On average, how many comments do you get on your YouTube channel every single day? As your channel grows, you’re only going to get more of them, so let me show you how to answer them efficiently so you can stay better connected with your audience.

YouTube has rolled out a new feature called ‘Smart Replies’ which should help you answer at least some comments with automated text. But we have an easier solution that you can use via the 

But first, let’s take a look at the new YouTube Smart Replies set up. You need to access the comments page first. To do this:

Click on your profile image in the top right-hand corner of most YouTube screens

Click ‘Comments’ in the left-hand navigation bar to display the most recent comments that have been posted on your channel, whether they be for your videos, community posts, or YouTube stories.

Underneath some of these comments, (but not all), you will see some smart reply boxes. To add these as a reply to the comment all you need to do is click the box which will populate the reply line, which you can edit if you wish before publishing.

When smart replies appear, you don't always get the same options as they are context-specific to the comment itself. Presumably, YouTube is picking out common phrases and predicting comments you might use as stock answers. Hopefully, over time this will improve, giving you more smart replies to more comments.

Reply to More YouTube Comments with vidIQ

Now while this is a step in the right direction for YouTube, I wouldn't exactly call them "smart" replies. First of all, they're fairly infrequent, and I would also say they're pretty dumb replies since each one only contains a few words and a smiley if you're lucky.

Well, there is a tool that can do this a lot better and it's absolutely free. Let me show you what it is.

Let's take this as an example. On a video about how to get 1,000 subscribers we see a person who has posted a comment, but they only have six subscribers. We know this because we have 

 and along with the sub count, you will see this vidIQ button:

If you click it, it opens up the ‘Comment Template’ tool where you can create stock answers to questions and comments you get that are specific to your channel.

So, in this case, we can reply with some videos that will help the creator get to a hundred subscribers before they even tackle a thousand subscribers. And we've done all of this in a matter of seconds.

. So we know we get asked all the time about Playlists and custom thumbnails and how to get 

But we also have a lot of ways to say thank you, which courtesy of the vidIQ's tool, also populates the commentor's name to personalize the response.

Our general recommendation is that you respond to every single comment on your channel but eventually, as your channel grows that’s going to become impossible.

But YouTube's Smart Replies, in combination with vidIQ's comment templates, all which, to remind you, is 100% free, at least gives you a fighting chance of responding to a lot more comments than typing out each one by hand.

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and 

 then make sure to download vidIQ. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

And if you’re really serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

YouTube logo surrounded by multiple comment icons representing video engagement and feedback.

Engaging with your audience via comments is one of the keys to success on YouTube. The platform has rolled out 'Smart Replies' to help creators with this, but we have an even better solution!

The Secret to YouTube Success: Reply to More Comments!

Deleting a video permanently from your own channel couldn’t be easier. Just follow these steps:

Click on your YouTube profile image in the top, right-hand corner of the screen

From this dashboard screen, click the ‘Videos’ link from the left-hand navigation bar

Mouse over any video on this list, to be shown several options.

Click the three dots to the right, and you should see the option to delete the highlighted video

 warn you that this action is permanent and can't be undone, and will make you check a confirmation box to agree to this. Also, this will be your last opportunity to download the video if you need to.

How to Delete More Than One Video From YouTube

If you want to delete videos in bulk, you can use the checkbox column on the left to select multiple videos.

When you do this, a black bar of options appears at the top of the list

Click on "More actions" which will give you the option to delete all of the selected videos

Again, you will need to click the confirmation box to actually delete the videos forever

If you can't find the video you want to delete from this screen, you can use the search bar at the top of the screen which only searches for channel videos, not only videos on YouTube. When you find the video you want to delete, click on it to take you to the edit details page for that video, and you'll find those three dots to the right of the screen. Click here to find the same delete video option.

Think Very Carefully Before Deleting a YouTube Video

So now you know how to delete a YouTube video, let's talk about all the caveats of actually doing so.

First of all, as YouTube clearly states, 

there is no way to undo this permanent action.

 Not only will you lose all of the comments and engagement from that video, but, and most crucially, you will lose all of the views and Watch Time from that video.

So if you are looking to get to your goal of 

, really consider why you want to delete this video.

Also, deleting a video because it has a copyright or community strike on it won't get rid of that strike. And if you have copyright claims on that video, then you probably want to fix it through the 

And finally, if you are embarrassed by your older videos, watch the videos we first put out on the 

. They're not fantastic, but we're proud of them because they're all part of our YouTube journey to where we are now.

