How do I share a private YouTube video with someone?

Question

I have uploaded a YouTube video and marked it as private.

Now I want to share it with someone. I have tried to share it a few times, but they have not received any email notification.

What is the proper way of sharing the video?

Answer 1

Here's what Youtube says for sharing private videos. So, if you're sending the email notifications the way the steps say, then like one of the other answers says, maybe your friends need to add service@youtube.com to their email address book.

If you'd like to share one of your videos with a select and limited audience, you can do so by setting your video to private. Once the video's set to private you'll be able to share it with fifty other users.

Once you've set the video to private you'll be able to send the video's private URL with your contacts. Once your contacts receive the private URL, they'll be able to sign into their YouTube account and watch the video.

Here's how to find and send a private video's private URL:

1. Sign into your YouTube account and click the Account link located (at the top-right of any page ).
2. Then click the Uploaded Videos link. Click and choose the video you want to send to your friends. Then, click the "Edit" button.
3. Under the "Broadcasting and Sharing Options" section (on the left-hand side of the page towards the bottom) you'll see "Privacy" options. Click the little black arrow / triangle to expand and see all your privacy options (if its not already open and you cannot see your privacy options).
4. If the video's set to private, there will be a URL section below the "Private" option. This is the special private link that you will send to (up to) fifty contacts so that they can watch your private video.
5. Email / send a private message including the private video's special URL. When your friends receive the email invitation, they'll need to: Sign into their YouTube account
6. Click the video URL. They'll then be able to watch the video

That's it! You've now learned how to share a private video with your contacts!

Answer 2

The original accepted answer is out of date. The current steps are:

1. Navigate to https://www.youtube.com/
2. Click your account icon at the top right, and select "Creator Studio" from the menu.
3. In the videos panel click the "Edit" button next to the video you with to share.
4. On the "Basic Info" tab, ensure, the privacy is set to "Private". Otherwise, the option to share with specific people will be hidden.
5. On the "Basic Info" tab, click the "Edit" button just under the privacy drop down list.
6. The primary action button to submit the form will say "Share". Click that button to save your changes.

Answer 3

11.01.2019 - present day

• click on your profile icon on top right
• select Creator Studio
• go to Video Manager
• select video you want to share
• click on Edit button
• add your +1 person under Private selection

Answer 4

I'm not sure if YouTube likes to change it all the time or what ... It took me a while to find it today, so I recorded a simple video how you can do it (as of Feb. 2020):

https://youtu.be/JK8m-KfFLgI

Answer 5

Have you read this information from the YouTube site?

I would imagine that the email has been blocked as spam.

Getting Started: Sharing videos

There are many options for sharing a video you've found on YouTube. Here are a few:

1. Have YouTube send your friends an email with a link to the video - just sign into your YouTube account, click on the "Share" link underneath any video, and then scroll down to the "Send this video from YouTube" box. Enter any email address you want and an optional personal message, then click "Send"


2. Send a video URL to your friends directly - just click on the "URL" text box to the right of any video, copy the text, and paste it to anyone in an email message or IM window


3. Share to a social network - just click on your favorite social network underneath a video (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, orkut, etc), sign into that social network (if necessary), and follow the instructions to send the video to your profile or directly to your friends.

Having trouble sharing a videos?

If your friends haven't received the YouTube videos you've shared with them, please ask them to check their spam folder to see if the emails were filtered there. Adding service@youtube.com to their address book or filter exception list may help avoid this problem in the future. You may also want to confirm that you're entering the right email addresses when you share videos.