Starting November 1, monetizing creators must turn on 2-Step Verification on the Google Account used for their YouTube channel to access YouTube Studio or YouTube Studio Content Manager. Learn more
Update August 2021: We’ve updated this article to include details on a new eligibility requirement for joining the YouTube Partner Program.
The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) gives creators greater access to YouTube resources and features like direct access to our Creator Support team. It also enables revenue sharing from ads being served on your content. In this article, you can review:
- Available features
- Criteria for joining
- The application checklist
- Other miscellaneous FAQs on YPP
Intro to Making Money on YouTube
What you get
- Access to our Creator Support teams
- Access to the Copyright Match Tool
- Access to our monetization features
Minimum eligibility requirements to join
- Follow all the YouTube channel monetization policies.
- The YouTube channel monetization policies are a collection of policies that allow you to monetize on YouTube. As a YouTube partner, your agreement including the YouTube partner program policies require compliance with these monetization policies to potentially earn money on YouTube.
- Live in a country/region where the YouTube Partner Program is available.
- Have no active Community Guidelines strikes on your channel.
- Have more than 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months.
- Have more than 1,000 subscribers.
- Have a linked AdSense account.
YouTube Partner Program application checklist
Everyone who meets our threshold can apply for YPP, but you do need to meet some of our guidelines to be considered. This checklist is meant to guide you through the application process.
- First, make sure that 2-Step Verification is turned on for your Google Account. This means you’ll protect your account with both your password and a second form of verification.
- Make sure your channel follows our policies and guidelines, and that there aren't any active Community Guidelines strikes on it. When you apply, you’ll go through a standard review process to check whether your channel meets our policies and guidelines. Channels that meet our policies and guidelines will be accepted into the program. We also constantly check channels in the program to make sure they continue to meet our policies and guidelines.
- Have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 valid public watch hours. When we assess channels for the YouTube Partner Program, we need context. When you reach this threshold, it usually means that you have more content. The threshold helps us make a more informed decision about whether your channel meets our policies and guidelines. You can apply for YPP once you reach this threshold.
- Sign YPP terms. You can ask to be notified when you reach the subscriber and public watch hour threshold. Once your channel meets the threshold, follow these instructions:
- Sign in to YouTube.
- In the top right, click your profile picture
YouTube Studio.
- In the left menu, click Monetization.
- If you’re under the threshold, click Notify me when I’m eligible to get an email. You’ll receive an email when you’ve reached 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the past 12 months. If you meet the threshold, click Start on the “Review Partner Program terms” card.
- Once you’ve signed the term, we’ll mark this step with a green “Done” sign on the “Review Partner Program terms” card.
- Make sure you only have 1 AdSense account. As part of the application process, you’ll need to connect an AdSense account to get paid.
- Click Start on the “Sign up for Google AdSense” card.
- If you already have an AdSense account, use the one that's already approved. You can link as many of your channels as you want to a single AdSense account.
- If you don't have an AdSense account, you can create one by following the on-screen instructions.
- Once you’ve connected your AdSense, we’ll mark this step with a green “Done” sign on the “Sign up for Google AdSense” card.
- Click Start on the “Sign up for Google AdSense” card.
- Get reviewed. Once you sign the YouTube Partner Program terms and connect an AdSense account, your channel will automatically be put in a review queue. Our automated systems and human reviewers will then review your channel’s content to check whether your account has followed all of our guidelines. You can check your application status anytime at https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC/monetization.
- If you’re accepted into YPP: Congratulations! You can now set up ad preferences and enable monetization on your uploads. Here’s a list of FAQs that we get from creators who have just joined YPP.
- If you’re rejected from YPP: Our reviewers found that a significant portion of your channel doesn’t meet our policies and guidelines. You can re-apply 30 days after your rejection. Check out our FAQs for tips on how to strengthen your application.
YouTube Studio.Review process
Your application will be put into queue once you:
- Meet our subscriber and watch time thresholds
- Have no active Community Guidelines strikes
- Sign the YouTube Partner Program terms
- Connect your AdSense account
Our human reviewers will assess your channel as a whole to check whether your account meets our YouTube channel monetization policies.
We’ll get back to you with a decision once your channel is reviewed (typically about 1 month after you meet the threshold).
Note: Sometimes, you may need to wait more than a month. There can be multiple reasons for delays -- higher-than-usual application volumes, system issues, or we may occasionally need to shift resources. Our policy specialists try to get through applications as fast as possible, but delays can happen because we have a limited number of specialists.
Can you speed up my application?
No. Our teams can’t speed up your application. All applications are put in a queue, and will be processed in the order they’re received. Sometimes channels require multiple reviews, especially when multiple reviewers disagree on your channel’s suitability for YPP. In these cases, multiple reviews may be needed, which means it may take more time for a decision to be made.
Stay active to keep making money
As the YouTube Partner Program continues to grow, it's important to maintain a healthy, active ecosystem of channels. To focus our support for creators who are active and engaged with the community, we may disable monetization on channels that haven’t uploaded a video or posted to the Community tab for 6 months or more.
FAQs around applying and more
What if I don’t meet the program threshold?
If you don’t meet the threshold yet, keep working to make original content and build your audience. Here are some resources that can help you grow your channel:
- Learn solutions from other YouTube users in the YouTube Help Forum.
- Go to the Creator Site to learn, grow, and be connected to programs, resources, and events.
- Check out our YouTube Help channel and YouTube Creators channel to watch tutorials, troubleshooting, and tip videos from the YouTube Help team.
View resources available to you as a creator.
If you have active Community Guidelines strikes on your channel, you can apply after your strikes expire or after you have successfully appealed to have your Community Guidelines strikes removed. This is only an eligibility requirement for those wishing to join YPP – current members of the program will not be removed when receiving Community Guidelines strikes.
What counts as a valid public watch hour:
- Watch hours gained from videos you’ve set public
- Private videos
- Unlisted videos
- Deleted videos
- Ad campaigns
- Videos played from the 'Stories and short videos' shelf
- Livestreams that are unlisted, deleted, or not converted to VOD (video on demand)
If I meet the threshold, do I automatically get into YPP?
No. Every channel that meets the threshold will go through a standard review process. Our team will review your channel as a whole to check whether your channel meets our YouTube channel monetization policies. Your channel also must not have any active Community Guidelines strikes in order to apply. Channels that follow our policies and guidelines are able to monetize.
We’ll send your channel for review once you meet our valid public watch hours and subscriber threshold. So it doesn’t matter if your subscriber or watch hour counts drop below the threshold while waiting for review. If you’ve met the threshold and applied for YPP, we’ll still review your channel for YPP suitability.
But, YouTube does reserve the right, at its discretion, to remove monetization from channels if a channel is inactive and has not uploaded or posted Community posts for 6 months or more.
Channels will lose monetization when they violate any of the YouTube channel monetization policies. This loss of monetization will happen regardless of their watch hours and subscriber count.
If you previously started the application process in Creator Studio Classic and still want to become a member of the YouTube Partner Program:
- Please make sure that your channel is eligible and re-apply to become a member of the YouTube Partner Program. You can follow the application instructions outlined on this page.
YouTube is able to serve ads on all content on the platform. If you were previously a member of YPP (and currently are not in the program), you may still see ads being served on your content. In this case, you do not receive a share of the revenue.
If you rejoin YPP in the future, you’ll be able to receive a share of the revenue from ads served on your content after you rejoin. In that case, when reapplying for YPP, make sure that your channel meets the eligibility criteria outlined on this page.