DropYourFiles

Blog · October 28, 2026

How to share a video privately with a client.

“Can you put it on YouTube as private so I can show the team?” Then the team can’t open it.

The link your client needs works without signing in, and you can lock it, time it out or close it for one person. YouTube’s closest setting is Unlisted, and anyone with the link can watch it and pass it on. A client link adds a password, an expiry date, a separate link for each person, and downloads that wait for approval.

By Vitaly Kibenko

What YouTube’s settings do.

  • Unlisted

    Anyone with the link can watch and reshare it, and they don’t need a Google Account. It doesn’t show on your channel or in search.

  • Private

    It’s seen by you and the people you add by email, and its link won’t open for anyone you haven’t added. That works for a few named people. It’s awkward for a client whose team you’ve never met.

  • Public

    Anyone on YouTube can see it. Not for a cut that isn’t approved.

YouTube is built for publishing, so none of the three holds a note on a second, an approval, or the master to download afterward.

A mother reading a bedtime story to her child, under the line “and read the bedtime story.” A client’s message, “It says access denied?”, is struck through, and under it: “No sign-in. They just open it.”
A private link your client opens in any browser. There is nothing to sign in to.

A client link you can lock.

  1. Password

    Set one under Your link in the project’s Settings, and send it separately from the link.

  2. Link expires

    Never, or 7, 14, 30 or 90 days from now. The link closes; the project stays.

  3. A link for each person

    Under Who has it, Give someone their own link. Each has its own count of opens, and you can close one without touching the rest.

  4. No download until approval

    Your client and their team watch a copy with Review copy across it. The film itself downloads after Approve.

Nobody makes an account. They open the link, watch, and type a name with their first note. There’s more on the lock itself in how to share a password protected video with a client.

See who watched.

Client links shows every link you’ve sent with its opens and downloads, so you know whether the team saw the cut before the meeting about it.

Questions.

Can private videos be viewed with a link?

On YouTube, a private video’s link works for the people you added by email and for no one you didn’t add. Unlisted is the setting that works for anyone with the link.

Is an unlisted YouTube video safe for client work?

It’s hidden from search, but anyone with the link can watch it and pass it on, and there’s no way to close it for one person.

Does my client need an account to watch a private link?

No. On DropYourFiles they open the link in a browser and type a name when they leave their first note.

Keep reading.

New here? See what DropYourFiles does, or compare the plans.

Sources

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