Adding a household member to your YouTube TV account

You can add up to six accounts to a single YouTube TV membership, and each person gets their own login, recommendations, and DVR library. To add someone, you go to your account settings, select "Family and guests," and either invite them by email or let them create a new account on the same membership. The person you invite will receive an email with a link to join, and once they accept, they can sign in on any device and start watching when ready.

The key difference is between family members and guests. Family members have full access to all channels and can manage their own DVR and watchlist. Guests can watch everything but cannot add or remove shows from the DVR or change account settings. You decide which type each person is when you invite them.

Key Takeaways

  • YouTube TV allows up to six accounts on one membership, each with separate logins and DVR libraries.
  • Family members have full control over their DVR and settings, while guests can only watch.
  • You invite people by email from the Family and guests section of your account settings.
  • The person you invite must accept the invitation before they can sign in and watch.
  • Each account can be used on multiple devices, but only four streams can play at the same time across all accounts.

Step-by-step: inviting someone to your YouTube TV account

Start by signing into YouTube TV on a web browser or the mobile app. Go to your profile icon in the top right corner and select "Settings." From the Settings menu, click "Family and guests" on the left side. You will see a list of anyone already on your account and a button that says "Invite family member" or "Invite guest."

Click the invite button for whichever type you want to add. Enter the email address of the person you are inviting. YouTube TV will send them an email with a link to accept the invitation. They do not need to have a Google account yet — they can create one as part of accepting the invite. Once they click the link and set up their account, they will appear in your Family and guests list and can start watching when ready.

If the person you want to add is in the same household and does not have an email address, you can create a Google account for them using any email address (including one you create for them). They will then use that email and a password to sign in on their devices.

The difference between family members and guests

A family member on YouTube TV has the same permissions you do, except they cannot remove other people from the account or change the membership plan. They can add shows to their DVR, delete recordings, create their own watchlist, and adjust parental controls for their profile. If you have a family plan, everyone on it is a family member by default.

A guest can watch any channel and any recording on the account, but they cannot add or remove shows from the DVR, change any settings, or see your watchlist. Guests are useful if you want to let someone watch for a limited time without giving them full control. You can remove a guest at any time from the Family and guests settings.

You cannot change someone from a family member to a guest or vice versa — you have to remove them and invite them again as the other type. If you remove someone, they lose access to the account when ready, though any shows they recorded stay in the DVR until you delete them.

Managing who can watch and when

YouTube TV allows four simultaneous streams across all accounts on your membership. This means if you are watching on the living room TV, your spouse is watching on a tablet, and two guests are watching on their phones, no one else can start a stream until one of those four stops. If a fifth person tries to watch, they will see a message that the limit has been reached.

You cannot set time limits or restrict when someone can watch — YouTube TV does not have parental controls that lock people out at certain hours. If you need to prevent a child from watching at night, you will need to manage that through your router or device settings instead. You can, however, set a PIN on individual profiles to prevent unauthorized access to mature content.

Removing someone from your account

To remove a family member or guest, go back to Settings, select "Family and guests," find their name in the list, and click the three-dot menu next to it. Select "Remove" and confirm. They will be signed out of all devices within a few minutes and will no longer be able to watch.

Removing someone does not delete their recordings — any shows they added to the DVR stay there until you manually delete them. If you want to clean up the DVR after removing someone, go to the Library section, find their recordings, and delete them individually.

Troubleshooting invitation problems

If someone does not receive an invitation email, ask them to check their spam or junk folder — YouTube TV emails sometimes get filtered. If it is not there, go back to Family and guests, remove the invitation, and try again with the correct email address. Make sure you are spelling their email correctly, as invitations cannot be resent to a different address.

If someone tries to accept an invitation but gets an error, they may already have a YouTube TV account on a different membership. Each Google account can only be on one YouTube TV membership at a time. They would need to remove themselves from the other membership first, or you would need to invite them with a different email address.

If you have reached the six-account limit and want to add someone new, you must remove an existing account first. Go to Family and guests, remove the person you no longer need, wait a few minutes for the system to update, and then invite the new person.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can someone be on multiple YouTube TV memberships at once?

No. Each Google account can only be part of one YouTube TV membership. If someone is already on a different membership, they must remove themselves from that one before joining yours, or you must invite them with a different email address and Google account.

What happens to someone's DVR recordings if I remove them?

Their recordings stay in the DVR and remain watchable by anyone on the account. You can delete them manually from the Library section if you want to free up space. Removing someone does not automatically delete their shows.

Can I set up parental controls for a child's account?

YouTube TV does not have built-in time limits or scheduling controls. You can set a PIN on a child's profile to restrict access to mature content, but you cannot lock them out at specific times. You may need to use your router or device settings to manage when they can watch.

Do all accounts on my membership need to be in the same house?

YouTube TV does not require everyone to be in the same location, but the service is designed for household members. If you are sharing your account with people outside your home, that may violate YouTube TV's terms of service. Check your membership agreement for details on how the service defines household use.

Can I give someone access without inviting them by email?

No. YouTube TV requires you to send an invitation through email. The person must have an email address and accept the invitation to gain access. You cannot manually add someone or create a login without sending an invitation first.