Running a Shorts channel as a team: YouTube channel permissions and Shortsmith teams (October 2026)

Share your Google account password and that person can see not just YouTube but your email, Drive and payment details. You can’t tell from the records who deleted a video, and you have to change the password every time someone leaves. Everyone also has to ask one person for 2-Step Verification codes.

With channel permissions, invited people manage your channel while signed in to their own accounts. As YouTube puts it, you can delegate channel work without giving access to your Google Account, and when someone leaves you just remove their access. If your channel is monetized, keep 2-Step Verification on for the owner account; it’s also a YouTube Partner Program requirement.

For someone who uploads Shorts and edits titles and descriptions, Editor fits. Editors can upload and publish but can’t delete published videos or change permissions, so there’s little risk of an accident wrecking the channel. For a freelance editor who shouldn’t see revenue, use Editor (limited).

Managers can manage permissions too, so give that role only to people who share responsibility for the channel. Subtitle editor suits someone who only translates captions, and Viewer, or Viewer (limited) with revenue hidden, suits sponsors or investors who just check numbers. Starting with a lower role and raising it when needed is the safe approach.

In YouTube Studio, go to Settings → Permissions → Invite, enter the person’s email, choose a role and send. In the YouTube Studio mobile app, tap your profile picture → Settings → Permissions → Invite. Invitations expire after 30 days, so the person must accept within that time. To remove access, select the person on the same screen and remove them.

If your channel is on a Brand Account, you must migrate to channel permissions before you can use this. Only Managers and the Owner can see the names and emails of people with access, and invitees’ permissions don’t apply in YouTube Music, the YouTube Kids app or YouTube APIs.

Workflow matters as much as roles. Decide who picks topics, who checks scripts and who presses publish, and you avoid the same video going up twice or an unchecked video going public. Having one person do the final check before publishing works best.

Write down your channel’s look, such as titles, thumbnails and caption style, in one document; when everyone posts in their own style, the Shorts tab looks scattered. Add a rule that when someone leaves, you remove them from YouTube channel permissions and from your tools’ member lists the same day.

The most common problem is the same video going up twice. If one person scheduled a video and another posts it right away without knowing, the channel ends up with duplicate Shorts. Keep schedules and posts visible in one place, and make checking the schedule a habit before posting.

The second is not removing access. If a freelance editor whose project ended, or a teammate who left, still has Editor access months later, your channel is at risk if their account is compromised. Review the permissions list every quarter and remove anyone who no longer needs it.

Shortsmith’s Team & members invites people to a workspace with four roles: Owner, Admin, Editor and Viewer. The Owner can pay for plans and seats and delete the workspace, and there’s only one. Admins manage members and can make and publish everything but can’t pay, and can top up credits only if the owner allows it. Editors create, edit, render and publish projects, and Viewers can only view and don’t take a seat, so they’re free.

Only Editors and above can connect YouTube channels and Instagram accounts. Invite by email or by creating an invite link. The Creator plan includes 2 editor seats, Pro 3 and Studio 5, and team plans add seats as needed. Who invited, changed roles, rendered or uploaded, and when, is kept in the activity log, which you can view on team plans.

• When to post Shorts, and scheduling
• YouTube Shorts monetization requirements
• Shortsmith pricing