New YouTube Private Messages: old contacts, group messaging and more

Update August 2019: YouTube DMs will be going away on September 18, 2019

Update October 2018: consumer Google+ is shutting down April 2, 2019. This will not affect your YouTube channel.
Update July 2018: Messages has been retired and sort-of replaced by friend-based messaging. Note: Old messages and contacts will be available until Dec 1st. 2014 

The YouTube Inbox is going away, to be replaced with Google+-based "Messages". In a few days you will be able to download an archive of all your Inbox messages. But what about your Contacts?

• View and archive your old YouTube contacts
• YouTube Messages: the new system to send or receive a private message
• Create a Google+ Circle from your YouTube Contacts
• Send a private message to a group on YouTube or Google+

View and archive your old Youtube Contacts

You can view your Contact list, at least for the time being, at www.youtube.com/address_book

When you view your address book, you can click on each channel name, and see your contact details. Within a few days you will be able to download your Contacts along with your Inbox messages.

Send or receive a Private Message on YouTube

The new YouTube messages is pretty basic. If you want to message a channel, you need to go to the channel's About tab and click "Send message".

You will then be able to send a private message to that channel, and only that channel.

You can view the messages you've sent or received on your Messages tab. You can get their by clicking your avatar in the upper right corner, then selecting Creator Studio -> Community.

Or just navigate directly to www.youtube.com/messages

Learn more: Send and receive private messages on YouTube

Note that if you delete a "Sent" message, the recipient's copy will be deleted as well. And if someone sends you a message and deletes it, or if they delete their entire Google+ profile, your copy of the message will disappear too.

One thing you cannot do is send a YouTube Private Message to multiple recipients at the same time. However, you can privately message multiple contacts using the Google+ commenting system.

If you create a Google+ Circle from your current YouTube Contacts, you will be able to easily message all of your contacts at once.

Create a Google+ Circle from your YouTube Contacts

If your YouTube channel is connected to a Google+ Profile or Google+ Page, you will have the option to easily create a circle from your YouTube Contacts.

1. Sign in to your YouTube account and make sure you are switched to the correct channel identity. You can do that by clicking your avatar in the upper right corner, or going to www.youtube.com/channel_switcher

2. Navigate to your Inbox: click your avatar, then select Creator Studio > Community > Inbox

Or just go directly to www.youtube.com/inbox

3. At the top of your Inbox you should see a banner that says:

Create a Google+ circle with your favorite YouTube contacts.
Important: The people in your circles are publicly visible on your profile.

4. Click "Create" and a window will pop up that will allow you to create a new circle from your Contacts.

Note: only YouTube channels that are connected to a Google+ Profile or Page will be included in the circle.

5. Add or remove contacts: Any contact highlighted blue will be included in your circle. You can de-select a contact by clicking on it. You can add to your Circle by clicking "Add a person" and typing the name of the person, channel, or email address of the contact.

6. When you are done adding and removing contacts, click "Create this circle"

You can view your channel's Google+ Circles by clicking your avatar in the upper right corner, then once the menu appears, click your avatar a second time, which will bring you to the Google+ Page or Google+ Profile connected to your channel.

Once you are on Google+, click "People" in the left menu, then (if you need to) "Your Circles" at the top of the screen.

Send a private message to a group on YouTube or Google+

Now you have a circle of your YouTube contacts - how do you message them privately?

You can send a private message directly either via YouTube or Google+.

Sending a private message to a group on YouTube requires a bit of a work-around: because the new private message system only allows to message one channel at a time, you will instead need to make a comment on a channel or video that is only shared with a small group of individuals or one of your circles.

1. Go to a channel's "Discussion" tab or to a video watch page.

2. Click the comment box and write your message.

3. Click the word "Public"

4. You will then see the option to remove "Public" and add different circles or names. type in the name of the circle (or each person) you want to send the message to or + mention them in your post. If you + mention people they should get a notification you have mentioned them

5. Optional: de-select the option to "Also share on Google+" if you don't want your post to also appear on Google+.

6. Click "Post"

Only the circles or individuals you have shared your post with will be able to see it.

If you would rather share on Google+:

1. Go to the Google+ Profile or Page connected to your channel. You can do that from YouTube by clicking your avatar in the upper right corner, then, when the menu appears, clicking your avatar a second time.

2. You can send a message or share a post on Google+ from two locations:

• at the top of every page on Google+ is a "Share" button, click that
• or, at the top of your Stream, there is a "Share what's new..." box

3. Click the sharing box and type your post. + mention any individuals you want to be sure are notified of your post.

4. Remove the "Public" sharing option at the bottom of the post.

5. Add the circles or individuals you want to see your post

6. Click "Share"

Your post will be visible on your "Posts" tab and in the stream of the people you have shared your post with. No one else will be able to see it.

Last update: March 2019