Do you want to share your videos with friends, family and complete strangers? Well, all you have to do is publish them on the YouTube platform. It is completely free and very easy to use. This article explains how to post a video on YouTube using a computer, smartphone or tablet.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Using the YouTube Mobile App
Step 1. Launch the YouTube app
It is characterized by a white icon inside which a red rectangle with a triangle in the center pointing to the right is visible. It is usually located on one of the Home pages or within the "Applications" panel.
- The YouTube application should be pre-installed on all mobile devices on the market, but if this is not the case, you can download it directly from the App Store (on iPhone and iPad) or from the Play Store (on Android).
- Before posting a video, connect your device to a Wi-Fi network to avoid using the cellular data connection and incurring additional costs.
- If the automatic login is not performed, you will need to provide your Google account login credentials or the email address and password associated with your YouTube account.
Note:
you may also be able to post a video directly from your device's Photos or Gallery app. In this case, open the video in question, tap the "Share" icon, then select the app YouTube, if present. At this point, jump directly to step number 6.
Step 2. Tap your profile picture
It is located in the upper right corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
Step 3. Select the Your Channel option
It is located at the top of the appeared menu.
Step 4. Tap the camera icon
It is located on the right side of the toolbar displayed at the top of the screen.
If this is your first time uploading a video to YouTube from your smartphone or tablet, you may need to authorize the YouTube app to have access to your device's media gallery, camera, and microphone before you can continue
Step 5. Select a video
The list of all videos stored in the device gallery will be displayed. Select what you want to publish.
By default, you can upload videos up to 15 minutes long. If you need to upload a longer movie (up to a maximum of 12 hours), you will need to verify your account first
Step 6. Make video enhancements (optional)
If you need to make changes, you have the following options:
- If you want to shorten the length of the video, drag one of the sliders on the video progress bar at the bottom of the screen to set the start and end point of the video.
- Tap the magic wand icon to apply a filter. It is located in the upper right corner of the screen on Android, or at the bottom of the screen on iPhone and iPad.
- Tap the music note icon if you need to add a soundtrack (iPhone and iPad only).
Step 7. Press the Next button to continue (for iPhone and iPad only)
If you are using an iOS device, press the button to continue Come on located in the upper right corner of the screen.
Step 8. Enter a title
You can use up to 100 characters to title your video. Remember that it should be inherent in the content of the movie.
Step 9. Add a description
This is optional information, but it is always better to enter. The information you enter as a description will be displayed below the video during playback. You can use the description to add useful information about the video, the author or other projects. Use keywords within the description so that the video can appear in the list of targeted search results.
Step 10. Select the visibility level using the "Privacy" menu
You have the following three options available in the "Privacy" menu:
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Public:
in this way the video can be viewed by any YouTube user and will appear in all relevant searches.
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Not listed:
the video will not be publicly visible on the YouTube platform, but anyone in possession of the link will be able to view its content.
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Private:
in this way only you will be able to view the video after logging in with your YouTube account.
Step 11. Tap the Location field to set the location (optional)
If you want the video to be indexed based on geographic location, you can use the indicated menu visible in the "Privacy" section. Tap "Location", then choose one of your favorite locations. You can also enter an address or the name of a place in the search bar, and then select the most suitable place from the list of results.
The first time you add a location to a video, you will be asked to authorize the YouTube app to have access to the device's location. Select the option Allow while using this app to continue.
Step 12. Press the Upload button
It is located in the upper right corner of the screen. The video will be uploaded to the YouTube platform as indicated. Once the upload is complete, the file will be displayed in the "Video" section of your account.
If you want to add tags so that the video is easily found by other users, press the button of the video with three dots, choose the option Edit, then enter as many tags as you want in the "Tag" field. Separate the various tags from each other with a comma.
Method 2 of 2: Using the Youtube Website on a Computer
Step 1. Visit the website https://www.youtube.com using your computer's web browser
You can upload a video to YouTube using the platform's website directly.
If you are not already logged in with your account, you will need to click on the button Log in located in the upper right corner of the page. Select your YouTube account and enter the security password. Alternatively click on the link Use another account and log in by entering the corresponding e-mail address and password.
