To get monetized on YouTube, you reach one of two thresholds in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), turn on 2-Step Verification, link an AdSense account and apply from YouTube Studio. The lower tier needs 500 subscribers and opens fan funding. The higher tier needs 1,000 subscribers and opens ad revenue.
Both tiers also ask for watch time or Shorts views inside a fixed window. For ads, that means 4,000 qualified public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million qualified public Shorts views in the last 90 days. YouTube says the review decision typically comes in about one month after you apply.
The 7 Steps to Get Monetized on YouTube
Getting monetized on YouTube follows the same seven steps for every channel. Do them in this order, because the account steps take time to clear and should be done before you hit a threshold.
- Check that you live in a YPP country or region. YouTube only accepts channels from countries on its list. If yours is not on it, no amount of views will open monetization.
- Turn on 2-Step Verification on the Google account that owns the channel. YouTube requires it, and it protects the channel from takeover.
- Clear any Community Guidelines strikes. An active strike blocks the application, so wait for it to expire before you apply.
- Pick one threshold to chase. Choose watch hours or Shorts views based on the videos you already make (see the table below).
- Upload on a schedule until the counter clears. The expanded tier needs 3 valid public uploads in the last 90 days anyway, so a steady schedule does double duty.
- Apply in YouTube Studio and link one AdSense for YouTube account. Studio shows the Earn tab, and the application walks you through the AdSense link.
- Wait for review. YouTube says a decision typically comes in about one month.
If YouTube rejects you, the last section covers what to change before you reapply.
Pick the Threshold You Can Reach First
YouTube has two monetization tiers, and each tier has a watch-time path and a Shorts path. You only need to clear one path per tier. The full rules sit in our YouTube monetization requirements reference.
| Tier | Subscribers | Path A: long-form | Path B: Shorts | What it opens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expanded YPP | 500 + 3 public uploads in 90 days | 3,000 watch hours in 12 months | 3 million Shorts views in 90 days | Memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, Shopping |
| Ad revenue sharing | 1,000 | 4,000 watch hours in 12 months | 10 million Shorts views in 90 days | Ad revenue and YouTube Premium revenue |
Choose the path that matches the videos you already make well. A channel of 10-minute tutorials should chase hours. A channel that posts several vertical clips a day should chase Shorts views. Splitting effort between both usually leaves you halfway to each.
The expanded tier is worth applying for the day you qualify. It does not include ad revenue, but it gets the AdSense link, the review and the policy check out of the way early. When you later cross 1,000 subscribers and the higher counter, you move up inside a program you are already in.
How Long the Watch-Hour Path Takes
The watch-hour path is a rolling 12-month count, so old views fall off as new ones come in. That changes the math. You are not building a pile that grows forever. You are building a flow that has to stay above 4,000 hours.
Work it out from your own numbers in YouTube Analytics:
- 4,000 hours is 240,000 minutes.
- If viewers watch an average of 4 minutes per view, you need about 60,000 public long-form views inside 12 months.
- If viewers watch an average of 8 minutes, you need about 30,000 views.
- For the expanded tier, 3,000 hours is 180,000 minutes, or about 45,000 views at 4 minutes each.
That arithmetic shows why average view duration moves you faster than subscriber count. Doubling how long people watch cuts the views you need in half. Longer videos help only if people keep watching them. A 20-minute video that loses most viewers at minute 2 adds very little.
Only public videos count, and only hours watched outside the Shorts feed. Private and unlisted videos do not count toward the threshold, so make a video public if you want its hours to count.
How the Shorts Path Works for Monetization
The Shorts path counts qualified public Shorts views in the last 90 days: 3 million for the expanded tier and 10 million for ad revenue. The window is short, so the counter can fall as fast as it rises.
The daily rate tells you whether this path is realistic:
- 3 million views in 90 days is about 33,000 Shorts views a day, every day.
- 10 million views in 90 days is about 111,000 Shorts views a day.
