30

I need to make a small correction in a video I uploaded to YouTube. Googling shows that this is not possible. However, I remember seeing it done before. I posted a comment on a video saying that a certain part of the video was missing. I got a reply back that it was fixed, and when I went to see the video again, it was changed. How was this done?

Improve this question
3
  • 2
    You can always remove an existing video and upload an edited version, but it sounds like you want to change a video's content in place. This may be an advanced privilege only given to YouTube Partners.
    – NReilingh
    Jan 11, 2011 at 4:59
  • Yes, I want to change it without losing the view count and original address.
    – z-buffer
    Jan 11, 2011 at 7:15
  • 6
    You can do this on Vimeo, but not YouTube. ie. You can completely replace a video with a different video in the original's place and retain all comments and viewcounts.
    – user14836
    Nov 14, 2011 at 22:20

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
20

Videos can not be replaced, but they can be edited.

Quote from YouTube Help (Replace or delete your video):

You can’t replace a video since any new video uploads will get a new URL, but you can make changes to the existing video.

Improve this answer
8

It should't be possible and I hope it's not. The reason is simple: Let's say you are uploading one really interesting video that goes viral with few millions views and then you are changing it to something completely boring. Wouldn't it be a little bit confusing for the new viewers on why exactly this video got so many views?

I think you can make few tweaks to the video from what YouTube offers you and maybe the editor could help, but I'm not a YouTuber to know anything more.

Improve this answer
6
  • 5
    A fair point, but let's also say you uploaded a video ages ago before Youtube could handle HD video. I have a video with several thousand hits that I can't upgrade to HD because of this.
    – Matt Dell
    May 30, 2012 at 22:30
  • @MattDell true... that's the only valid reason. Who knows, maybe they will implement a technology that will automate somehow the verification.
    – Lipis
    Jun 1, 2012 at 13:40
  • I would think they could use the same technology they use to verify content isn't copyrighted to make sure the differences in your video are minimal/just being upgraded to HD. I hope at least that much can happen one day, though I sometimes need to make other small changes to my videos.
    – Jemmeh
    Jul 31, 2015 at 15:28
  • 1
    Why couldn't they introduce the concept of version history? Then watchers could decide they want to view originals, or view most recent updates.
    – D A
    Jun 10, 2016 at 1:23
  • Lipis> true... that's the only valid reason. Really? The only valid reason? You can't stretch your brain to think of even a single other valid reason? Say for example correcting an error like a typo or misspoken word or something without having to re-upload the whole video over again and losing all of the comments, views, etc. on it? (There are other valid reasons, that's just the most obvious and extremely common one that people wish they could do this.)
    – Synetech
    Jun 20, 2019 at 20:54
1

In my opinion, probably the issue is not that YouTube would or would not allow video replacement but it’s the original content that can't be altered. By allowing such ability, it would contaminate the authenticity of original content.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.