YouTube Phone Verification: How to Get the Code

A YouTube verification code is a short code Google sends to your phone when you verify your channel. YouTube asks for it before it unlocks features such as videos longer than 15 minutes, custom thumbnails and live streaming. The code comes by text or voice call, and the number doesn’t have to be your personal one.

Which YouTube features need phone verification?

Every channel can upload videos and create playlists. For more, YouTube says: “To unlock certain features, you need to phone-verify your channel.”

These are YouTube’s intermediate features. Advanced features, such as pinned comments and higher daily upload limits, also need channel history or verification with an ID or a video.

How YouTube phone number verification works

YouTube’s help page explains: “To verify your channel, you’ll be asked to enter a phone number. We’ll send a verification code by text or voice call to that phone number.”

The reason is abuse: “We take spam and abuse seriously. Using phone numbers to verify identity is one way to protect our community and combat abuse.” The number also has a limit. YouTube makes sure it “is linked to no more than 2 channels per year.”

Two more rules:

• Owners verify. Without a Brand Account, “only channel owners (not managers, editors, or viewers) can phone-verify a channel.”
• Strikes still count. Feature access “may change if your channel is restricted because of Community Guidelines or copyright strikes.” A new number doesn’t change that.

YouTube may also ask you to verify when you sign up. If Google wants a number for the account itself, see our guide to a temporary number for Gmail verification.

Which numbers work for the YouTube verification code?

YouTube doesn’t publish a list of accepted number types. Its main rule is the two-channel limit, which makes public numbers on free receive-SMS sites, ours included, a poor fit: anyone can read their codes, and a shared number may already be on two channels.

A PVADeals number is a real mobile number from a carrier (non-VoIP), so YouTube sees an ordinary phone. It receives SMS only, so choose the text-message option.

How to verify YouTube with a PVADeals number

1. Create a free PVADeals account and add credits: crypto from $3, or a card through Stripe from $5.
2. Choose Google (Gmail) and the United States or the United Kingdom. YouTube’s check verifies your Google Account, and the codes come from Google.
3. Pick a rental. A short-term number lasts 20 minutes, from $0.09. A long-term number lasts 3, 7, 14 or 30 days, from $0.70.
4. Open YouTube Studio on a computer and click Settings, then Channel, then Feature eligibility. Under Intermediate features, click Verify phone number. You can also go to youtube.com/verify.
5. Enter the number and choose to get the code by text message.
6. Copy the code from your PVADeals dashboard, where it appears as soon as it arrives, and enter it on YouTube.

Short-term or long-term?

For the feature check, YouTube says: “We use the phone number to send you a verification code.” A short-term number (20 minutes) covers that one code.

Your Google Account is a different matter. If you also add the number for account recovery or 2-Step Verification, a 20-minute number is the wrong tool: once it expires, you can’t receive Google’s codes. Use a long-term number on auto-renew (it stays the same while you renew) or your own number, and set up an authenticator app. See how to create a Gmail account without a phone number for other ways to secure it.

If the YouTube verification code doesn’t arrive

YouTube says: “You should get the code immediately. If you haven’t, you can request a new code.” Then check these:

• Wait a few minutes. Texts can be delayed “in densely populated areas, or if you don’t have a strong signal.” YouTube’s fallback is a voice call, but PVADeals numbers can’t take calls, so request a new text.
• “This phone number has already created the maximum number of accounts”? The number is already linked to two channels this year. Use a different one.
• Carrier problem? “Some countries/regions and carriers don’t support text messages from Google.” Try a number from another carrier.
• No SMS at all? If an eligible PVADeals number receives no SMS during the rental, its cost comes back to your balance automatically as store credit.

Verify your channel without your personal number

A real non-VoIP number from PVADeals receives the YouTube verification code without your own number, from $0.09 for 20 minutes or $0.70 for 3 days. See our US and UK phone numbers, or the prices.