Upload a Video to YouTube on Android
Edited by Jay
4 Parts:
YouTube is by far the biggest and most used video platform on the internet today. Millions of videos are being watched at any given moment of any given day. If you're interested in creating video content, and you hope to have it viewed by a broad audience, YouTube is the best platform to use.
If you're like most people and use your Android device to record video, you'll want to be able to upload to YouTube directly from your phone or tablet. To do so, you'll need the latest version of the YouTube app for Android, and a valid Google account to sign in. Signing in is required to upload, however, you can still watch videos while not logged in.
In this VisiHow article, we're going to walk through the steps for uploading a video from your mobile device. For this guide, we used a Google Pixel running Android 8.1.0, and the YouTube app.
Contents
Upload a New Video to YouTube on Android
- 1From your home screen or app drawer, launch the YouTube app.
- 2With the app open, tap the account icon in the upper right corner, followed by "SIGN IN".
- 3When the 'Account box pops-up, select the account you wish to sign in with.
- 4Once you're signed in, tap the camera icon in the upper portion of the screen.
- 5To do so, tap "ALLOW ACCESS".If it's the first time uploading from your device, you'll most likely have to grant the YouTube app permissions.If you've already granted the app access, skip to step # 7.
- 6Tap "ALLOW" for all three if you want full control over creating videos for YouTube.Next, you'll see three different permission requests from YouTube asking for access to; photos, media, files, take pictures and record video, and to record audio.
- 7Select a video from your library.For this tutorial, we're going to use a video stored on our device.
- 8First, we're going to trim our video by moving the highlight box until we have our desired length.Once you've chosen a video to upload, it's time to customize it on the Add Details screen.If you wish to leave the video at its original length, leave it as is.
- 9Swipe horizontally to find an effect that suits your video.Once you're satisfied with the length of your video, tap the effects icon in the top right corner of the screen.You can leave this out if you don't want to add any effects to your video.
- 10To add background music to your video, tap the musical note icon in the upper left corner of the screen.
- 11You can hear a sample of the music clip by tapping the play icon on the left, then tap the "+" symbol on the right to add it to your video.From the Add Music screen you can browse by; FEATURED, GENRE & MOOD, or ON DEVICE.
- 12With a music track added, scroll horizontally to position the music in your video.
- 13If the line is all the way to the left (Original), the music will be inaudible, if the line if all the way to the right (Music) the original sound from the video won't be heard.Next, tap the equalizer icon to the right of the audio preview box, then move the vertical line horizontally to adjust how loud the music will be.Play around with this setting to get the perfect mix between the original sound recorded and the music track you've added. Once you're satisfied with the mix, tap the checkmark.
- 14If you plan to make your video public, give some thought to both the title and description; as this will help position your video within YouTube's internal search results.With your clip trimmed, effects and music added, it's time to give your video a title and description.
- 15When the menu expands, select one of the three options; Public (anyone can search and view), Unlisted (anyone with a link can view), and Private (only you can view).With your title and description added, tap the drop-down triangle in the "Privacy" section.
- 16When enabled, the location will be searchable on videos set to Public".You can also add a location to your video by tapping the "+" sign next to "Location".Depending on your device's settings, you may have to grant YouTube permission to access your device's location.
- 17Your video will begin to upload to YouTube's server.Now that you've added all the necessary details to your video, tap the send/save icon in the top right corner of the screen.This may take a while if you have a long video, HD video.
- 18Please note that you'll have to re-upload again if you want to add the same video.If at any time you want to cancel the upload, tap the three-dot menu icon in the top left, then tap "Delete upload".
- 19Once uploading is complete, it will say; "This video is ready to be watched".You've just uploaded a video to YouTube using your Android-powered device.
Add Tags to Video on YouTube
- 1While still logged into YouTube, tap the "Library" tab in the lower right corner of the Home page.
- 2From your Library" tap "My videos".
- 3Next, tap the three-dot icon menu next to the video you wish to add tags to, then tap "Edit".
- 4This will help people find your video more easily. Once you've added some tags, tap the save/send icon in the upper right corner of the screen.On the Edit video screen, add keyphrases to the "Tags" section.
Change Upload Settings
- 1While Signed in to YouTube, tap the account icon in the top right corner of the screen, then tap "Settings".
2
On the Settings screen, tap "General".
3
From the General settings screen, tap "Uploads"
. 
4
Back on the General settings screen, tap "Upload quality"
. 
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