Step 2. Click on the camera icon with a "+" sign in the center and select the Upload Video option from the menu that will appear
It is located in the upper right corner of the page next to the profile picture. You will be redirected to the YouTube Studio web page. The "Upload Video" pop-up window will be visible in the center of the screen.
Step 3. Drag the video file you want to upload to the center of the pop-up window
Alternatively you can click on the blue button Select file, open the folder containing the file to upload, select the video and click on the button You open. In both cases, the indicated video will be prepared for uploading to the YouTube platform.
- By default, you can upload videos up to 15 minutes long. If you need to upload a longer movie (up to a maximum of 12 hours), you will need to verify your account first.
- If you need to load a video extracted from a DVD, you will need to save it to your computer hard drive first.
- The YouTube platform supports the following video formats: MOV, MPEG4, MP4, AVI, WMV, MPEGPS, FLV, 3GPP, WebM, DNxHR, ProRes, CineForm and HEVC (h265).
Step 4. Add a title and description
The title is required while the description is optional, but recommended. You can enter a title up to 100 characters long. Create a catchy title that reflects the content of the video. Use the text box labeled "Description" to enter a description of the video. The information entered in this field will be displayed below the video during playback. You can use the description to add useful information about the video, the author or other projects. Use keywords within the description so that the video can appear in the list of targeted search results.
Step 5. Click on the cover image you want to use
This is the frame that will be used as the video icon and will appear in your channel's movie list and in user searches. Click on one of the images recommended directly by the platform to use it as the cover image of the video.
Alternatively you can click on the link Upload thumbnail to select the image you want to use as the video cover. Click on the photo you want to use, then click the button You open.
Step 6. Add the video to a playlist (optional)
If you want to insert the video into a playlist, click on the "Playlist" drop-down menu, then select one of the playlists you have created and to which you want to add the video in question. You can choose more than one playlist at the same time.
Step 7. Indicate whether the video is suitable for a minor audience or not
YouTube requires this information to be specified for all videos that are suitable for children under the age of 13. If your video is suitable for this type of audience, click the "Yes, this is for children" button. Conversely, if the video is not suitable for children, click on the radio button "No, this is not intended for children".
- Providing this information is mandatory in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Marking a video as child-friendly when in fact it isn't can force YouTube to take action on your account and can cause you serious legal problems. Use the link provided directly by YouTube to find out what you need to do to comply with the instructions contained in the "COPPA".
- If your video is intended for an adult audience over the age of 18, you can set an age restriction. In this case click on the link Age limit (advanced), then click the "Yes, limit my video to viewers over 18" option.
Step 8. Click on the blue More Options link (optional), then click the button Come on.
It is located at the bottom of the "Details" screen of the video publishing window. Additional settings will be displayed. When you have finished configuring the video upload, click on the button Come on located in the lower right corner of the window. The additional options you have available are the following:
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Paid promotion:
if there are commercial promotions of products or services in the video, select the check button "My video contains paid promotions such as a placement or product approval". If you wish, you can also select the "Add a message to my video to inform viewers of paid promotions" checkbox.
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Tag:
tags are essentially keywords whose purpose is to allow users to easily locate videos through simple searches. Enter all the tags you want to use in the "Add tag" text field. Use keywords that are relevant to the content of the video (for example, if the video shows a dancing elephant, you can use the tags "elephant", "dancer" and "funny"). Videos that use similar tags usually appear in the "Recommended" section.
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Language and subtitles:
you can select the video language using the "Video language" drop-down menu. To add subtitles, select an option from the "Subtitle Certification" drop-down menu. If you want to upload subtitles, click on the blue link Upload subtitles, then specify whether the subtitles have a timestamp or not by selecting the appropriate option, then click on the file to load and finally on the button You open. Read this article to find out how to create a subtitle file for your video yourself.
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Date and place of registration:
to add the registration date, click on the drop-down menu Registration date, then choose a date from the calendar that will appear. To enter a location, click on the drop-down menu Location of the video, then type the address or name of the place where the video was recorded. At this point, select the location from the list of results that will appear.
