How to translate a whole YouTube channel, not just one video
What a channel can and cannot translate, why the back catalog beats new uploads, and how to size a package for 50, 200 or 500 videos, formula included.
Part of the guide: YouTube localization: the complete guide
Translating a whole YouTube channel means going through every video and writing translations for its title, description and subtitles. There is no single «translate channel» button on YouTube: localization lives at the video level. But a back catalog has one property that makes bulk translation the most cost-effective operation on a channel: the videos are already shot and cost nothing more to make.
What a channel can translate, and what it cannot
| Element | Translatable? |
|---|---|
| Each video's title and description | Yes, the video's localization fields |
| Each video's subtitles | Yes, as separate tracks |
| The channel name itself | No: YouTube offers no language versions |
| Tags | No: one set per video |
| Thumbnails | No: one image, changed by hand |
| Playlists and the channel description | We do not translate these: we work at the video level |
About the channel description, honestly: YouTube does have localization for it, but YouClicker works with videos, not the channel card. If that matters to you, tell support: we count demand for the feature.
Why the back catalog beats new uploads
A new video fights for attention in its first days, and translation gives it a chance at the start. But an old video has what a new one does not: an accumulated view history and search positions in the original language. Translating the title opens that same history to viewers of other languages, and the visible lift most often comes from the archive, not from the newest upload.
The practical consequence: if points do not cover everything, start with the twenty most-viewed videos of the archive rather than the latest one.
How it goes, step by step
- Connect the channel: sign in with Google, the password is entered on Google's page.
- Pick the videos. The whole list works, and so does the top of it by views.
- Mark the languages: one set applies to every selected video.
- Run it. One video into a hundred languages takes about two minutes; the archive queue runs on its own, no need to keep the app on screen.
Everything written appears in YouTube Studio, under each video's Subtitles tab, and can be edited there by hand. Running the same video again overwrites the earlier translations.
Sizing a package for a channel
The formula is simple: the number of videos times the number of languages, and the same amount again if you want subtitles. One language of title and description costs 1 point; subtitles in that language cost 1 more.
| Channel | 20 languages, with subtitles | Package |
|---|---|---|
| 50 videos | 2,000 points | Basic, €15, with room to spare |
| 200 videos | 8,000 points | Medium, €40 |
| 500 videos | 20,000 points | Maximum, €80 |
Points are one-time purchases and do not expire: you can translate the archive in one pass and spend the remainder on new videos. Current packages are listed in the pricing section, and how many languages to take in the first round is the subject of how many languages to translate into.
What to expect, and what not to
A translated archive starts appearing to viewers of other languages inside YouTube: in the platform's search and in its recommendations. How fast the effect shows depends on the topic: demand for it abroad either exists or it does not, and translation does not create it. Nobody guarantees views, and neither do we.
If the channel has no on-camera speech, you can start without subtitles entirely: titles and descriptions are enough, and the cost halves. What video translation consists of and in what order to do it is covered in the three jobs of video translation.