YouTube confirmation prompt asking to permanently delete a video with delete forever button

Have you ever wanted to permanently delete a video from your YouTube channel? This is a complete guide on how to do it.

How to Delete a YouTube Video [Complete Guide]

YouTube is a wonderful adventure, but it attracts its fair share of 

. But you don’t have to put up with that. It’s easy to cut that negativity out of your life and ban that spammy user for good. 

Whether you're dealing with harassment or just want to curate your comment section, YouTube makes it easy to block unwanted users across desktop and mobile.

What Does Blocking Someone on YouTube Actually Do?

Before going over how to block someone, it’s helpful to know what blocking can do and what its limitations are.

They can still watch your videos and see your public content.

They can’t comment on your videos or live chats.

Their previous comments won’t be deleted, but new ones won’t show up to others.

They are muted from your perspective, helping you manage your mental bandwidth.

Blocking is a creator-side moderation tool, not a full ban. So, if you’re worried about comments a now-banned user may have left in the past, blocking them isn’t going to magically make them disappear, nor will it help keep trolls from viewing your content.

What’s the Difference Between Blocking and Reporting?

While blocking a user can be a helpful tactic, it’s only good for curing the symptoms, not the disease. When dealing with particularly nasty users, you may have to resort to something more proactive, such as reporting them.

 may seem similar, there are some key differences:

 a user hides their comments and stops them from engaging

 a user flags abuse or spam for YouTube to investigate and take further actions, if needed


In other words, if someone is harassing you or violating YouTube's community guidelines, 

We’re going to walk you through how to block someone from your YouTube channel, how to block users from commenting, and what happens when you do.


When it comes to blocking someone on YouTube, content creators have a few different options available to them:


Go to YouTube Studio → Click “Content” in the left menu.

Open the video with the offending comment.

Hover over the comment, click the three dots (⋯), and select “Hide user from channel.”

Done! That user can no longer comment on your videos or live chats.

Option 2: Block Directly from the User’s Channel

Click the three-dot menu (⋯) on their profile banner.

Choose “Block user” from the dropdown.

In a live stream, click on the username in the chat.

Click the three dots, then choose “Block” or “Hide from channel.”

If you’re looking to block a user from the iOS or Android apps:

Tap the profile photo of the user in a comment or live chat.

Tap “Block user” or “Hide user from channel.”

Auto-Moderation Settings for Filtering Out Comments

In recent years, YouTube has improved comment filtering in YouTube Studio, allowing you to reduce the amount of spam and negativity your channel can potentially receive without lifting a finger!

Go to YouTube Studio → Settings → Community.

Under “Automated Filters,” add users to your Hidden Users list.

Use the Blocked Words feature to automatically hold toxic comments for review.

Toggle on “Hold potentially inappropriate comments” for extra protection.

People can be pretty nasty, and that’s not changing any time soon. That makes managing your YouTube community not just about growing your audience, but about protecting your peace and maintaining control over your channel.


Blocking someone is no longer a last resort; it’s a smart, proactive move to shape the kind of environment you want to foster. Don’t hesitate to use this tool to defend your content, uphold your standards, and keep the focus where it belongs: 

YouTube comment from Internet Troll 42 asking Sub4Sub with vidIQ logo and prohibition symbols

Tired of Sub4Sub or other spammy comments on your YouTube videos? Find out how to block those annoying users for good.

How to Block Someone From Your YouTube Channel [Updated for 2025]

It couldn’t be easier to delete a video from your mobile device, you just need to make sure you have the YouTube app installed and you are signed in to your account.

From the main screen tap your profile image in the top right-hand corner and go to ‘Your Channel’

Click on ‘Videos’ in the top hand navigation bar to bring up a list of your content

Tap the three dots to the right of the thumbnail and title to see the ‘Delete’ option.

You can also delete videos via the official 

Tap the ‘Option’ button in the top left and go to ‘Videos’

Find the video you want to delete and then tap on it

This will take you to the videos edit page - there is a pencil icon at the top, tap on that

Then swipe to the advanced tab and then scroll all the way to the bottom of this screen and you should find the ‘Delete’ option.

Do You Really Need to Delete That YouTube Video?

YouTube clearly states that there is no way to undo this permanent action. So think very carefully about deleting any video as not only will you lose all of the comments and engagement from that video, but you will also lose all of the views and Watch Time too.

 because you want to monetize your content, really think about what effect deleting a video might have if it has contributed in any way towards that goal.

