Is there a way to hide subscribers on YouTube? Yes, there is.
It’s a fairly straightforward matter of changing one of the advanced channel settings in YouTube Studio.
But should you do it? That one’s a little harder to answer.
In this article, we’ll weigh the pros and cons of hiding your subscribers on YouTube, and walk you through the settings you’ll have to adjust if you want to do it.
Quick Facts
- You can hide your subscribers by going to YouTube Studio > Settings > Channel > Advanced Settings and unchecking the option “Display the number of subscribers on your channel”
- An upside of hiding your subs is that you avoid people judging your channel based on your subscriber counts. Especially for new channels, this can be a good strategy.
- On the downside, though, people may be upset about your lack of transparency.
Keep reading for the full scoop!
Contents
Should You Hide Your Subscribers on YouTube?
There are many reasons why you might want to hide your subscriber numbers.
Maybe you’re a micro-influencer but don’t want to be defined by that label.
Or maybe your numbers have recently dipped and you’d rather keep them under wraps until you’re back to your usual level.
Mostly though, it’s new or struggling creators who should think about using this strategy. Low subscriber numbers can be a serious obstacle on your way to building a larger audience.
Say someone comes across your channel. They see that you only have a few hundred – or even only a few dozen – subscribers. And they promptly conclude that your content can’t be any good. Otherwise, you’d have more subscribers, right?
If your subscriber numbers aren’t immediately visible, you can prevent this knee-jerk reaction. In this case, no number could be better than a low number.
Viewers do know that there are great channels that are just starting out. Still, we’re wired to see big subscriber numbers as a sign of trust and experience.
Hiding your subscribers focuses viewer attention on your fantastic, high-quality content. There’s no reason for them to get distracted by your channel stats.
How to Hide Your Subscribers on YouTube
So, how do you actually go about hiding your subscriber count?
First, you’ve got to open YouTube Studio. Log into your account and click your icon at the top right. In the dropdown menu, select YouTube Studio.
Next, click on Settings in the menu on the left. It’s near the bottom.
This will open a new sub-menu. Here, you’ve got to click on the Channel option on the left, then switch to the Advanced Settings tab.
Scroll down to Subscriber count and uncheck the option “Display the number of people subscribed to my channel”. Finally, click Save to make sure your new preferences are registered by the platform.
Boom! You’re done!
Now, nobody except you will be able to see how many people are subscribed to your YouTube channel.
What Are the Downsides of Hiding Your Subscribers on YouTube?
Hold on – there’s got to be a catch, right? Unfortunately, there is.
Hiding your subscribers on YouTube does have a few downsides.
First of all, almost all successful channels display their subscriber counts. For them, of course, it’s evidence of viewer trust and authority in their niche.
So, when a viewer sees a channel without subscriber counts, they might just jump to the conclusion that they are too low to be noteworthy. Worse, they might think you’re trying to hide it from them.
YouTube itself caught a lot of flak for hiding the public dislike counts, for much the same reasons.
In addition, people have other ways of evaluating your channel. After all, if they check your video catalog and your videos’ view counts, they might still realize that your channel is fairly new.
Final Thoughts: Should You Hide Your Subscribers on YouTube?
In terms of changing settings, hiding your subscribers on YouTube is pretty straightforward. Deciding if you should do it, though? Not so much.
Ultimately, you’ve got to weigh the benefits of avoiding being judged on the basis of your channel stats against a lack of transparency.
If you’re still on the fence, you can always change the settings and analyze your viewers’ response.
At the end of the day, growing your YouTube channel is a complex business. Making small adjustments in your settings and your strategy can help you gain momentum and blaze a path to success.
Yes! You’ll find the option to do that in the Advanced Settings of the Channel menu in YouTube Studio.
You can find this setting in YouTube Studio. Go to the Channel menu, switch to Advanced Settings, then uncheck “Display the number of people subscribed to my channel”.
Hiding the subscriber count on your YouTube channel may help you grow when you’re new and the number is low. If you have larger audience, it’s better to show your subscriber number, because it’s a trust signal for potential viewers.
Hiding your YouTube subscribers will avoid people judging you on the basis of your sub count. How many subscribers a channel has is often taken as a sign of quality by viewers. This can be problematic for new channels and micro-influencers. Hiding your subscribers is a way around that.
The drawback of hiding your subscribers is that people might think worse of you for your lack of transparency. Plus, if someone checks out your content they’ll also be able to see your view counts, and when your channel was created.
