Will YouTube link your other channel to the terminated one?

What does the linked channel checker check?

It asks about seven connections between a terminated channel and another one: the Google account, sign-in and recovery details, devices and network, AdSense, branding and the people on screen, manager access, and reuploads. Each answer carries 0, 1 or 3 linkage points – the Google account question goes up to 4. The total places you in one of three bands: 0 to 3 low linkage, 4 to 9 medium, 10 and above high. The result also flags the connections YouTube’s policies name and always shows one rule that applies regardless of score.

While a termination stands, the terminated creator is prohibited from using, possessing or creating any other YouTube channel – including channels in which they are repeatedly or prominently featured. A new channel to continue the old one is circumvention. So the checker answers two questions: how likely YouTube is to treat someone else’s channel as related – and, if the channel is yours, what the legitimate way forward is. See the circumvention guide for the rule itself.

Which rules does it use?

YouTube has no separate circumvention page; the rule sits in the “Circumvention of channel termination” section of its terminations page. YouTube says related channels are detected automatically but does not publish the signals, so the two technical questions rest on that fact, not on a published list.

Since April 2023 YouTube’s policy updates state that current accounts of previously terminated users can be terminated, with outstanding revenue reclaimed; an appeal is possible. And a linked channel with three active copyright strikes can get your channel terminated as well. The related channels guide explains how to appeal when YouTube has linked channels wrongly.

Sources: YouTube Help 2802168, 2801981, 2814000, 14340193 and 16369459, the April 2023 policy update on account circumvention and TeamYouTube’s FAQ of November 13, 2025 – as of October 2026.

What is and is not a safe path?

• Appeal the termination in YouTube Studio: up to one year, at most two appeals (as of October 2026) – treat the first as the only one.
• Keep other people’s channels genuinely independent – own Google account, own AdSense, own devices – and document it.
• Remove any owner or manager access the terminated person had, and note the date.
• Keep your audience on platforms you control – website, newsletter, podcast, other networks.
• From month 12, request a new channel through Second Chances if eligible – a fresh start without the old videos and subscribers.

• Creating a new channel, a “backup” channel or a channel on a fresh Google account to continue the terminated one.
• Reuploading the terminated channel’s videos anywhere on YouTube.

Worked example

A creator’s channel is terminated. Their partner runs a cooking channel on a separate Google account with a different phone and recovery email (0 points), from their own laptop in the same home (1), paid through their own AdSense (0), with a different name and look, though the terminated creator appears in the occasional video (1), no manager access (0) and no reuploads (0). Total: 2 – low linkage. The result: the connections YouTube describes are largely absent, which protects an independent channel – but does not allow the terminated creator to use it. Hosting the channel regularly would add 3 points: “repeatedly or prominently featured”.

The opposite case: the same creator’s own second channel on the same Google account (4), same details (3), same computer (3), same AdSense (3), same brand (3), own access (3), with the old videos reuploaded (3). Total: 22 – high linkage. The tool says plainly: covered by the circumvention ban, at risk of termination as a related channel, revenue reclaimed. The legitimate path is the appeal and, later, Second Chances; the guide on new channels after a termination explains why there is no shortcut.

What the tool cannot do

• YouTube does not publish its detection signals; points for shared details and devices are an assumption, not a documented rule.
• It cannot predict whether YouTube will terminate the other channel, or when.
• A low score describes independence; it does not lift the ban on the terminated creator.
• Copyright terminations differ: YouTube states you can’t create new channels, and Second Chances does not apply.
• General information, not legal advice. Your answers never leave your browser.

Frequently asked questions