My YouTube account looks hacked — how do I get it back?
Your YouTube channel is tied to your Google Account, not a separate login — so recovery starts with Google Account recovery, not YouTube.
What to do now
- Your YouTube channel is tied to your Google Account, not a separate login — so recovery starts with Google Account recovery, not YouTube.
Who owns the resolution
YouTube's own support/policy team decides this -- AMS explains the policy but has no account access and cannot make this decision for you.
Evidence to prepare
- Your account email or user ID
- Screenshots or a confirmation number for the specific order/booking/transaction
- Any messages you already exchanged with support about this
Turn this answer into a question about your case
Give another AI the facts it needs—not just “what should I do?”
I need practical help with a YouTube issue. The policy question: My YouTube account looks hacked — how do I get it back? Useful context I found: Your YouTube channel is tied to your Google Account, not a separate login — so recovery starts with Google Account recovery, not YouTube. My specific situation: [Describe what happened, including dates and messages shown] The outcome I want: [Refund, verification, appeal, account recovery, explanation, etc.] Important constraints: [Country, deadline, booking/account status, documents already submitted, budget, or other limits] Please: 1. Identify any missing facts you need before reaching a conclusion. 2. Separate platform policy, local law, and your own inference. 3. Give me the safest next steps in priority order. 4. Use current official sources where possible and flag anything that may have changed. 5. Draft a concise message I can paste to customer support. 6. Do not invent account access, guarantees, refund rights, or legal conclusions.
Why this policy exists
Warning signs include a profile photo or channel description you didn't change, videos uploaded that aren't yours, or a "suspicious sign-in" email you didn't trigger. Because a YouTube channel isn't its own account system but is tied directly to your Google Account, recovery starts at Google's account recovery form, not anything YouTube-specific — answer the identity-verification questions as thoroughly as possible, reset your password, and turn on two-factor authentication once you're back in. If the channel itself was separately terminated for a policy violation while this was happening, that requires a separate appeal through the form linked in YouTube's notification email, after account recovery is complete.
Need to act on your account?
AMS explains the rule but cannot access your account, issue a refund or change a platform decision.