How to Change Your YouTube Channel Name

YouTube is arguably the most widely-used video streaming platform in the world that has been increasingly popular ever since its creation over a decade ago. However, due to the longevity of the platform, most of us are now stuck with old, silly usernames that are inappropriate or uninteresting now that we’ve grown up.

Whether you wish to change your YouTube name exactly because of this, or maybe due to another reason, the process for altering your username is thankfully quite simple. Here is a quick guide that might help:

Altering your YouTube username on desktop

If you wish to alter your YouTube username when using your computer, simply follow the steps below:

  1. Load the YouTube website in your preferred browser and sign in if necessary.
  2. Press on your profile image located at the top part of the window, and choose the Settings option.
  3. Here, press the Edit on Google hyperlink underneath your name. This will direct you to a specific page for Google profile settings.
  4. Under the Basic Info section, press the Name tab.
  5. Press the Edit icon (pencil) and type in your new name.
  6. Finally, press Save to confirm.

Note: The names on your Google account and your YouTube channel have to be the same, which is why there is no option to change usernames directly on YouTube; you need to go through this process instead.

Altering your YouTube username on mobile

If you’re using YouTube on your smartphone or tablet, however, you can alter the name of your Youtube channel by following these steps:

  1. Load the YouTube application on your mobile device, and sign in if necessary.
  2. Press your profile image located in the upper-right part of the display.
  3. Press your profile image at the top once again to access your channel.
  4. Here, click on the blue Edit Channel button.
  5. On the next page, click the Edit icon (pencil) that’s located beside the Name tab.
  6. Now, simply enter your new username.
  7. Finally, press OK (Android) or the checkmark icon (iOS) to save your new changes.

Note: It’s important to remember that you will only have the opportunity to alter your name on Google three times every three months regardless of the method you use.

And there you have it! Adjusting the name of your YouTube channel is as simple as completing a couple of quick steps, although it does come with some additional consequences, such as altering your display name across your entire Google account.