Are you considering deleting your YouTube account? Whatever the reason, you can do it without any trouble. But before you get rid of it, there are some nuances you should know about.
First of all, YouTube has long been one of Google’s services. Therefore, you can’t delete just the YouTube account separately. The only solution here is to close and delete your Google account completely.
But what if you don’t want to lose your email and other data? In that case, Google allows you to remove an individual service, including YouTube. So if that’s what you want to do, you can skip the first paragraph immediately.
Well, let’s look at both options in more detail.
How to delete YouTube (Google) account
Before proceeding with deleting your Google account, it’s crucial to understand the implications. Consider the following factors:
- Data Backup: Ensure you have backed up any important files, emails, photos, or documents associated with your Google account, as they will be permanently deleted.
- Connected Services: Understand that deleting your Google account will also lead to the loss of access to other services like Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Photos, and more.
Once ready, follow these steps:
On PC
- Visit google.com and sign in to your account if needed.
- Then click your profile icon at the top right corner and select Manage your Google Account.
- Go to the Data & privacy tab.
- After that, scroll down to the More options section and click Delete your Google Account.
- Enter your password to verify it’s you, and click Next.
- At the top, you will have the option to download all your Google data. You can use it to save important data for you.
- Next, scroll to the bottom and read the warning notices from Google.
- Finally, check the boxes and click Delete Account.
On mobile
- Open the YouTube app on your mobile device and tap on your profile icon at the top right corner of the screen.
- Then select Manage your Google Account.
- Navigate to the Data and privacy tab and scroll to the very bottom of the page.
- After that, tap Delete your Google Account.
- Verify it’s you by entering your Google password and tapping Next.
- Here you can download all data you need.
- Scroll down, check the boxes to confirm the deletion, and tap Delete Account.
Once you have completed the deletion process, you can create a new account to start from scratch.
How to delete a YouTube service from Google
As mentioned above, you don’t have to delete a whole account. You can only remove YouTube as a service from your Google account.
This means that not only your channel (if any) will be deleted, but all your playlists, comments ever made on YouTube, likes, search and watch history. In addition, all your paid subscriptions (YouTube Premium, YouTube TV, and other channel memberships) will be canceled.
Here’s how:
On PC
- Visit google.com and sign in to your account if needed.
- Then click your profile icon at the top right corner and select Manage your Google Account.
- Go to the Data & privacy tab.
- Scroll down and click Delete a Google service.
- Verify it’s you. Enter your Google password and click Next.
- After that, locate YouTube and click on the Trash icon.
- Select I want to permanently delete my content.
- Finally, check the boxes to confirm the process and click Delete my content.
On mobile
- Open the YouTube app on your mobile device and tap on your profile icon at the top right corner of the screen.
- Then select Manage your Google Account.
- Navigate to the Data and privacy tab.
- Scroll down and tap Delete a Google service.
- Locate YouTube and tap on the Trash icon.
- Verify it’s you. Enter your Google password and tap Next.
- Expand I want to permanently delete my content.
- Finally, check the boxes to confirm the process and tap Delete my content.
Keep in mind that you can undo this. So back all the needed data before deleting. Now, you should have a completely clean YouTube. Just log back in with your Google account credentials and enjoy.
