Create a YouTube account without a phone number in 2026

Yes. A YouTube account is a Google Account, and Google lists adding a phone number as an optional step when you create one. You can even sign up with an email you already have instead of a new Gmail. Watching, liking, subscribing, commenting and uploading short videos work without a number. The phone comes back when you want longer uploads or creator features.

Short answer: create a Google Account with your email address, open YouTube, and make a channel. No phone needed for that. To upload videos over 15 minutes, add custom thumbnails or live stream, YouTube asks you to verify a phone number, and it documents no way to skip that step.

Everything below comes from YouTube Help and Google Account Help as of November 3, 2026.

What YouTube needs from you, layer by layer

People say "YouTube account" for three different things, and each one has its own rules.

YouTube's account page puts it simply: "To sign in to YouTube, you'll need to create a Google Account." Its channel page adds that "to upload videos, comment, or make playlists, you need a YouTube channel."

How to create a YouTube account with just an email

Google's Create a Google Account page says: "You don't need to have a Gmail address to create a Google Account. You can also use a non-Gmail email address." That is the cleanest route if you'd rather not open a Gmail inbox just for YouTube.

1. Go to youtube.com and select Sign in, then Create Account. Choose For my personal use.
2. Enter your name, birthday and gender. Use your real birthday. YouTube applies age rules, and an ID check for advanced features later has to match it.
3. Select "Use your existing email or phone number." Type your current email address, not a number.
4. Enter the code Google sends to that email. This is how Google confirms the address is yours.
5. Create a password and finish. When Google offers to add a phone number, you can skip it. Its guide marks that step "Optional."
6. Add a recovery email. With no phone on the account, this is your way back in if you forget the password.

If you'd rather have a Gmail address, the same Create Account screen lets you pick one. We cover what Gmail does at that step in creating a Gmail without a phone number.

If Google asks for a number anyway

Google's Verify your account page says: "To help protect you and stop spammers, before you create an account or sign in, sometimes phone verification is required to confirm you're a real person." Google doesn't say what triggers it, and it doesn't offer an email alternative on that screen.

What it does document: "If you choose the call option, you can also use your home phone number." And if you see "This phone number cannot be used for verification," Google says to use "a number from a friend, family member, or a different carrier." For the rest of Google's verification screens, see our guide on verifying a Google account without a phone number.

How to create a YouTube channel

Once you're signed in, a channel takes a minute. From YouTube's guide:

1. Sign in to YouTube on a computer or the mobile site.
2. Click your profile picture, then Settings.
3. In the Account section, select Add or manage channel(s).
4. Click Create a channel.
5. Choose a profile picture, a name and a handle, then click Create channel.

YouTube's steps don't include a phone number. If you want a channel under a different name, or with more than one manager, the same page explains Brand Accounts. One catch: YouTube says that if you use YouTube "with a supervised experience, you may not be able to create a channel."

Verifying a YouTube account: what needs a phone

This is the step most people mean when they search "verify YouTube without a phone number." YouTube's Verify your YouTube account page is direct about it: "To verify your channel, you'll be asked to enter a phone number. We'll send a verification code by text or voice call to that phone number."

Once you've verified, YouTube says you can:

• upload videos longer than 15 minutes
• add custom thumbnails
• live stream
• appeal copyright claims

YouTube also notes, "You may also be asked to verify your account when you sign up."

Uploading videos longer than 15 minutes

YouTube's long uploads page says: "By default, you can upload videos that are up to 15 minutes long. Verified accounts can upload videos longer than 15 minutes." The overall maximum is "256 GB or 12 hours, whichever is less."

You can verify on the spot in the mobile app: tap Create, then Upload a video, pick a video longer than 15 minutes, fill in the details, tap Next and follow the steps. You choose between a text message and an automated voice call. If you uploaded the long video before verifying, YouTube says you'll need to upload it again.

