YouTube Watch Hours Calculator
Track your progress toward the YouTube Partner Program's 4,000 watch hours and 1,000 subscribers. Enter your upload pace to see your projected monetization date.
YPP Progress
Where You Are Now
Your Upload Pace
Find average views in YouTube Studio → Analytics → Content tab.
Projection
Subscribers are your bottleneck — you'll hit 4,000 hours first. Add a subscribe CTA at the end of every video.
Try free →See which videos earn the most watch time in your niche, find high-retention topics, and track your YPP progress — vidIQ shows you exactly what to make next.
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How the calculation works
Weekly watch hours = videos per week × average views × average video length. This gives your weekly earning rate. The calculator then divides hours remaining by that rate to project how many weeks until you hit 4,000.
Both requirements must be met simultaneously: 4,000 public watch hours in the last rolling 12 months and 1,000 subscribers. The bottleneck indicator shows which one you'll hit last — that's the one to focus on.
Find your watch hours in YouTube Studio → Analytics → Overview tab → Watch time. Find average views per video under Content tab, sorted by recent uploads.
Frequently asked questions
Do watch hours expire?
Yes — YouTube counts watch hours in a rolling 12-month window. Hours older than 12 months drop off. If you've been inactive, your count may have decreased from its peak.
Do YouTube Shorts count toward watch hours?
No. As of 2023, YouTube Shorts views do not count toward the 4,000 watch hour requirement. Shorts have a separate monetization path: 1,000 subscribers + 10 million Shorts views in 90 days.
Does rewatching my own videos count?
No. YouTube filters out views from the channel owner. Only watch time from external viewers counts toward the YPP requirement.
What happens after I apply for YPP?
YouTube manually reviews your channel for compliance with their policies. Review typically takes 1–4 weeks. You'll receive an email decision. If rejected, you can reapply after 30 days.
Is there a revenue minimum to stay in YPP?
Yes — you need to maintain 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the past 90 days, and either 3,000 watch hours or 3 million Shorts views to stay in the lower-tier YPP. Full ad monetization requires the 4,000 hours / 1,000 subs threshold.