How to see your subscribers on YouTube

YouTube shows you a list of subscribers, but it’s not your full audience. Only people who have set their subscriptions to public are visible, and even then, you can’t export this list or message the people on it as a group.

If you’re growing your creator and business presence on YouTube and want to build a subscriber list you own, the fastest way is a sign-up form on your Linktree.

Subscriber count vs subscriber list: What’s the difference?

While they might sound similar, your YouTube subscriber count and your YouTube subscriber list are different. Your subscriber count tallies the total number of accounts subscribed to your YouTube channel, a figure that’s publicly available to anyone who visits your channel. Your subscriber list (found only in YouTube Studio) shows the individual profiles that have subscribed to your channel, but it includes only subscribers who have set their subscriptions to “Public”.

Your subscriber list is always shorter than your subscriber count; the list won’t show subscribers with private subscriptions, suspended or terminated accounts, or accounts flagged as spam or bots by YouTube.

How to see your subscribers in YouTube Studio

To view your subscriber list, head to YouTube Studio on desktop or mobile, scroll down to the Recent subscribers card, and click See all. Here, you’ll see everyone who has subscribed to your channel and made their subscriptions public. You can filter subscribers by subscription date or subscriber count, and adjust the date range, too.

In YouTube Studio, you’ll also see a snapshot of your current subscriber count on your Channel dashboard under Channel analytics. Follow the step-by-step instructions below for a detailed guide on checking your subscriber count on both desktop and mobile.

💡 Pro tip: Want to view your subscriber list on mobile? Skip the mobile apps and use your preferred web browser instead. Search for YouTube Studio and request the desktop version of the website to access the Recent subscribers card.

How to see your subscriber count on desktop

To find your subscriber count on your computer:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio
2. In the left Menu, select Analytics
3. On the Overview tab, find the Realtime card
4. Click See live count to view your subscribers over time

How to see your subscriber count on your phone

To find your subscriber count on your phone, you have two options: use the YouTube Studio app or the YouTube app.

When using the YouTube Studio app:

1. Open the YouTube Studio app
2. From the bottom Menu, tap Analytics
3. On the Overview tab, find the Realtime card
4. Tap the Realtime card to find more detailed metrics

When using the YouTube app:

1. Open the YouTube app
2. From the bottom right, tap You
3. Under your name, tap on View channel
4. Under your channel name, tap See your subscribers

Understanding your public subscriber count

How your subscriber count is displayed to others depends on how many subscribers you have. The more subscribers you have, the longer it will take for your subscriber count to update for audiences on your public YouTube channel. While you can see your actual subscriber count in real-time, your audience will see a shortened version when viewing your channel.

To see how your subscriber count will display, use the table below.

Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6051134

Why your subscriber list looks smaller than your subscriber count

Your subscriber list is often much smaller than the figure shown on your YouTube channel’s subscriber count because this figure only shows subscribers who have made their subscriptions publicly visible. In fact, it’s very common for YouTube channels to have a significant difference between subscriber lists and total subscriber counts.

The main reasons for this discrepancy are:

• Private subscribers: The main reason your subscriber list and count don’t match is users’ privacy settings. Users can adjust their account privacy to hide their subscriptions, meaning private subscribers won’t appear on your recent subscriber lists (but will still count towards your total subscriber count).
• Filtered accounts: YouTube regularly removes spam accounts, suspended, and deleted accounts from the platform, which can cause gaps between the list of visible names and subscriber count totals.
• List limits: Check that you’re viewing your entire subscriber list (not just your most recent subscribers). In YouTube Studio, your Recent subscriber list can be filtered by date range (last 7, 30, 90, or 365 days). To see every single person who has subscribed, adjust to the Lifetime range.
• Data processing lags: With thousands of servers worldwide, YouTube’s data (including subscriber details) can have syncing delays. Your subscriber list typically takes 24 to 48 hours to update when someone new subscribes.
• Abbreviated public counts: Public channel pages show rounded subscriber counts for any channel above 1,000 subscribers. That means your internal YouTube Studio dashboard (which shows the exact, unrounded number) may differ from the public channel figure.

Can you interact with your subscribers on YouTube?

While you can’t message subscribers directly, you can connect with your audience on YouTube. Creators can build Communities on YouTube, offering a dedicated space for creators and subscribers to connect. This forum lets you share updates, ask questions, and deepen engagement with your top fans and loyal subscribers.

Plus, you can engage with your fans in other ways, from creating polls to responding to comments and using live chat during livestream broadcasts.

The challenge is that this community lives only within YouTube. While you can post announcements, facilitate discussions, and pin important posts, you can’t export your community or subscriber list on YouTube. If you want to engage with your audience outside of YouTube, you need to build a subscriber list that you own, rather than rent.

How to build a subscriber list you can actually reach

The downside with YouTube subscribers is that you don’t own this audience. If you lose access to your channel overnight, you don’t have a direct way to contact your subscribers. Plus, you can’t export this audience or migrate these subscribers to a new platform; your relationship only exists on YouTube. That’s why creators are using sign-up forms on Linktree to build an audience they can grow, own, and even monetize.

Linktree’s sign-up forms allow you to collect emails without a website. Add a single URL to your YouTube channel and video descriptions to collect emails, names, and any other info you need.

To collect email sign-ups on your Linktree:

1. In My Linktree, go to the Links page and tap the + Add button.
2. Search for Contact Form and tap Add.
3. Add a Title for your link.
4. Choose Blank Form or start with a template.
5. Tap Add question to customize your form fields.
6. Tap Save after each question and once you're done.
7. Tap Done to publish your form to your Linktree.
   

Linktree allows you to grow an audience that you can continue to reach beyond a single platform or algorithm:

• Organize and target with ease: Manage your audience in a CRM that allows you to group subscribers by interest, intent, or sign up sources.
• Sync responses directly to your email marketing tool: Sync contacts to Google Sheets on all plans, and sync contacts to Mailchimp, Kit, Klaviyo, and beehiiv.
• Update subscribers and drive traffic: Send notifications directly from Linktree to share your next big launch, announce your new campaign, and more.

Where to put your Linktree on YouTube

To start growing an audience you own, it’s important to make it simple for your YouTube viewers and existing subscribers to sign up. Adding your Linktree to your YouTube channel, video descriptions, and pinned comments helps you to turn a rented audience into an owned one.

Here’s how:

• Channel links (YouTube Studio): Add your Linktree to your channel's "Links" section in YouTube Studio, under Customization > Basic info. It's a one-time setup, and it's visible on every visit to your channel page, not just on individual videos.
• First line of the video description: Put your Linktree in the first line of every video description, before the "Show more" cutoff. Most viewers never expand a description, so anything below the fold is likely to get missed.
• Pinned comment: Pin a comment with your Linktree at the top of the comments section on each video. It sits right where people are already engaging, which makes it most likely to gain attention, and clicks.

Linktree allows you to share everything from one link in bio and build a direct relationship with your audience that isn’t controlled by any single platform. Plus, you can track your subscriber growth within Linktree’s analytics and see subscriber growth and trends.

YouTube subscriber list vs a mailing list built with Linktree

Reach your audience on YouTube and beyond

Your YouTube subscriber count belongs to YouTube. It's a number the platform holds and shows you on its own terms. The only subscriber list that's actually yours is the one you build yourself, using a sign-up form linked from your channel, your video descriptions, and your pinned comments. Start collecting your own list on Linktree, and turn a rented audience into one you can reach anywhere.