If you verify your YouTube account, you'll be able to upload videos longer than 15 minutes, plus you'll be able to customize your thumbnails. There are a number of other benefits you stand to enjoy if you take the time to verify your YouTube account today.
In this article, we'll show you step-by-step how to verify your YouTube account. Before we get into the details, let's cover some other important points to note about verifying your YouTube account.
What Does It Mean to Verify Your YouTube Account?
To be clear, verifying your account is not the same as getting a verification badge. When you verify your account, you let YouTube know that you own the account.
Verifying your account also helps YouTube to fight spam by ensuring that you're not using your phone number to create many different accounts.
Anyone can verify a YouTube account, unlike only content creators or channels with 100k+ subscribers who can get the gray YouTube verification badge. Let's look at why you should verify your YouTube account.
Why You Should Verify Your YouTube Account
Firstly, you should verify your YouTube account because it will improve your account security. Letting YouTube know who owns the account means it's much less likely to be hacked.
Secondly, you'll be helping YouTube to check spam. YouTube checks phone numbers when verifying accounts to make sure there aren't lots of different accounts using the same number. This can prevent dozens of spam accounts cropping up.
Finally, after you verify your YouTube account, you'll get access to some extra features. For example, you'll be able to upload 15-minute long videos and customize your thumbnails to your taste.
Additionally, you'll be able to accommodate YouTube ads like mid-roll ads that require videos to be at least 8 minutes long. Let's now see the requirements for verifying your YouTube account.
What You'll Need to Verify Your YouTube Account
To verify your YouTube account, all you'll need are:
- A YouTube account.
- An active phone number.
How to Verify Your Account on YouTube
There are two ways to verify your YouTube account. You can do so via SMS or voice call using a PC or a mobile browser such as Chrome. Here's how.
- To verify your YouTube account via SMS or voice call, go to YouTube verify on any web browser of your choice.
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You may be prompted to sign in to your Google Account if you aren't already. In that case, enter your login credentials and click Next.
- Once inside, you'll be asked how you like the verification code to be delivered to you. This is set to Text me the verification code by default. If you'd rather have a voice call instead, select Call me with an automated voice message.
- Now, select your country if it hasn't already.
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Next, enter your mobile phone number. Remember to include the correct country code in brackets then click GET CODE. You'll receive a code via SMS or via voice call.
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Enter the 6-digit code into the space provided on your PC and click SUBMIT.
- Congratulations! Your phone number is now verified.
You can do this for any other YouTube accounts you may have. Bear in mind that if you have multiple accounts with the same number, YouTube might flag them up for spam.
Why Didn't I Receive a Verification Code?
If you didn't get a verification code after clicking GET CODE, it could be due to the following reasons:
- Your country, region, or carrier doesn't support text messages from Google. If so, use a different phone number or try the voice call option.
- You get an error message saying, “This phone number has already created the maximum number of accounts”. If so, you may have to use another number.
- Delays with text message delivery. If you've waited for a few minutes and still haven't received the verification code, you can try the voice call option.
Trying a different number or the voice call option should fix any of these issues. If you're still facing issues after trying these methods, reach out to YouTube's support team.
Now That Your YouTube Account Is Verified
By verifying your YouTube account, you're helping YouTube to combat spam. You're also contributing in no small way towards making YouTube a safer place for all its nearly 2 billion monthly active users.
Now that your YouTube account is verified, you can upload your 15 minutes long videos, incorporate mid-roll ads, and customize your thumbnails.