YouTube Strike, Warning or Channel Terminated? What It Means and How to Appeal

Does this match what you see?

• You got an email saying content was removed for violating the Community Guidelines.
• You can’t upload, go live or create posts for a week or two.
• Your channel shows a copyright strike.
• YouTube Studio says your channel has been terminated.

iPhone & iPadAndroidComputer (browser)

Based on YouTube Help pages: Community Guidelines strike basics (supplied by the site owner) and the others read directly from support.google.com. Appeal steps differ between the YouTube app, the YouTube Studio app and Studio on a computer.

Why this happens: the possible causes

What leads to warnings, strikes and terminations, according to YouTube.

• Content that breaks the Community GuidelinesCheck this first

  YouTube says the guidelines apply to all content, including unlisted and private videos, comments, links, posts and thumbnails.

• A valid copyright removal requestCheck this first

  YouTube says a copyright strike means content was removed after a copyright removal request was reviewed and appeared valid.

• A single case of severe abusePossible

  YouTube says severe abuse can lead to termination without a warning.

How to fix it, step by step

Work through these in order. They start with the quickest, safest checks and only move to steps that sign you out or remove data later.

What a Community Guidelines strike does

First strike: YouTube says that for 1 week you can’t:

• Upload videos or live streams, or start a scheduled live stream
• Schedule a video to become public, or create a Premiere or add a trailer to one
• Create custom thumbnails or posts
• Create, edit or add collaborators to playlists, or use the Save button to add or remove playlists

YouTube says scheduled public content is set to private during the penalty, so you’ll need to reschedule it, and the penalty starts from the date you acknowledge the strike. After the week, privileges come back automatically, but the strike stays on your channel for 90 days, and you may lose access to advanced features.

• Second strike within the same 90 days: you can’t post content for 2 weeks.
• Third strike within the same 90 days: your channel may be permanently removed.
• Each strike expires 90 days after it was issued. Deleting content doesn’t remove a strike, and YouTube says it may issue a strike on deleted content.
• An Official Artist Channel with a strike is suspended and becomes a standard channel.

Our note: YouTube’s live streaming page says a strike prevents live streaming for 14 days, while its strike basics page describes a 1-week freeze for a first strike. Check the exact end date in YouTube Studio.

Copyright strikes are different

• YouTube says a copyright strike means your content was removed after a valid copyright removal request. It’s separate from Community Guidelines strikes and from Content ID claims.
• A copyright strike expires after 90 days if you complete Copyright School and your channel has fewer than 3 strikes. You only need to complete Copyright School once.
• With 3 copyright strikes, YouTube says your account and linked channels are subject to termination, and you can’t create new channels.
• Ways to resolve one: complete Copyright School and wait 90 days; ask the person who sent the request for a retraction; or send a counter notification if you believe it was a mistake or your use is allowed, for example under fair use.
• There’s no warning first: YouTube says it issues a copyright strike for a valid removal request even the first time, to comply with the law.
• If the removal request was scheduled, YouTube says you have 7 days to delete the content and avoid the strike.
• Content ID claims usually don’t cause strikes, but YouTube says disputing a claim without a valid reason can lead to a removal request and a strike.
• Live streaming: YouTube says a first copyright strike restricts live streaming for 7 days, and later ones for 14 days.

Our note: YouTube says a counter notification starts a legal process. Only send one if you’re sure you have the rights.

Channel terminated

YouTube says channels are terminated for repeated violations, a single case of severe abuse (such as predatory behavior, spam or pornography), or a channel dedicated to breaking a policy (such as hate speech, harassment or impersonation).

• You lose your Studio Dashboard and other features, but can still sign in to Studio to see why. Partner Program earnings stop, and YouTube may withhold unpaid earnings.
• You can’t download your YouTube content any more, but you can still download your Google data.
• You can’t use, own or create other YouTube channels, or let someone use yours to get around their termination.

To appeal on a computer: open YouTube Studio’s channel appeal page > Begin Review (you may need to verify) > review the reason > Next > Start Appeal > Next > enter your contact email and your reason > Submit. If you can’t use Studio, YouTube links to an appeal form.

YouTube says you have up to 1 year from the termination date to appeal, and can submit no more than two appeals in that year. You’ll get the result by email. If the termination was for copyright, you can send a counter notification or ask the claimant for a retraction.

Rejoining later: YouTube says terminated creators can’t request a new channel until one year after termination. In a gradual pilot, some may see Request new channel in YouTube Studio on a computer. It excludes copyright terminations and Creator Responsibility violations, and YouTube considers how severe the violations were.

How to know it worked

• YouTube Studio shows the warning, strike or appeal status, and its end date.

Still not working? Your next steps

1. Channel taken over by someone else? See YouTube channel hacked.
2. Can’t go live because of a restriction? See YouTube Live not working.

Frequently asked questions