Watermark YouTube

What is a watermark on YouTube?

A watermark on YouTube is a small square image you overlay on your own videos to promote your channel's branding. On computers it is clickable, so viewers can subscribe without leaving the video. You set it once in YouTube Studio and it applies across your channel.

Why the watermark matters

Most subscribe prompts interrupt. An end screen takes the closing seconds of the video. A verbal ask costs you attention mid-sentence. The watermark does neither — it sits in the corner of the player and converts viewers who are already enjoying what they are watching.

YouTube files these subscriptions under Interactive features in the Subscription source report, the same row as end screens. It is one of the cheapest wins in a subscriber growth plan: you configure it once and it works on every video you have published.

How to add a video watermark

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.

2. In the left menu select Customization, then Profile.

3. Choose your display time. End of video shows the watermark for the last 15 seconds, Custom start time begins it at a time you choose, and Entire video shows it throughout.

4. Click CHANGE, select an image, change its size, then click DONE.

5. Click PUBLISH.

The image must be square, at least 150x150 pixels, and under 1 MB. Keep the design simple — it renders small, so a full logo lockup with text is unreadable. Most channels reuse the mark from their profile picture and banner.

Where it shows, and where it does not

Channel watermarks appear in landscape view on computers and mobile devices, though on mobile the watermark is not clickable. They do not show on custom YouTube chromeless players or Adobe Flash.

One restriction catches creators out: video watermarks are not available on videos set as made for kids. If you added a watermark earlier and the video is now set as made for kids, viewers will not see it.

To measure it, open Analytics in YouTube Studio, click SEE MORE on any card, then select Subscription source at the top. Watermark subscribers land in the Interactive features row. If your video or channel does not have enough traffic in the selected period, the subscription source dimension may not appear at all.