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When most people think of options for sharing videos privately, they typically think of storage solutions like Google Drive. However, did you know you can privately share videos on YouTube for free? Moreover, you can do so without any risk of any unwanted recipients seeing them.
The directions and screenshots in this tutorial apply to uploading videos via a web browser on desktop, but the same steps will apply on mobile too, albeit with different locations for each setting.
First,upload your video to YouTubeby going to the top-right corner of any YouTube page and selecting theCameraicon. Then, clickUpload Videoand select or drag and drop your file. Adjust your video’s description, tags, and other settings as desired.
2. Set the Video to Private
To make your video private, select theVisibilitydrop-down menu on the right side of the screen. Under theSave or publishmenu, selectPrivate.
3. Add the Email Addresses of the Recipients
Once your video has been set to private, you’ll see a blue prompt below the setting toShare Privately. Click on it and add the email addresses of all desired recipients.
ClickDone, and you should see the recipient email addresses under thePrivatesetting. HitSaveto confirm all your settings and privately share the video.
The video will only be visible to the listed private recipients. Specifically, these recipients must be logged into YouTube using the specific email addresses listed in yourShare Privatelylist.
How to Open and Watch a Private YouTube Video
If someone sends you a private YouTube video, how do you access it? First, make sure they send it to the correct email address. You should see an email like the image below in your inbox.
Open that email, and you’ll see a message like the screenshot below.
If you think you should have received an email but can’t find it, be sure to check yourSpam,Trash, andArchivesections. Additionally, try using the search bar in your email client; simply searching forYouTubeshould suffice.
Click the image in the body of the email to access the private video. If everything has functioned properly, you should be able to watch the video on YouTube. Notice in the screenshot below that comments are disabled because the video is private.
This method is a bit tedious for both the uploader and the recipient, but it ensures privacy, as only permitted email addresses can access the video.
While you might consider making your video unlisted for easier link sharing, anyone with the link can continue sharing it with unintended recipients, making private sharing the most secure.
When Cloud File Sharing Is Superior
Google Drive or another dedicated file hosting platform is the highest quality way to host videos to privately share, and it is quite convenient with features like creating direct links to access files. On Drive, recipients will have access to the original uncompressed file, whereas YouTube typically compresses it for better streaming playback.
That said, uncompressed video files are large, and most people will quickly fill up the 15 GB of free storage on their drive and require extra paid storage. If you do use Google Drive to share uncompressed videos, make sure you know exactlywho has access to your Google Drive filesas well.
However, of the options available for sharing videos on a small scale, private sharing on YouTube is sufficient for most, as it’s completely free and easily controlled. Whereas sharing through Google Drive is best for maintaining uncompressed file quality.
