How to Upload a YouTube Video (Step-by-Step Tutorial for Beginners)

About this video

This step-by-step tutorial covers uploading a video to YouTube on desktop and mobile, with tips to help it get found. On desktop, after signing in, you click Create > Upload Video, then select files or drag and drop one or multiple files. While uploading, you fill in details: a title, described as one of the most important factors in how people find the video; a description explaining what viewers will get; and a thumbnail, with custom-made thumbnails recommended over auto-picked or manually chosen frames. You must specify whether the video is made for kids and whether it includes altered content — defined as making a person’s voice or likeness, a place, or a thing look real when it did not actually happen — and can add tags, best used for multiple search terms or common misspellings, plus settings for language, location, embedding, dubbing, remixing, category, and comments. Description enhancements include chapter markers that auto-populate in the player, links including affiliate and social links, reusing saved details across videos, and hashtags for key search terms. The monetization tab only appears for channels that meet requirements and are approved, and a music license tab appears for monetized channels using Creator Music. Under Video Elements, you can upload custom subtitles — noted as more accurate than YouTube’s auto-generated ones, helpful for accessibility, translation, hover previews, and search — add end screens in the last 20 seconds or less, and add cards as pop-out links at any timestamp. A checks page auto-detects copyrighted content, then the visibility page offers Public, Unlisted, Private, or Scheduled publishing. On mobile, the YouTube app’s plus icon flow allows title, description, thumbnail, and basic settings, but subtitles, end screens, and cards generally require the desktop site.

Key takeaways

• Start the upload via Create > Upload Video on desktop, using file selection or drag-and-drop, and fill in title, description, and thumbnail while the file uploads.
• A custom thumbnail is recommended as the best first impression, and the title is described as one of the most important factors in search discovery.
• You must declare whether the video is made for kids and whether it contains altered content, and tags are best reserved for alternate search terms and common misspellings.
• Boost findability and navigation with description chapter markers, relevant and affiliate links, reusable saved details, hashtags, and custom subtitles, which the presenter says are more accurate than auto-generated ones.
• Finish with end screens in the final 20 seconds or less, cards at any timestamp, the automatic copyright checks page, and a visibility choice of Public, Unlisted, Private, or Scheduled; advanced elements generally need desktop, not the mobile app.

Episode details: published January 8, 2026 · 4:55 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kevin Stratvert’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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