YouTube now lets every creator set 3 community guidelines. Here's how to use them.

On July 15, 2026, YouTube's custom Channel Guidelines feature went fully global: every creator, regardless of channel size, can now set up to three guidelines shown to viewers before they comment, post to the Community tab, or chat live. For a channel with no host to set the tone in person, this is worth setting up deliberately rather than leaving blank.

What the feature actually does

A creator picks up to three short statements in YouTube Studio, and they appear to viewers at the point of posting, across comments, live chat, and Community posts, rather than sitting in a settings page nobody checks. It sits alongside, not instead of, YouTube's own platform-wide Community Guidelines, which still apply to every channel regardless of what a creator sets. Think of it as house style layered on top of platform rules: it shapes tone before something needs formal enforcement.

Why this matters more without a face

A face-driven channel sets tone constantly just by existing on camera, tone of voice, visible reactions, a personality viewers calibrate against. A faceless channel has no equivalent built-in cue, which is exactly the gap our post on building community without a face covers: a comment section has to do more relationship-building work when there is no presenter to anchor it. Channel Guidelines are a direct, low-effort answer to part of that gap, stating explicitly what a face channel might otherwise convey implicitly.

Choosing three guidelines that matter

Three is a hard limit, which forces a useful discipline: pick the guidelines that would most change how the section actually feels if everyone followed them, not a generic wishlist. A history or true-crime channel might ask for sources on disputed claims. An explainer channel might ask viewers to hold spoiler-adjacent details until a certain point. Nearly every channel benefits from a plain civility guideline for disagreements, since that is where comment sections most often go wrong. Specific and enforceable beats broad and aspirational; "be nice" does less work than a rule a moderator could actually point to.

What it does not fix

Guidelines set expectations; they do not enforce them. A viewer who ignores the posted rules still needs the same moderation response a channel would use anyway, comment removal, blocking, or reporting through YouTube's existing tools. The value is upstream of enforcement: fewer violations happen in the first place when the expectation was stated plainly before someone typed, which is a cheaper fix than moderating after the fact.

Where Thothium fits

Thothium holds one consistent narrator voice and tone across every video, the same identity a set of channel guidelines should sound like they came from. A channel's written rules and its on-screen voice reading as the same source is part of what makes either one feel authored rather than templated. It is in free alpha, and the form below gets you a key.

Frequently asked questions

When did Channel Guidelines become available to everyone?

July 15, 2026. The feature had been in a limited test before that; the July rollout removed any restriction by channel size, location, or subscriber count, so every channel can set its three guidelines now.

Where do viewers actually see the guidelines?

Across comments, live chat, and Community posts, shown to viewers before they post or chat rather than buried in a settings page nobody visits. Display specifics vary slightly by device, but the intent is the same everywhere: set expectations at the moment someone is about to type, not after.

Does this replace YouTube's own Community Guidelines?

No. YouTube's platform-wide Community Guidelines still apply to everyone regardless of what a channel sets, and a channel's own three guidelines sit on top as a local layer, closer to a house style than a rulebook. YouTube still handles the enforcement that matters; the channel-level guidelines just shape tone before something needs enforcing.

What should a faceless channel actually put in its three guidelines?

Whatever the channel already wants from a good comment section, stated plainly: no spoilers before a certain point, sources welcome on disputed claims, keep it civil in disagreements, whatever fits the niche. Three is a hard limit, so pick the ones that would most change how the section actually feels if everyone followed them.

Last updated August 19, 2026. Sourced from YouTube's July 15, 2026 global rollout of Channel Guidelines. Exact display placement and Studio setup flow can change; check YouTube Studio directly for your channel's current options.