To reclaim an old YouTube account/channel...

If you discovered that you had set up an old YouTube account/channel that has the handle/username you now want, here's what to do:

If you think you created your account before May of 2009 and haven't signed in since 2011, then here are the instructions.

Otherwise, try these steps...

1. If you already have videos on that old channel, try commenting on one of the old videos, because it might send an email to that old account and you might then remember which email address you used.

If there are no videos, or you don't get an email, then do this -- first sign out of youtube, then try to sign in again using that old account's credentials... using any combination of username/password that you can remember.

2. If that doesn't work, try https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery 

3. You can try contacting the YouTube team but you better sign into whatever YouTube account where you've uploaded the most videos. They don't allow any Youtuber to contact them, but you can try this link -- if you're allowed, you'll see a contact form. Otherwise you'll just see a bunch of help articles.  You can also try posting your question to the YouTube expert community and you might get some better answers. Don't share any private details if you make a post.

If you have other tips, or were able to successfully recover an old YouTube account, definitely comment below! Thank you.