Where to check your status

In YouTube Studio, go to Settings, then Channel, then Feature eligibility. YouTube says a verified account shows "Enabled" in the box for features that require phone verification.

Advanced features: ID or video, but phone first

YouTube's page on intermediate and advanced features lists pinned comments and higher daily upload limits as examples of advanced features. To get them you need two things:

1. Phone verification. Studio > Settings > Channel > Feature eligibility > Intermediate features > Verify phone number.
2. Then one of: enough channel history, or a check with a valid ID or a short video of your face.

So ID and video verification don't replace the phone step. They come after it. YouTube also says "ID and video verification isn't available to all creators," that review "usually takes 24 hours," and that after two failed tries you "need to wait 30 days" before trying again. Only the primary owner of a channel can verify.

Limits on the number you use

YouTube says a phone number "can only be associated with 2 channels per year." If you see "This phone number has already created the maximum number of accounts," you'll need a different number. If the code doesn't arrive, YouTube suggests trying the voice call option, since "some carriers don't support text messages or voice calls from Google."

The "receive SMS online" sites some guides suggest are a bad idea here. Their numbers are shared and public, so anyone can read the code, and with the 2-channels-per-year limit they are often used up anyway. YouTube's own guidance is to use your own number or one from another carrier.

Why YouTube asks for a number

In YouTube's words: "We take spam and abuse seriously. Using phone numbers to verify identity is one way to protect our community and combat abuse." Its advanced features page goes further: "YouTube terminates millions of channels per year for violative content and behavior. Many of these channels are created by the same groups and individuals."

A phone number is harder to get in bulk than an email address, which is why it gates the features spammers want most. YouTube says it uses the number "to send you a verification code" and to make sure it's "linked to no more than 2 channels per year," and adds, "We don't sell your personal info to anyone." For Google's broader reasons, see why Google asks for your phone number.

How to remove a phone number from your Google Account

If a number ended up on your Google Account during sign-up, Google's page on changing your phone number gives the steps: go to your Google Account, click Personal info, click Phone and your number, then select Delete and Remove number.

Before you do, two things from Google's page. A recovery phone is one way back into a locked account, so make sure a recovery email is set. And if you only want the number to stop being used for ads, there's a "Better ads & Google services" switch under the number's Preferences that you can turn off instead.

Sign up with an email that needs no phone either

Since a YouTube account can run on any email address, the one you pick becomes its recovery route. Gmail and Outlook can ask for a number during their own sign-up; see creating an Outlook account without a phone number and our email without a phone number page for how the big providers compare.

Secria Mail's sign-up is a name, the address you want and a password, with no phone number and no card. You save a 12-word recovery phrase at sign-up, so getting back in doesn't depend on a number. The free plan has 1 GB and 2 email aliases, so you can give Google an alias and keep your main address private. You can create a free account here.

FAQ

Can I create a YouTube account without a phone number? Yes. Create a Google Account with your email address, using "Use your existing email or phone number" if you don't want Gmail, and skip the optional phone step. Google says phone verification is "sometimes" required at sign-up, and documents no email-only way past it when it is.

Can I verify my YouTube account without a phone number? Not for the features YouTube ties to verification. Uploads over 15 minutes, custom thumbnails and live streaming all need a code sent to a phone by text or voice call. Advanced features add channel history or an ID or video check on top, not instead.

Can I make a YouTube channel without verifying a phone? Yes. YouTube's channel steps (profile picture, Settings, Add or manage channel(s), Create a channel) include no phone step. You can upload videos up to 15 minutes, comment and make playlists.

How many YouTube channels can one phone number verify? Two per year. YouTube says the limit is there "to help prevent abuse," and shows "This phone number has already created the maximum number of accounts" when you hit it.

Can I use a landline to verify YouTube? YouTube offers a voice call as well as a text. For Google Account verification, Google says that with the call option "you can also use your home phone number." Some carriers don't support Google's calls or texts, in which case YouTube suggests a number from a different carrier.