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License and distribution:
click on the drop-down menu License to select the type of license to be combined with the video. Select the "Allow embedding" checkbox to allow other people to post your video on other websites or social networks. Select the "Publish to Subscriptions feed and notify subscribers" checkbox if you want subscribers to your channel to be notified about the video.
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Category:
to select a category, click on the drop-down menu Category and select the option that best suits your video. Some categories may have additional text fields where you can enter useful information.
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Comments and ratings:
use the "Comment visibility" drop-down menu to choose how you want to handle posting of comments. You can allow anyone to post a comment, withhold any that may be potentially inappropriate for a review, block all comments from posting so you can choose which ones to post and which not, or you can disable comments. Use the "Sort by" drop-down menu to choose the order in which comments will be posted. You can choose to view them by rating or by creation date. Select the "Show how many viewers like or dislike this video" checkbox if you want the information shown below the video tile.
Step 9. Add a final screen or tabs (optional) and click the Next button
A final screen is a page that is shown at the end of the video to promote other content related to the video on your channel. Cards allow you to promote other related content within the video itself. To add the final screen or cards, click on the blue "Add" link in the "Add a final screen" section or the "Add cards" section, then follow the instructions that will appear on the screen to complete the procedure.
Before you can complete this step, you need to wait for the video to be fully processed
Step 10. Select the visibility level
You have three options to choose from. Click on the button for the item you want. The options available to you are as follows:
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Public:
in this way the video can be viewed by any YouTube user and will appear in all relevant searches.
-
Not listed:
the video will not be publicly visible on the YouTube platform, but anyone in possession of the link will be able to view its content.
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Private:
in this way only you will be able to view the video after logging in with your YouTube account.
Step 11. Schedule a public video to be published (optional)
If you don't want a video to be published immediately, you can choose to schedule it to be published. Click on the "Publish" button. At this point, click on the drop-down menu for the date and time to choose the day and time when the video should be published.
Step 12. Click the blue Save button or Program.
It is located in the lower right corner of the window. This way the video will be published on your YouTube channel or saved to be published on the day and time you set.
- You can change the title and description of a video at any time by visiting the website https://studio.youtube.com/ and clicking on the tab Video displayed in the left panel of the page. Place the mouse cursor on the video listed on the page, click on the button ⋮, then click the link Edit title and description.
- You can also change the visibility level of a video using the same page. Click on the current visibility level (for example Private), then choose one of the available options.
- Once the video has been uploaded to the YouTube platform, you can decide to embed it on a web page or share it online.
Advice
- See how the most successful YouTube videos were made to find out how to use tags, descriptions and titles.
- To get more views, use tags and take advantage of current trends as the subject of your videos. You may be successful by posting videos related to the practice of "speed drawing".
- Don't generate spam. In this case, the term "spam" is used when a user posts a large number of videos in a limited period of time or when he posts a large number of useless comments. Engaging in this type of behavior is harmful to other members of the YouTube community and can lead to account deletion.
Warnings
- Do not post videos extracted from DVDs that contain commercial or copyrighted material without the express permission of the owner of those rights. Doing so could cause major legal problems as well.
- To prevent your account from being deleted, always follow the guidelines provided by the YouTube community and the terms governing the use of the service.
- Do not post videos that contain copyrighted material without the express permission of the owner. This is a violation of YouTube's policy on the use of the service. Videos that break copyright rules will be automatically deleted as a first warning. If you continue to post copyrighted content without the owners' permission, your YouTube account will be deleted. You may also face legal problems due to your actions. In order not to have problems, focus above all on not publishing material related to films produced by large film studios and independent producers, singers, actors, famous people, etc. Even some regular YouTube users can get pretty aggressive when it comes to defending their copyright rights. However, you may post copyrighted material on YouTube that follows the guidelines of the US "Fair Use" law.
- Don't post too many videos in one day. Otherwise the view count will be stopped or very few will be counted. You can post your videos at any time, but not on a daily basis.
