Tell me more ×
Web Applications Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for power users of web applications. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

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?

share|improve this question
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 '11 at 4:59
Yes, I want to change it without losing the view count and original address. – z-buffer Jan 11 '11 at 7:15
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 '11 at 22:20

migrated from superuser.com Jan 11 '11 at 6:32

3 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

What you are wanting to do is not possible.

Quote from YouTube Help (Replace old video with a new one):

There is currently no way to replace an old video with a new one and retain the original view count, comments or ratings. You'll have to start over with your newer video.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

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.

share|improve this answer
up vote 4 down vote

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.

share|improve this answer
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 '12 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 '12 at 13:40

protected by Community♦ Mar 4 at 7:33

This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site.

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