An unlisted video status is one of the three visibility statuses you can set with a YouTube video. But what does unlisted exactly mean on YouTube and when should you set a YouTube video to unlisted.
In this YouTube tutorial, we are going to cover everything you have to know about unlisted YouTube videos, what do they main, how are they different from public or private videos and many more.
What does unlisted video mean on YouTube?
An unlisted YouTube video means that the video won’t shop up on your YouTube channel or in the YouTube search results. The only exception is if someone adds the video to a public YouTube playlist.
If you see that a video is unlisted on YouTube, it means that only people with the video link can watch that YouTube video.
You can share an Unlisted YouTube with anyone, even if they don’t have a YouTube account.
How to share an unlisted YouTube video?
You can share an unlisted video with anyone whether you have explicitly shared the video with the person or not.
Compared to a private YouTube video, an unlisted YouTube video can be shared with anyone who has access to the URL of the unlisted YouTube video.
You can simply share an unlisted video:
- Open the YouTube studio
- Click on ‘Content’ on the left column.
- Search for the unlisted YouTube video
- Click on the three dots when you hover over the video.
- Select ‘Get shareable link’.
The URL of the unlisted YouTube video will be automatically copied to your clipboard.
When you should make a YouTube video unlisted?
So when does it makes sense to unlist a YouTube video?
First, if you don’t want a video to show up on YouTube search, on the YouTube home page or as a suggested YouTube video on the sidebar.
So, for instance, if you want to share a YouTube video before publishing, for instance, to get everything approved with a content manager, then it makes sense to make the video unlisted.
Also, if you want to upload the video fast to YouTube but you want to edit the YouTube video title, and description later then it is a great idea to upload the video as unlisted.
How to unlist a YouTube video?
So as we mentioned, you can unlist a YouTube video when you upload and publish it but you can also unlist a public or private video after it has been published
Let’s see both of them how it is done:
Publish a YouTube video as unlisted:
Here is how to publish a YouTube video as an unlisted video:
- Open YouTube Studio.
- Click on the ‘Create’ button.
- Upload the video.
- Add the title, description, etc. to the video
- Go to the Visibility tab,
- Select the Unlisted option.
- Then just click on ‘Save’.
The YouTube video will go live, but only people with the YouTube video URL will be able to watch it.
Make a published YouTube video unlisted
If you want to make a public or private YouTube video unlisted:
- Open YouTube Studio
- Click on the ‘Content’ page.
- Search for the video.
- In the visibility column, click on the down arrow.
- Select ‘Unlisted’
- Click on ‘Save’
If you want to get more details about making a YouTube video unlisted, check out our dedicated tutorial:
- How to make a YouTube video unlisted?
Unlisted vs private vs public YouTube videos
We have separate tutorials, where we go deep on unlisted vs private YouTube videos and unlisted vs public videos. What are the differences between these YouTube video visibility statuses and when you should unlist a video or make it private.
Check out these dedicated guides in the related tutorials section.
But here is the gist of it from the official YouTube help section:
Related tutorials – What does Unlisted mean on YouTube?
Here are some related tutorials, you might find useful:
- How to find Unlisted YouTube videos on YouTube?
- How to make a YouTube video unlisted?
- Unlisted vs Private Videos
- Unlisted vs Public Video Explained