or a grey music note shown next to the channel name of a YouTube creator or a YouTube artist, respectively. If a channel is verified, it’s the official channel of a creator, artist, company, or public figure. Verified channels help distinguish official channels from other channels with similar names on YouTube. Achieving YouTube verification doesn’t grant access to favourable treatment or extra features, but it does bestow you with a whole lot of social proof. As well as enhancing your brand’s reputation, verification can protect it too. Your audience can sidestep any imposters looking to cash in on your content.
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What you need to know about verified channels
If a channel is verified, it’s the official channel of a creator, artist, company, or public figure. Verified channels help distinguish official channels from other channels with similar names on YouTube.
- Verified channels don’t get extra features on YouTube. They also don’t represent awards, milestones, or endorsement from YouTube
- If your channel is verified, it will stay verified unless you change your channel name. If you change your channel name, the renamed channel won’t be verified, and you’ll need to reapply
- YouTube reserves the right to revoke verification or terminate channels that violate their Community Guidelines or the YouTube Terms of Service
- Verification has changed over time, so you may see many types of channels with verification on YouTube
Verified channel eligibility
To be eligible to apply for verification, your channel must reach 100,000 subscribers. After you apply, YouTube will review your channel and verify channels that:
- Are authentic: Your channel must represent the real creator, brand, or entity it claims to be. We’ll check different factors to help verify your identity, such as the age of your channel. We may also ask for more info or documentation
- Are complete: Your channel must be public and have a channel banner, description, profile picture, and content, and be active on YouTube
In some cases, YouTube may also proactively verify channels with fewer than 100,000 subscribers that are well-known outside of YouTube.
How to apply for YouTube verification
If you are eligible to be verified on YouTube, follow these steps to apply for your channel to be verified.
- Go to YouTube Help page
- Scroll down to the ‘Apply for channel verification’ section
- Click on ‘Apply now’ to access the application form. If your channel isn’t eligible, you won’t see the link
- Fill in all the required information. To know your Channel ID, sign in your YouTube account > Settings > Advanced settings
- Once you’re done, just click on the ‘Submit’ button
- YouTube will send you an email for confirmation
- Now you will have to wait for YouTube to reach out to you regarding their decision
Loss of verified status
It’s one thing knowing how to get verified on YouTube and then achieving it, but quite the other to keep hold of it. You may lose you verified status if:
- You change your channel’s name
- You violate YouTube Terms of Service or Community Guidelines
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