Also, if you’re thinking of deleting a video just because it has a copyright or community strike against it, know that it won't get rid of that strike. If you have a 

, you're much better off using one of YouTube's official tools. There's a full tutorial on how to use it here (only via desktop though):

And finally, if you are embarrassed by your older videos, then watch the videos we first published on the 

Now, if you're much more interested in creating new content and growing your channel, then make sure to grab vidIQ for either your iPhone or Android device. It is free so just search for “vidIQ” on the Apple app and Google Play store.

If you want more insights into YouTube then make sure to download vidIQ. Over 1 million creators use vidIQ to help with keyword and competitor research, channel audits, and so much more. 

And if you’re serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

. Learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

YouTube video deletion confirmation prompt with cancel and delete options on screen.

Have you ever wanted to delete a YouTube video quickly but only have access to a mobile device? If the answer is yes, we show you how!

How To Delete a YouTube Video On a Mobile Device (Android or iOS)

There is so much information about YouTube and its algorithms. But what info is correct and what is false?

, one of the very first SEO industry leaders to go all-in on digital video and the first to coin the phrase “social video marketing.”

With over 2 decades of experience in digital media, Mark is a pioneer, and a digital marketing expert who really understands that ins and out of the YouTube system.

Does changing the video metadata after a video is published good or bad?

Do descriptions, tags, and titles matter, or is YouTube AI smart enough?

Do likes, dislikes, and comment help or hinder your video?

Should you or should you not link to external websites off YouTube?

If you finally want know what is FACT and what is FICTION and how it impacts your video performance, THIS is the episode for you!

TubeTalk has been informing video creators and marketers since 2014, and is one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Don't foprget to 

 on your favorite podcast application so you never miss an episode!

You can also find the complete list of all the 

Man with beard and short hair next to blue background with "TubeTalk" text logo

Let's BUST some YouTube Algorithm misconceptions!

5 YouTube Algorithm Myths YouTubers NEED to Know With Mark Robertson

YouTube Stories are an incredible way to connect with your community, but did you also know the feature can be absolutely invaluable when it comes to managing any kind of negative feedback?

As a YouTuber, creating content that is authentic to your brand can feel not only stressful but precarious. The task of being true to yourself and original while constantly watching everything you say is a difficult one.

Many YouTubers have had unintentional PR blunders, but successful creators take proper and prompt action to mitigate them. Accidents happen, but here’s how YouTube’s Story feature can help with audience retention after social backlash from viewers.

How YouTube Stories Help You Connect to Your Community

YouTube stories are clips that last for 15 seconds and expire after 7 days. It is a mobile-only feature which is beneficial since 

70% of YouTube views come from mobile devices

. As soon as a subscriber accesses your channel or opens the YouTube app, they can immediately see your Story, which makes the feature a casual and quick way for content creators to connect to their audiences without taking the time to create a video.

YouTube Stories is such a powerful tool for building community engagement that vidIQ highlighted the feature earlier this year:

Between scripting, editing, filming, audio mixing, and more, 

the average time it takes to make a video is 7 hours

. This may seem like a short period of time, but the social backlash ball rolls quickly, and therefore, it is very important to act quickly. Typically, the best apologies are those that are 

short, sweet, unscripted, and offer no excuses

 for public speaking expert, Jahan Kalantar’s, steps to making an authentic apology.

YouTube’s Story feature can be used to speedily aid in the process of re-establishing trust while reducing time spent on the issue.

Typically, the longer you wait to respond, the more tarnished your public image as a YouTuber can become. YouTube’s story feature is a quick way to ease tensions before they gain momentum or possibly even result in the loss of viewership.

Because viewers can see your Story on their home feed, they may even see your Story before they see any content that is causing a fuss.

Although YouTube has removed its direct messaging feature, you can still reconnect with your viewers in a personal way by posting an impromptu Story. While fans and viewers can comment on your Story through the feature, you can also respond directly to fans with a photo or video that will be viewable by the entire community.

Although YouTube Stories are typically unprepared and spontaneous, the feature affords content creators an unscripted and immediate way to reconnect with viewers.

 then make sure to download vidIQ. Over 1 million creators use vidIQ to help with keyword and competitor research, channel audits, and so much more. 

If you’re serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

YouTube logo with red play button icon representing online video streaming platform

YouTube Stories is a fantastic tool for helping creators communicate directly to subscribers. Find out how it can be your greatest public relations asset too.

