How to choose your YouTube handle


YouTube recently unveiled new user profile features, including handles. Handles, indicated by an @ sign in front of a name or nickname, can be used to create an identity and provide a way for people to voice their opinions. A YouTube Handle will be a unique identifier for your channel, appearing in the form “@yourhandle."The @ symbol is used in YouTube Handles to separate the username from the rest of a channel's name. Every channel can choose a unique handle. The handle will appear in “@yourhandle” format.

If you have received an email from YouTube saying that it is time to choose a YouTube handle, or if you have just heard about them in general and are wondering what they are and how they differ from your current channel names, then this article will help clear things up.

In this guide, we will talk about to choose one when it is rolled out to you.

Are they different from YouTube channel names?

Yes. Handles are separate identifiers for a YouTube channel. Although many YouTube channels can share the same channel name, handles are meant to be unique for each YouTube channel.

So, your channel now has a name, an address (URL), and an identity. The new design of the handle is designed to make it easier for users to find and connect with creators.

Until recently, the only people who had individual URLs were those who had at least 100 subscribers. The rest of us were using URLs that went something like youtube.com/user/your.handle. Now, YouTube is rolling out handles to all of its users — @ names that will identify you in channel pages, Shorts, and other YouTube areas.

How can users pick their own handle?

YouTube officially announced the launch of its handles on October 10, and it said that users would be able to choose their own names for the site over "the next few weeks" as they rolled out this feature.

When YouTube is ready for you to choose a handle for your channel, you will be notified via email and YouTube Studio. So, then you will be allowed to choose one. A user has until November 14 to choose a handle. If you do not create a handle by then, YouTube will assign one “based on your channel’s name.”

YouTube will send you an email or, if you are already a creator, will notify you in YouTube Studio. Once that happens, pick your handle! If you have already created a custom URL for your channel, YouTube will automatically assign that as your default handle; but if you are tired of it, you can change it later.

Guidelines for making a handle.

  • It must contain a combination of numbers and letters. They can be capital or lowercase. A handle may include hyphens, underscores, or periods.

  • It is forbidden to use the same handle for more than one channel. Remember, they must be unique.

  • It cannot violate the Guidelines for YouTube Creators.

  • It cannot include any URL or phone number.

  • The handle should be between three and 30 characters long.

How do you choose a handle?

You will have to wait until YouTube notifies you (via email and YouTube Studio) that it is ready for you to choose a handle. When that happens, you can then go to youtube.com/handle to pick a handle for your channel.

Create or Change Your Handle via Official Mail

I received my invitation yesterday. So, here is how you can use this process to choose your own handle. You can watch a video further down on the page that will explain this in more depth.

When you receive an email or notice in YouTube Studio, click on the blue Choose a Handle button.

You will be sent to https://www.youtube.com/handle, where you will see your personal icon and name, as well as a prompt to choose your handle.

If you have created YouTube videos and already set up a personalized URL, according to YouTube, that is your handle. Otherwise, the system will assign you an arbitrary handle. If it chooses something that is either forgotten or absurd do not panic.

You can change your assigned handle in the lower field, labelled Handle. Type in a different name, and the system will let you know whether that identity has been used before. The handle, I selected is already been taken.

Try a new handle name, till you get your selection. When you are happy with your handle, click on Confirm Selection. And you are done.

Your handle is confirmed by YouTube.

YouTube confirms the handle again. The handle is reserved and can be changed later again.

From when the YouTube handles, be used?

The new handles are evidently waiting in the wings, to be used later this year. At that point, you will be able to access your videos by going to, say, youtube.com/@your.handle. Till then, your old youtube.com/user URL will continue to work. And if you decide you are not happy with your choice, you can go back to https://www.youtube.com/handle, where the formerly Choose handle button will now read Change handle.

Wrapping up

So, create your unique identity and increase visibility by choosing YouTube handle as soon as you get an email. Pick the innovative handle before anyone claims it.

Updated on: 29-Nov-2022

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