How to get monetized on YouTube in 2026

The Partner Program has two tiers. Each has its own thresholds, and you can reach either through long videos or through Shorts:

Whichever you aim for, you also need to:

• Follow YouTube's channel monetization policies.
• Live in a country or region where the Partner Program is available.
• Have no active Community Guidelines strikes on your channel.
• Turn on 2-Step Verification for your Google Account.
• Have access to YouTube's advanced features (verifying your phone number is one way).
• Have one active AdSense for YouTube account linked to your channel. You can set it up while you apply.

The 4,000 hours are public watch hours on long videos in the last 12 months. It's a rolling window: every day, the hours from a year ago drop off. These don't count:

• Private, unlisted and deleted videos.
• Views from ad campaigns, like promoting a video with Google Ads.
• Shorts, including watch time in the Shorts feed. Shorts have their own route in: Shorts views over 90 days.
• Livestreams that are unlisted, deleted or not kept as a video afterwards. A public stream you keep on your channel does count.

Watch hours are views times how long people watch, so how many views you need depends on your average view duration, which YouTube Studio shows for each video. To reach 4,000 hours in 12 months:

A channel getting 10,000 views a month at 4 minutes each makes about 667 watch hours a month, so it reaches 4,000 in about 6 months. Put in your own numbers with the YouTube watch hours calculator.

YouTube announced in August 2026 that the Partner Program changes from February 1, 2027:

• Channels already in the program aren't affected by the new entry thresholds. Those under 10 million Shorts views in 90 days stay in the program and keep earning from long videos; they just don't share in Shorts ad revenue.
• Everyone in the program has to accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio by January 31, 2027 to keep fully monetizing.
• YouTube's announcement doesn't mention a change to the 1,000 subscribers.

If you're close to 4,000 hours, it's worth getting there and applying before February 1, 2027: the new thresholds are for creators applying from then. YouTube hasn't said how it treats applications still in review on that date.

1. Sign in to YouTube, click your profile picture and open YouTube Studio.
2. In the left menu, click Earn, then Apply now.
3. Review and accept the base terms.
4. Set up an AdSense for YouTube account, or link one you already have.
5. Wait for the review.

YouTube's automated systems and human reviewers look at the channel as a whole, and YouTube says you'll typically hear back in about a month, sometimes longer. Once you're in, you turn on each way to earn by accepting its module, like the ones for ads on the watch page and in the Shorts feed.

Reviewers don't watch every video. YouTube says they focus on the channel's main theme, its most-viewed and newest videos, the videos with the most watch time, titles, thumbnails and descriptions, and the About section. The usual problems:

• Reused content. Videos that are mostly someone else's, re-uploaded or lightly edited, don't qualify, even with the creator's permission. This is why most clip channels can't be monetized as they are: see YouTube's reused content policy, for clippers.
• Generic or repetitive content. Videos made from a template, or so alike that they feel mass-produced, aren't eligible. Each video should offer something of its own.
• Community Guidelines. An active strike stops an application, and the channel as a whole has to follow the rules.
• Fake engagement. YouTube doesn't allow anything that artificially increases views or other numbers. Bought views or watch hours can get videos removed, not just an application turned down.

If you're turned down the first time, you can appeal within 21 days, or keep uploading and apply again after 30 days. After a second rejection, you wait 90 days. And once you're in, a channel with no uploads or posts for 6 months or more may lose monetization.

• Make videos people finish. Watch hours are views times minutes watched, so a video people watch for 6 minutes earns twice the hours of one they leave after 3. Cut the slow start, get to the point, and keep each part moving.
• Keep them watching the next one. Playlists, end screens and videos that follow on from each other turn one view into several.
• Stream, and keep the stream. A public livestream saved on your channel counts, and streams run long.
• Use Shorts to bring people to your videos. Shorts' own watch time doesn't count, but Shorts reach people who don't know your channel yet. Post Shorts made from your long videos, and add each one's full video as its related video: it shows as a link below your channel handle in the Shorts player, and the watch hours from people who tap through do count. Adding a related video needs YouTube's advanced features, which channels with enough history get, or which you can unlock by verifying your identity with an ID or a video.

For cutting them, see how to turn a YouTube video into Shorts, and for getting them seen, how to get more views on YouTube Shorts.

YouTube pays partners 55% of the net ad revenue on their long videos, and a share of the Shorts ad pool on Shorts. There's no fixed rate per view: creators and analytics companies report roughly $1 to $6 per 1,000 views on long videos, and much less on Shorts. Payments come through AdSense once your balance reaches $100.

For the details, read how much YouTube pays per view, or put in your views in the YouTube money calculator.