YouTube Stories: The Best Way to Quickly Engage With Your Subscribers

Going live on YouTube these days isn't as complicated as you would think. In this post, we'll discuss a few different things you need to know to make your live stream as professional as possible including:

The software/encoders you need to live stream

How to set up your live stream broadcast on YouTube

I’m a gamer so I like to give things a gaming focus, so I am going to be using video game live streaming as an example. But all of the following advice will apply to any type of YouTube channel looking to learn how to broadcast live.

How to Live Stream on YouTube: The Hardware You’ll Need

Streaming these days is a lot easier when it comes to the hardware you're going to need. I'll show you what I use to stream from my own computer when I play games, and hopefully, that will give you a good baseline for a guide.

First off, let’s talk about the Internet. This is going to be the biggest bottleneck you're going to face while live streaming. The Internet is such an important element in the mix because, in some areas of the world, you just can't control what kind of speed you're going to get when you sign up for your Internet plan.

The best speed I can recommend is no less than five megabits per second upload when you're trying to stream on YouTube. Personally, I have 10 megabits per second for my upload speed, and it allows me to push a better quality live stream. 5 is just my personal recommendation because I think any less, and you're going to struggle when it comes to quality.

Now for the type of computer you need to play a game, and live stream it at the same time, I have a GTX 1060, three gigabytes, with 16 gigabytes of RAM. I’m also using an older AMD Ryzen 7 processor. These items allow me to stream with 10 megabits per second upload. I can play Minecraft at 1080p with 30 frames a second, or I can play it at 720p with 60 frames a second.

If I try to push it any higher than that, the game performance and stream quality drops. The bottom line is that top-quality hardware is great, but with software advancing so much, not using the very latest state-of-the-art computer doesn't have to limit you.

Software: Encoding a Live Stream Broadcast on YouTube

When we talk about software for live streaming, we're actually talking about encoders. Anything you've used to live stream is an encoder, but I’m going to focus on 

YouTube actually has a list of recommendations

, some free, some not. Thanks to how powerful these encoders have become, using something like Streamlabs OBS allows you to stream a game on your computer at a much higher quality than ever before.

Before we dive in head first, I will warn you this set-up can get very technical, and I'm going to cover it very briefly, in the most basic way possible, just to get you started. All the things I'm showing you are going to depend on you at the end of the day. You need to run test streams on your own channel, and maybe even get feedback from viewers on different testing streams you try.

Let’s go through the Streamlabs OBS set up.

 First, you’ll need to connect to your YouTube channel by logging in - just follow all the prompts!

Next, go to ‘Sources’ and click ‘Add’

Let’s say you want to add a game capture, just click ‘game capture’, then ‘Add Source’

The software will now search for a game on your system to capture

If it has trouble doing this, click on the drop-down menu to capture a specific window

Adjust the screen size so it fits the window

Now let's tackle some of the more technical aspects of live streaming on Streamlabs OBS. If we visit the output section, we can choose our encoder. In the example I use in the video (above), it's set to software x264. This is going to use my CPU to do all of my encoding for me, but if you want, you can change it to NVENC or the new version of that.

This uses your graphics card to encode. Depending on what you're doing, the game you're playing, or the type of broadcast you're doing.

Personally, I prefer using NVENC when I'm streaming, so I'm going to go ahead and select that. And I'm going to do a bit rate of about 5,000 because I already know my system, and I know it can handle that. Like I said before, this is going to take testing on your part, so maybe 2,500 is a good place for you to start, and you can go from there.

Now on to the video tab. You'll notice the base canvas resolution is 1920 x 1080. I would leave it at that. In theory, I should probably raise the base canvas resolution, but that's okay. I just got my 4K monitor, and I don't feel like resizing all of the different elements that I have on my normal live stream, so I'm going to leave it at 1080.

But the output scale is what's going to directly impact your broadcast, and I'm broadcasting at 720. These days, when people watch live streams, they watch them on a variety of devices, including phones and laptops. So with this screen being a little more compact, and squashed down to 720, it is probably going to give you a higher quality live stream at little to no impact on the viewer.

If you lower that resolution, it's going to get you closer to being able to stream at 60 frames a second, which will impact everybody who's watching, regardless if it's a nice, big TV or a phone. So because I like high frame rates when I'm playing games, I'm going to leave it at 720, but if you have a super awesome computer, maybe you can try 1080 at 60 frames. That's all up to you.

