How to Reset Your YouTube Password

What to do if I forgot my YouTube password?

1. Go to www.youtube.com in your web browser and click Sign In.

2. On the sign-in screen, click Need Help?

3. Click the button beside “I Don’t Know My Password”. A box will appear; click inside it and then type in the email address that you use to sign into YouTube. Then click Continue.

4. Google will ask you if you remember a password that you used previously for your YouTube account. If you do, click in the text box here and type it in. Then click Continue. If you don’t remember another password for this account, click I Don’t Know.

5. If you have a mobile device (smart phone, tablet computer, etc.) that you have accessed YouTube or another Google service on before, you can tell Google to send a specialized notification to that device that will allow you to reset your password. Click Send Notification, or if you can’t get to your device for some reason (such as it’s out of power or you can’t find it right now), click I Can’t Access My Device.

6. If you have a phone number registered on your YouTube account, you can have Google call or text-message you with a verification code that will let you reset your password. Click either of the buttons to decide how you want to receive the notification, and then click Continue. Or, if your phone is unavailable right now (since it’s out of battery power or you’re away from it somewhere), click I Can’t Access My Phone.

7. If you have more than one email address associated with your YouTube account, you can send an email to that account with instructions on how to reset your YouTube password by clicking Continue on this screen.

8. If all of these recovery options don’t work, you can click Verify Your Identity when it appears.

9. You will now be asked a series of questions to help verify that you’re really someone who is locked out of their YouTube account, and not someone trying to break into someone else’s account.

First, click in the top box and type in an email address that Google can use to contact you if they need to. You can use an address for another email website (like Yahoo mail) that you have access to, or you can use a friend or family member’s email… just make sure that you tell them what you’re doing first so that they don’t think their own Google account (if they have one) has a problem!

Then, click in the bottom box and re-type the email address. When you’re done, click Continue.

10. Next, Google will ask you for two dates: the date you created your YouTube account, and the date you last remember being able to log into it.

Click and select the months from each of the drop-down menus, and then click in the “Day” and “Year” boxes and type the respective information in (or you can use the little arrows within the boxes to scroll up and down the numbers). If you don’t remember either of these dates, just put in your best guess. When you’re done, click Continue.

11. You may then be asked by Google to verify the email address that you used to sign up for your YouTube account. The first set of boxes will allow you to input up to five email addresses that you remember sending emails to frequently. Click in each box and type in any email addresses that you remember.

The second set of boxes allows you to input the names of any custom folders or labels that you created for your email account. Click in each box and type in the names of any custom labels that you remember.

The box in the third section allows you to put in an email address that you used (or could use) as a backup to the one that you signed up for your YouTube account with. If you have an account with an alternate email service, it might be a good idea to click the box here and type its address in; Google might recognize it.

If you don’t remember any of this information, you can just try putting in your best guesses, or you can click Skip These Questions if you draw a total blank. Otherwise, when you’re done, click Continue.

12. Finally, Google will ask you if you have used any other Google products besides YouTube, and when you started using them. There are four sets of boxes, so you can select up to four services and dates for each of them.

In each row, click the leftmost box and select a Google service from the drop-down menu, then click the middle box and select a start month from the drop-down menu, and then click the rightmost box and type in a start year (or click the little arrows inside this box to scroll up and down the numbers).

If you can’t remember the exact dates that you started using these services, just put in your best guess. Also, if you haven’t used any other Google products (or don’t think you have, or they aren’t listed in any of the drop-down menus), then don’t bother doing any of this. In any case, click Submit when you’re done.

13. You will now have a choice of how you wish Google to contact you in order to fix the problem of how to get back into your YouTube account. The first method is by phone. Click the flag icon and select your country’s flag from the drop-down list (this is so Google will know what country code to apply to your phone number) and then click in the box beside it and type in a phone number at which Google can reach you. Then click Call Me Now.

You should get a phone call from a Google representative within a few minutes. They will walk you through the process of resetting your YouTube password and getting you back into your YouTube account.

14. The other method is by getting Google to talk to the company that supplies your Internet connection. If you use this method, you will have to enter information in all three sections.

First, click inside the box in the first section and type in any other information that you remember about your YouTube account. This could be custom channels or playlists that you created, videos that you watched recently, or anything else that may help Google tell your account apart from others.

In the next section, Google will ask you if there is anywhere else where you can get into your YouTube account from, even if you’re locked out of YouTube on this computer. This might be the case if you can automatically log into YouTube through an application on your mobile device (like a smart phone or tablet computer) or through another email service such as Microsoft Outlook. Click the respective button beside “Yes” if you can, “No” if you can’t, or “I Don’t Know” if this whole thing totally confuses you (which is fine; Google won’t judge you, and neither will we).

In the final section, Google will ask you for the name of your Internet service provider, or ISP. This is the telecommunications company that supplies your Internet connection, and that periodically sends you a bill asking you to pay for it. Google lists some common ones: Shaw, Verizon, ComCast, Time Warner Cable, Rogers/Bell (if Canadian), etc. Click in the box here and type in the name of your ISP.

When you have completed all of these sections, click Submit.

That’s about all the help that we can give you when it comes to resetting your YouTube password! Hopefully one of these methods will allow you to get back into your YouTube account. To avoid having to do this over again in the future, consider using a password manager to keep track of your passwords!