Making the most out of YouTube

1: Subscribe to the channels you love

Do you watch every new video your favorite band uploads? How about your favorite news organization? Or a great channel that adds new funny videos every week. Instead of visiting each channel and looking for new content, subscribing allows you to see all of their new content, as well as what they’re watching and liking, right from the YouTube homepage. Now that you have an account, the homepage can be customized with content you want to see.

How to subscribe

First, make sure you’re signed in. Take a look at the top right corner of the YouTube screen. If you see the prompt to Sign in, go ahead and do so.

Don’t have a YouTube account? If you have a Google account, your YouTube account will be ready to go. If you don’t have a Google account, signing up for one is easy. Just click here.

Now that you’re signed in, think about the things that you love on YouTube. It can be a specific content creator, such as Geek & Sundry or PewDiePie; or a brand, like Red Bull or the NBA. Don’t forget about your favorite artists like Taylor Swift or Bruno Mars! Also think about video topics you enjoy; broad topics like music or more narrow topics like time-lapse photography. 

Once you’ve landed on your first favorite channel, go ahead and click .

I'm subcribed, now what?

The first thing that happens is that the channel is added to your guide and that the content from that channel will appear in the My Subscriptions feed.

You can navigate to the My Subscriptions view at any time and see what’s new from the channels you love. This list is viewable on the homepage, on the watch page, and on mobile and devices.

Looking for channels to subscribe to? You can browse channels by visiting the Browse channels link in your guide.

2: Build playlists of your favorite videos

Find a group of videos that you like? Maybe a few of your favorite songs, or highlights from your local sports team? Put them in a playlist, so you can watch them together, whenever you want.

Try it out!
  1. Click "Add to" underneath a video
  2. Enter a new playlist name
  3. Click "Create playlist"
  4. Use Video Manager to find your playlists

3: Create a channel to upload, comment, and more

By creating a channel, you’ll have a public profile and be able to comment, save videos to playlists, and more. Without a channel, you can only subscribe and like or dislike videos.

Create a channel, then find out how you can customize your channel in this video:

Next, learn more about the different options for your username on YouTube.