Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 02:17 am
This post shows you how to upload a Google Drive video to YouTube directly.
Ordinarily, you’ll upload YouTube videos to Google Drive from your local drive.
Sometimes this isn’t possible. The reason? You may have saved the video on Google Drive for lack of space.
Also, you may be using someone’s computer and you can only access your video through Google Drive.
So, here are the ways to do it.
Directly Transfer Google Drive Video to YouTube
Can you directly transfer a Google Drive video to YouTube? Let’s see whether you can do it.
When you click on Select Files to upload a video, you’re only allowed to choose from videos from your computer hard drive.
There’s no option to choose from Google Drive.
There used to be an option to select your video from Google Drive. However, it was discontinued in 2019.
Upload Video from Google Drive App on Your Desktop
This method involves downloading the Google Drive app onto your computer. The app allows you to sync your Google Drive cloud files to the app.
Once synced, your files will be downloaded to the app.
From there you can upload Google video files by dragging them to the YouTube upload panel. You may also upload by using the Select Files function as explained above.
This seems a good option to transfer a Google Drive video to YouTube.
However, there are problems. Firstly, you need to download and install the Google Drive app. You don’t want to do this if you already have enough software programs on your computer.
Secondly, files from your Google Drive cloud service will be downloaded to your computer in sync mode. This will take up space on your hard drive.
This option is no different from downloading a video from Google Drive and uploading it to YouTube.
What we want is to transfer a Google Drive video to YouTube, cloud to cloud.
Is there a way to do it? Yes, there is in the form of a YouTube uploader.
YouTube Uploader
The YouTube Uploader for Dropbox browser plugin allows you to pick video files from your Google Drive and directly upload them to YouTube.
The process will be done online without the need to download any video files.
With this plug-in, you can upload your video files to YouTube on any computer. The only condition is there must be an Internet connection.
The plug-in is free and works with Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer 10+.
Among the video formats supported are MPEG-4, MP4, AVI, MOV, FLV, WMV and WebM.
We shall use the YouTube Uploader plug-in for Chrome.
Here are the steps on how to use the plug-in.
Visit the YouTube Uploader Page
When you visit the plug-in page at the Chrome web store, you’ll see that it’s no longer available. Instead, you’re asked to visit the website.
The plug-in is now embedded into the website. So, there’s no need for you to download an extension and integrate it into your browser.
Go to the YouTube Uploader Website
Once at the uploader page, select Google Drive.
Log in to Google Drive and Authorize
To start using the uploader, you would need to log in to your Google Drive account.
Choose Your Google Drive Account
The account will be where the videos are stored.
Authorize Your Google Account
Click on Allow after reading the permissions you’ll be giving.
Choose Your YouTube Account
The next step is to choose your YouTube where the videos will be uploaded.
Select Your Video
You may now select your video from your Google Drive.
Add Video to Upload List
Your video is now added to the Upload list. You may now click on Upload to YouTube.
You may also want to select the Video MetaData Options to fill in video description and tags before uploading.
Video processing begins.
Transfer a Google Drive Video to YouTube on Android
Don’t have a computer? Or is the YouTube uploader service (above) down?
Then you may want to use your Android device to transfer a Google Drive video to YouTube.
Here are the steps on how to go about it.
Step 1 – Install Google Drive App
If you already have the app installed from Google Play Store, ignore this step. Most Android devices come with Google apps installed, anyway.
Step 2 – Log in to Google Drive
Log in to the Drive account and search for the video.
Step 3- Log in to YouTube
Make sure you’re logged in to the YouTube account you want to upload the video to.
Step 4 – Send a Copy to YouTube
Click on the 3 dots next to the video in Google Drive.
On the dropdown menu, choose Send a copy.
Step 4 – Choose YouTube as Recipient
Choose YouTube among the supported apps.
Step 5 – Fill in Video Details
Fill in the video details as you would with a normal YouTube video upload.
Hit Next when you’re done.
Step 6 – Upload Video
Click on Upload Video when you’re done entering video details.
Step 7- Watch the Uploaded Video
Within minutes your video is uploaded and ready to be watched.
Video Guide
To refresh your understanding of the tutorial, watch the video below.
You’ve learned how to transfer a Google Drive video to YouTube. Now, go ahead and give any of the methods a try.
