Can You Watch Private YouTube Videos without Permission or Signing In?

Last updated on February 19th, 2024 at 01:20 am

This post will explain how you can view private YouTube videos without permission or signing in. You’ll also learn the difference between a private YouTube video and an unlisted YouTube video.

Video guides are included to help you better understand the topic.

Contents

1 Main Points

2 What is a Private YouTube Video?

3 Private YouTube Videos vs Unlisted YouTube Videos

4 Is there a YouTube Private Video Viewer?

5 How Do You Watch a Private YouTube Video?

6 Owner’s Private Video Options

7 What if Your Name is Not on the Email List?

8 YouTube Private Video Access?

9 How to Know When You’re Given Access to a Private YouTube Video

10 Can You Download a Private YouTube Video?

11 Is there a Private YouTube Viewer?

12 Video Guide

13 How Do You Watch Private Videos in a Playlist?

14 Learn More

15 More YouTube-Related Articles

Main Points

Not all videos uploaded to YouTube can be watched by the public.
A private YouTube video can’t be watched unless the owner gives you access through email.
You can download a private YouTube video.

What is a Private YouTube Video?

A private Youtube video is a video that the owner or the uploader doesn’t want the whole world to watch.

The uploader may want to watch it for himself or just share it with certain individuals. The latter is more often the case.

You can’t see a private YouTube video when you search for it over YouTube or Google even if you have its title. Even if it is listed, in the case of search results not being updated, you’ll not be able to view it.

Then there’s the case of a certain video that was first public and then made private. The next time you want to watch it, you can’t have access to it.

Within seconds, a public video can be made private by the owner by changing the visibility status of the video on his or her YouTube dashboard.

Even if you’re a subscriber to the channel, you’ll not be notified when a private YouTube is uploaded.

Private YouTube Videos vs Unlisted YouTube Videos

Private YouTube videos have one thing in common with unlisted YouTube videos. They don’t appear in the search results.

When a video owner chooses unlisted as the video’s visibility status, he doesn’t want anyone to stumble upon it by chance or through a search. He just wants certain people to be able to view it without any special permission.

With an unlisted YouTube video, you’ll just need the link to view it. You can get the link from the video owner or anyone else who has it.

The video below explains the difference between a private and unlisted YouTube video.

Things are not as straightforward when it comes to viewing a private YouTube video.

Is there a YouTube Private Video Viewer?

You may be wondering if there’s a YouTube private video viewer. In other words, is there a website where you can go to and insert a private YouTube video link and watch it?

Unfortunately, no “YouTube Private Video Viewer” can bypass the privacy settings put in place by the video creator.

Private videos on YouTube are meant to be accessible only to those specifically invited by the uploader. Trying to access them through unauthorized means violates YouTube’s terms of service and could potentially have legal consequences.

Here are the legitimate ways to view a private YouTube video:

1. Get permission from the uploader: This is the most straightforward approach. Contact the video creator and explain why you want to see the video. They can invite you to view it through your YouTube account if they grant you access. This is explained in detail below.

2. Check if the video is unlisted instead of private: Sometimes, creators upload videos with the “unlisted” privacy setting instead of “private.” Unlisted videos don’t appear in search results but can still be accessed with a direct link. If you have the link, you can check if the video is actually unlisted.

3. Respect the creator’s privacy: Remember that creators can choose who can see their content. If they haven’t shared the video with you, it’s important to respect their decision and not try to find ways to access it without their permission.

It’s important to remember that respecting intellectual property and online privacy is crucial. Accessing private content through unauthorized means can have negative consequences.

So it’s always best to stick to the legitimate methods outlined above.

How Do You Watch a Private YouTube Video?

Let’s see how you can watch a public video that has been made private.

The screenshot below shows you an example of a public YouTube video.

The video is later made private. It becomes unavailable to the public.

Owner’s Private Video Options

When a video owner makes his video private, he has the option to immediately decide who can watch it.

If he decides to give access to certain people he can choose the Share Privately option under the Visibility menu.

Clicking on the Share Privately option, he can enter the Gmail addresses of the persons he wants to share the video with.

The persons will be notified by email that they have access to the private video.

What if Your Name is Not on the Email List?

This would require you to provide the owner with your email.

If your email is not included in the Invitees list, you may contact the channel owner and ask him to give you access to the private video.

The email must be with which you’ll log into your YouTube account.

If you cannot contact the owner, how do you watch a private YouTube video without permission or signing in?

There seems to be a fix to unlock a private video on YouTube.

YouTube Private Video Access?

Some websites have suggested the following fix to watch a private video.

All you have to do is remove the “watch?” from the YouTube URL.

So, if the private YouTube video’s URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXUkMzFa_xk , you have to remove the “watch?” and make it https://www.youtube.com/v=pXUkMzFa_xk

This seems to be a simple enough fix to unlock a private video on YouTube. But sadly, it doesn’t work. as you can see from the screenshot below.

This is understandable. YouTube doesn’t allow you to turn a private video into a public one just by removing a word in the video’s URL.

So, there’s no way to watch a private YouTube video without permission or signing in.

Unless the owner of the video gives access to you, you’ll not be able to watch a private video without permission or signing in.

How to Know When You’re Given Access to a Private YouTube Video

The video owner will share it privately with you through your email address.

You will receive a YouTube notification in your email the owner has shared a video with you. There will be no mention that it’s a private video.

You’ll see a thumbnail of the video with three dots on opening the email. Click on it. You’ll be given access to the private YouTube video by being directed to the YouTube page where the video is published.

Remember, on YouTube, you must be logged in to the email account through which you received the notification.

So you can’t watch a private YouTube video without permission or signing in.

Can You Download a Private YouTube Video?

Sometimes the owner of a private video may deny you access in the future. So, you may be wondering if it’s possible to download a private YouTube video.

Yes, you can download a private YouTube video. YouTube doesn’t block you from downloading a private YouTube.

The video owner, too, can’t block you from downloading a private YouTube video when you can access it.

You may use a YouTube downloader program or service to download a private YouTube video.

This would be useful if a person you know has access to a private YouTube video, but you don’t.

Is there a Private YouTube Viewer?

Since you can’t watch a private YouTube video without access, you may wonder if there’s a special program or service that allows you to view private YouTube videos.

There isn’t a private YouTube viewer facility outside of the YouTube platform. This is because you can’t embed a private YouTube video.

Video Guide

Check out the video below for a recap of what you’ve learned.

How Do You Watch Private Videos in a Playlist?

Sometimes some videos in a playlist will be marked as private or unavailable and hidden.

The video below explains how you can get access to such videos. It also provides a sample email script you can use to contact a channel owner requesting access to private videos.

Learn More

How to Find the Owner of a Private YouTube Video to Get Access

How to Share a Private YouTube Video without Email of the Recipient

How to Share a Private YouTube Video

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