The last recommended setting is under ‘Advanced’. You can scroll down and find “dynamically change bitrate when dropping frames while streaming”.

A dropped frame is basically when the stream can't keep up and starts skipping frames. You may have a nice 60 frame stream going, but now, those frames are being dropped little by little. If the software detects that, it will change your bitrate to keep up.

So this might take some of the sharpness away from the image, but the frame rate will stay high, which is what you want. To save your changes, go ahead and click ‘Done.'

Now you’re almost ready to click ‘Go Live’, but there's one more thing we need to do, and that's set it up on the YouTube end.

Setting up a live broadcast is a lot like setting up a regular video. You still need an engaging title, a great description, some keyword tags, and a powerful 

Head over to the YouTube Studio, click on ‘Create’, then in the drop-down menu hit ‘Go Live.’ If you've streamed before, you're going to get a prompt that tells you that you can copy all the settings, the thumbnail, the description, etc. from a previous stream, or you can go ahead and set up a new stream.

In my example, I’ve clicked on the ‘New Stream’ option so now I'm going to set up everything I need for the live stream, like the title and description.

You can also set your live stream to private, public, or unlisted, just like a normal video. If you want to make it private for a little while so you can tweak the description and other metadata, go ahead and do that. But if you want people to know that you're going to stream at some point, go ahead and make it public.

Now add a description, then add a title for your game, that's really important to help YouTube categorize you for that game.

Further down the Streamlabs OBS dashboard, there is an option to schedule for later. I would highly recommend doing this, as a live stream is an event, and you want people to know when it's going to happen. Scheduling for later will allow you to set the date and the time that you're going to go live, and everyone will know exactly when to come to your stream!

Next is the ability to upload your very own YouTube custom thumbnail. Having a great thumbnail is always crazy important, no matter whether it’s a video you’ve uploaded, or whether it’s a live stream. You want that thumbnail to be clickable because it’s an invitation to watch your content. If a viewer is intrigued, they will click through to your video.

Next on the dashboard is where you tell YouTube whether this live stream is ‘

’ or not. You also have the option to impose restrictions on viewers because of their age. If you choose to restrict it to viewers that are 18 or over, YouTube users will get a notice that this live stream may not be appropriate for younger viewers.

If you’re happy with your title, description and custom thumbnail, and have completed all the details YouTube needs you to then you are ready to hit ‘Create Stream.’

Once you've created the stream, a new dashboard pops up while you're broadcasting live. It shows you all kinds of data, but what you really need to pay attention to is the information in the bottom left of the Streamlabs dashboard which is all about stream latency.

Basically, normal latency takes the broadcast and renders it for the audience. They're going to get a higher quality broadcast, but they're also going to see a higher delay based on when their chat message goes out and the time you read it. Viewers may pick up on that.

Choosing low-latency or ultra low-latency will cut down on that buffering time, but you risk your stream being lower quality.

Because you've already logged into YouTube on Streamlabs, you shouldn't need to worry about this, but if you're using a different encoder, and not Streamlabs OBS, you will need to grab the stream key and paste it into your encoder on Streamlabs. (Of course, sharing your stream key will allow people to take over your channel and stream whatever they want on it, and you don't want that!)

After you’ve finished streaming, you can come back to the Streamlabs dashboard and check out the analytics, your viewer activity, and your stream health. You can basically check all the data insights that would you after uploading any video.

Stay tuned for more expert tips on live streaming on YouTube!

YouTube live streaming icon with "Go Live" text on blue background

It's never been easier to live stream on YouTube - whatever type of content you create. In this beginner's guide, we take you through the how-to using Streamlabs OBS.

YouTube Tips for Creators

The Secret to YouTube Success: Reply to More Comments!

How to Delete a YouTube Video [Complete Guide]

How to Block Someone From Your YouTube Channel [Updated for 2025]

How To Delete a YouTube Video On a Mobile Device (Android or iOS)

5 YouTube Algorithm Myths YouTubers NEED to Know With Mark Robertson

YouTube Stories: The Best Way to Quickly Engage With Your Subscribers

How to Live Stream on YouTube with Streamlabs OBS - Beginner's Setup Guide

How to Get More Subscribers On YouTube in 15 Seconds!

How to Add a Video Game Title to Your YouTube Description [2020 Method]

New Community Guidelines From YouTube: What Creators Need to Know Right Now

How to Switch Back To the Old YouTube Layout [Creator Studio]

How to Hide Your YouTube Subscriber Count [New Method!]