YouTube Handle and Channel Name Checker: ideas and rules
Get handle ideas from your business name, and check a handle and channel name against YouTube's rules.
- Free to use
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
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About the YouTube Handle and Channel Name Checker
Enter your business or channel name and, if you like, your city, area and main service. You get handle ideas built from simple templates, and you can check any handle against YouTube's naming rules: length, allowed characters, separators at the start or end, and handles that look like a web address or phone number. The channel name is checked against the examples in YouTube's impersonation policy. It runs in your browser and cannot tell whether a handle is free: check that in YouTube Studio.
How it works
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Step 1
Enter your business or channel name, and your city, area and main service if you want ideas that include them.
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Step 2
Type a handle, or press "Check it" on one of the ideas, and fix anything the checks flag.
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Step 3
Check that the handle is free in YouTube Studio under Customization > Profile > Handle, then click Publish.
YouTube's handle rules
Handles are 3 to 30 characters (1 to 10 for Han or Hangul, 2 to 20 for Ethiopic, Hiragana or Katakana). They can use letters or numbers from YouTube's 75 supported languages, plus underscores, hyphens, periods and Latin middle dots, which cannot start or end the handle. Handles cannot look like a URL or a phone number, and they are not case-sensitive. You can change your handle twice within 14 days.
Channel names
You can change your channel name twice within a 14-day period, and changing it removes the verification badge. YouTube's impersonation policy gives putting "Real" or "Official" in a channel name, to pass as another channel, as an example of impersonation, and it also covers special fonts, typos and extra punctuation used to trick viewers. The tool flags these; its other name checks are our suggestions.
What this tool cannot do
It cannot tell whether a handle is free, because that needs YouTube: type it in YouTube Studio to find out. The ideas are our suggestions from templates, not checked against existing channels. YouTube Help gives no channel name length limit that we could confirm, so the tool does not check one.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a YouTube handle be?
Between 3 and 30 characters for most languages. Handles in Han or Hangul characters can be 1 to 10 characters, and in Ethiopic, Hiragana or Katakana 2 to 20. The checker counts the characters and tells you which limit applies.
Which characters can a YouTube handle use?
Letters or numbers from YouTube's 75 supported languages, plus underscores (_), hyphens (-), periods (.) and Latin middle dots (·). The separators cannot be the first or last character, and spaces are not allowed. Handles are not case-sensitive, so @SmileStudio and @smilestudio are the same.
How do I check if a YouTube handle is available?
In YouTube Studio on a computer, go to Customization, then Profile, and type the handle under Handle: Studio tells you if it is not available. You can also open youtube.com/@ followed by the handle to see whether a channel uses it. This tool cannot check, because it does not use YouTube's API.
What if the handle I want is taken?
YouTube suggests adding periods, numbers or underscores. The ideas include versions with a period or underscore, and versions with your city, area or service. If you change your handle later, YouTube holds the old one for 14 days, and then anyone can take it.
Can I use "Official" in my channel name?
YouTube's impersonation policy gives putting "Real" or "Official" in a channel name, to pretend to be the authentic version of another channel, as an example of impersonation. Our suggestion is to use your business name as it is, without these words.
Related reading
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