A single Short that takes off can carry a channel past 3 million. It rarely carries a channel to 10 million alone, because the views stop counting 90 days later. Channels that clear the Shorts path tend to post often enough that several Shorts are pulling views at once.
Watch hours from the Shorts feed do not count toward the 4,000 long-form hours. A channel with millions of Shorts views can still show very few qualifying hours. Pick the Shorts path on purpose, or post long-form videos alongside your Shorts to build hours. How Shorts revenue is split after you qualify is covered in YouTube Shorts monetization.
Set Up Your Account Before You Qualify
The account setup is the part of getting monetized that you control fully, so finish it while your numbers are still growing. Four items block an application that otherwise qualifies:
- 2-Step Verification. Turn it on in your Google Account security settings. YouTube will not accept the application without it.
- One AdSense account. YouTube pays through AdSense for YouTube, and you can link only one active account. If you already have an AdSense account for a website, link that one instead of opening a second, so your payments land in one place.
- A YPP country or region. Set the channel’s country to where you live, and confirm that country is on YouTube’s list.
- No active strikes. Check the Channel status page in Studio for any Community Guidelines strike before you apply.
Use your legal name and real address on AdSense, even if your channel uses a nickname. Payments and tax forms go to the AdSense identity, and a mismatch slows payouts later. YouTube income is self-employment income in the US. The Modern Wallet’s guide to YouTube taxes explains how to set money aside from the first payment.
Apply and Get Through Review
You apply from the Earn section of YouTube Studio once a threshold is met. Studio shows a progress bar for each counter, and the Apply button appears when you qualify. You accept the base terms, link AdSense, and the channel enters the review queue.
YouTube reviews the channel against its channel monetization policies, and a decision typically comes in about one month. The review covers three policy areas:
- Inauthentic content. In July 2025, YouTube renamed its repetitious content policy to inauthentic content. Mass-produced, repetitive, template-made videos cannot monetize.
- Reused content. Clips, compilations and reuploads of other people’s videos need meaningful added value, such as your own commentary or teaching.
- Community Guidelines. Anything that breaks these blocks monetization outright.
YouTube said in July 2025 that AI use and faceless formats are not banned. A faceless channel with original scripts and commentary can pass. A channel that pastes stock footage under a synthetic voice reading the same script shape fifty times will likely fail. Our guides on YouTube automation and starting a faceless YouTube channel cover how to stay on the right side of that line.
Before you apply, scroll your own channel as a reviewer would. Delete or set to private any reupload you would not defend. A few weak videos can sink a channel that is otherwise fine.
If YouTube Rejects Your Channel
A rejection is not permanent. YouTube lets you reapply 30 days after a first rejection (90 days after a repeat one), or appeal within 21 days. Use the wait to fix the videos most likely to break the channel monetization policies.
- Read the rejection notice in Studio. Match it to the inauthentic content, reused content and Community Guidelines rules above.
- Remove or rework those videos. Add original commentary, cut reused clips, or take down template uploads.
- Keep uploading original work. Fresh videos give the next reviewer more to judge you on.
- Reapply when Studio allows it. The Apply button returns after 30 days (90 after a repeat rejection).
If you hit the threshold through a viral reupload and have no other strong videos, expect a second rejection. Build a short run of original uploads first.
Who Should Not Chase Monetization First
Monetization is the wrong first goal for some channels. If you need income within three months, ad revenue will not get you there, because the thresholds and the review take longer. Sponsors and affiliate links often pay earlier. Our guide to pitching brands shows how small channels approach sponsors, and how to make money on YouTube covers every other income stream.
Our advice to chase one threshold at a time would change if YouTube changed the counters. Updated YPP terms take effect February 1, 2027, and creators must accept them in Studio by January 31, 2027. Some blogs claim higher thresholds are coming. YouTube’s help page does not say so. If YouTube does raise them, plan for a longer climb on the same path.
Your next step is to enter your current numbers into the YouTube monetization checker and see which path to get monetized on YouTube is closest.