How to Get Verified on YouTube.

The short answer

To get verified on YouTube, your channel needs 100,000 subscribers, 2-Step Verification turned on for its Google account, and a complete profile with a banner image, profile picture, description and at least one public video. The channel owner or a manager then applies in YouTube Studio under Settings, Channel, Verified badge, and YouTube reviews the request.

That is the whole route on YouTube. The application only opens once the channel meets the conditions. You apply, YouTube reviews the channel, and YouTube decides.

For brands, the more important detail sits further down YouTube’s own rules. Renaming a verified channel removes the badge. Changing its handle does not. That makes verification an Operations question as much as a growth one, because the people who plan a rebrand are rarely the people who know what it will cost the channel.

What the verification badge means

A check mark next to a channel’s name means YouTube has verified that channel. YouTube says a verified channel is the official channel of a creator, artist, company or public figure.

Its job is to tell the real channel apart from others with similar names. If your brand has fan accounts, reposting channels or impersonators sitting near it in search, the badge is the signal that tells a viewer which one is yours.

The same logic runs across platforms, which is why we treat a badge as a trust signal rather than a status symbol in our piece on what being verified on Facebook actually means.

Who can apply

YouTube sets three conditions before you can even submit a request:

• The channel must have 100,000 subscribers.
• The Google account behind it must have 2-Step Verification turned on.
• The profile must be complete: a banner image, a profile picture, a description and at least one public video.

Only the channel’s owners or managers can submit the application. Anyone else with access to the channel cannot send it, so decide early who will click Apply.

How to apply, step by step

The application lives in YouTube Studio on a computer.

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. Click Settings, then Channel, then Verified badge.
3. Click Apply.

If the Verified badge tab does not appear, YouTube says the channel is not eligible to apply because it has not met the 100,000 subscriber requirement.

If the channel has 100,000 subscribers but is missing 2-Step Verification or a complete profile, YouTube shows an option to turn on 2-Step Verification or edit the profile instead. Once those are fixed, the Apply option appears.

YouTube also notes that its systems sometimes take a few days to update. If a channel has only just reached 100,000 subscribers, or the account has only just turned on 2-Step Verification, the application form may not open yet. YouTube’s advice is to check back in a few days.

It also asks you to make sure you are signed in with the email address for the eligible channel. For a brand that runs several channels, or that manages its channel through a shared account, this is the most likely reason the tab seems to be missing.

What YouTube checks after you apply

Reaching the threshold only lets you apply. After that, YouTube reviews the channel against two tests.

• The channel must be real. It has to represent the actual creator, brand or entity it claims to be. YouTube says it checks different factors to confirm identity, such as the age of the channel, and it may ask for more information or documents.
• The channel must be complete. It has to be public, with a banner, a description and a profile picture, and it needs content and to be active on YouTube.

YouTube also says it will not verify channels that are trying to impersonate another creator or brand, and that it may take further action against a channel it finds deliberately impersonating someone.

For a brand, the practical point is that the profile you show the reviewer should match the brand everywhere else. A channel whose name, picture and description look unfinished is asking the reviewer to guess.

Turning on 2-Step Verification

2-Step Verification is a Google Account setting, not a YouTube one. Google describes it as an extra layer of security in case your password is stolen.

To turn it on, open the Google Account, go to Security and sign-in, and under “How you sign in to Google” select Turn on 2-Step Verification, then follow the steps on screen. Google notes that these steps might not work for an account used through work, school or another group, and that in that case you should contact your administrator.

For the second step, Google recommends its sign-in prompts over typed codes, and offers passkeys, hardware security keys and backup codes as other options. A brand channel should not depend on one person’s phone for this. Agree where the backup codes are kept before you need them.

Why the badge is not a reward

YouTube is clear that verified channels do not get extra features. The badge also does not represent an award, a milestone or an endorsement from YouTube.

That changes how a brand should think about it. The badge does not make videos reach more people, and it is not a prize for hitting 100,000 subscribers. It is a label that marks the official channel. In our view, its value grows with the number of lookalike channels around you, not with your view count.

The rename trap

This is the rule that catches brands. YouTube says a verified channel stays verified unless it changes its channel name. If the name changes, the renamed channel will not be verified, and the owner has to reapply.

YouTube’s profile settings repeat the warning: changing your name will remove your verification badge. They also say a channel name can be changed twice within a 14-day period, and that a new name can take a few days to update across YouTube.

So a rebrand, a merger or a simple tidy of the channel name has a cost that rarely appears in the brief. Imagine a retailer that renames its channel to match a new brand identity on launch day. The badge goes, the channel has to apply again, and the review takes whatever time it takes. That is the gap an impersonator would want.

This is where we would put the badge in the rebrand checklist, next to the logo files and the bio copy, with one owner who knows the rule. It is also the kind of setting we look at in a platform optimisation review, because the risk sits in process, not in content.

Handle changes are safe, with limits

The handle is the short identifier that starts with @ and also forms the channel’s YouTube address. YouTube says changing the handle will not remove the verification badge.

There are still limits. A handle can be changed twice within a 14-day period. After a change, YouTube holds the previous handle for 14 days in case you want to switch back, and both the old and new handle addresses work during that time. After that, the old handle becomes available for other users to take.

That last point matters for brands. If you move to a new handle and let the old one lapse, someone else can claim it once the 14 days are up. Decide in advance whether you are sure of the change.

Channels under 100,000 subscribers

YouTube says it may also verify channels with fewer than 100,000 subscribers on its own initiative when they are well known outside YouTube. That is YouTube’s call, not something a channel can apply for.

For everyone else under the line, YouTube suggests other ways to stand out from similar channels:

• a unique channel name or handle that represents who you are and what you publish,
• a high-quality profile picture, so the channel looks professional in search results,
• a customised channel layout and branding.

If someone is impersonating your channel, YouTube asks you to report it.

How the badge can be lost

Beyond renaming, YouTube reserves the right to revoke verification, or to terminate channels, that break its Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.

YouTube also says verification has changed over time, so you may see many types of verified channels on the platform. A competitor’s badge does not tell you what rules applied when they got it.

How NBK thinks about verification

Verification is an operations task wearing a growth costume. The work is mostly ownership and timing: who has owner or manager access, where the 2-Step Verification sits, who signs off a name change, and who checks the badge after any rebrand.

None of that needs a big process. It needs one line in the channel’s runbook and one person who owns it. The same thinking applies on other platforms, as we set out in our guide to getting verified on LinkedIn.

Next step

If your channel has passed 100,000 subscribers and still has no badge, check the three conditions first, then check who is signed in. If a rename is on the roadmap, plan for the reapplication before launch day.

If your social process is slowing down good ideas, NBK can help rebuild the workflow behind the content.