How to Pin a Comment on YouTube (2026): Steps and What to Pin

Every video on your channel has one comment slot that sits above all the others, and only you can fill it. This guide shows how to pin a comment on YouTube from a computer, your phone or YouTube Studio, and what that comment should say.

In this guide:

How to pin a comment on YouTube on a computer
How to pin a comment on your phone, including Shorts
How to pin a comment in YouTube Studio
Why you can't pin a comment, and the fix
How to pin a message in live chat
What your pinned comment should say
Whether to pin your own comment or a fan's

Creator at her desk pinning a comment under her new YouTube video on a laptop, a camera and ring light behind her

How to pin a comment on YouTube on a computer

Pinning a comment on YouTube from a computer takes four steps on the video's watch page. YouTube Help lists them:

Sign in to YouTube with your channel account.
Open your video and scroll to the comments below it.
Find the comment you want to pin, click More (the three dots) and choose Pin.
Click Pin again to confirm.

The comment moves to the top of the comment section. On a computer, viewers see it with a "Pinned by" icon and your channel name. You can pin your own comment or a fan's.

Each video holds one pinned comment. YouTube Help says that if you have already pinned a comment, the new one "will replace it." You can unpin at any time, and the comment moves back to its original position.

Young man at a home office desk pinning a comment on his video from a laptop, calm and focused with a mug beside him

How to pin a comment on YouTube on your phone

Pinning a comment on your phone works the same way in the YouTube app:

Open the YouTube app, signed in to your channel.
Open your video and tap the comments to expand them.
Tap More (the three dots) next to the comment you want.
Tap Pin, then confirm.

The same menu works in a YouTube Short's comments. Phone viewers only see your pick after they open the comments, since YouTube Help notes that "on mobile, viewers must expand the comment section to view the pinned comment."

A pinned comment may not appear in the small comment preview under a video. Once a viewer taps to see every comment, though, YouTube Help says pinned comments "will continue to show up as the first comment."

Woman on a park bench pinning a comment on her latest video from her phone, smiling as she taps through the comments

How to pin a comment in YouTube Studio

YouTube Studio lets you pin comments without opening the watch page, one video at a time. YouTube Help describes the flow:

Sign in to YouTube Studio and select Community from the left menu.
Stay on the Published tab, which shows "comments that everyone can see."
Switch to the comments for one video.
Next to the comment, select More, then Pin.

The Pin option "only appears when viewing comments for an individual video." If you are looking at comments from your whole channel at once, you will not see it. In the YouTube Studio app, tap Community in the bottom menu, open one video's comments, tap the comment, then tap More and Pin.

To unpin later, select More, then Unpin.

Creator in a cozy filming room reviewing one video's comments on a large monitor, chin in hand, choosing which to pin

Why you can't pin a comment on YouTube

If the Pin option is missing, your channel most likely lacks access to advanced features. YouTube Help says "advanced features include, for example, pinned comments and higher daily upload limits." The pinning article agrees: "To pin comments, you must allow access to advanced features on your channel."

These are the five common causes, with the fix for each:

No advanced features yet. You need phone verification plus one more step: enough channel history, a valid ID or a short video verification. To check, open YouTube Studio and go to Settings, then Channel, then Feature eligibility. ID and video reviews usually take about 24 hours, and YouTube says ID and video verification "isn't available to all creators."
The feature is still switching on. Advanced features "may take up to 24 hours after they're turned on to show up across your channel." Wait a day, then try again.
The video is made for kids. YouTube turns off comments on content set as made for kids to comply with COPPA, so there is nothing to pin.
You are viewing every comment in Studio. Open a single video's comments, and the Pin option appears.
Your eligibility lapsed. YouTube Help says creators can lose advanced features "by not complying with Community Guidelines and not maintaining a positive channel history."

Pinning also belongs to the channel that owns the video. A viewer cannot pin comments under someone else's upload.

Young creator at his desk at night waiting on a phone verification code, his laptop open beside him

If you can pin, your links already work

YouTube Help says clickable external links in long-form video comments also need advanced features. So once you can pin a comment, the link inside it is clickable on your regular videos. Shorts are the exception, covered below.

How to pin a message in YouTube live chat

YouTube live chat has its own pin, separate from video comments. YouTube Help gives these steps for a live stream or a Premiere:

Go to the chat window while you are live or your Premiere is running.
Find a message, even your own, and select More.
Select Pin.

You can pin one message at a time, and a new pin replaces the old one. Pinned messages show below Super Chat. YouTube Help is clear about who can pin: "Only you, not your moderators or viewers, can pin messages."

Smiling creator live streaming from her bedroom studio, pointing at the chat on a second screen to pin a fan's message

What should your pinned comment say?

Your pinned comment should hold the one action you most want every viewer to take next. For most creators, that is a way to hear about the next upload that does not depend on YouTube's bell.

The bell no longer reaches every subscriber. YouTube Help says subscribers who chose All but "haven't watched or engaged with the channel in a while" will "only receive notifications for that channel inside the app." YouTube also caps alerts at three per channel in 24 hours, and our guide to the 2026 bell change for creators covers the full impact.

An email list fills that gap. beehiiv's State of Newsletters 2026 reports newsletter open rates "hitting 41%+." A fan who signs up from your pinned comment gets an email alert when you upload, whatever the algorithm does that week.

Man on his sofa in the evening smiling at his phone as an email about a new upload from his favorite creator arrives

Sublark gives your channel a free signup page at sublark.com/your-channel, and fans get an email usually within the hour of each upload. When you set up, your Sublark dashboard checklist includes a "Pin a comment" step with a ready-to-paste line and your link.

A simple version reads: "Never miss when I upload. Join my email list: sublark.com/your-channel." Open a channel page such as Mark Rober's to see what a fan sees after clicking.

On a Short, that link will not click, because YouTube makes URLs in Shorts comments non-clickable. Pin a line that points to your channel page instead, such as "Get my uploads by email: link on my channel page." Then put your Sublark link first in your channel links, using our guide to adding links to your YouTube channel.

Turn your pinned comment into an email list

Claim your channel on Sublark, copy the ready-made pinned comment from your dashboard, and paste it under your next video. Fans get an email usually within the hour of every upload.

Claim your channel

Should you pin your own comment or a fan's?

Pin your own comment on upload day, and consider a fan's comment later. Your own comment carries your link and your next step. A fan's comment adds social proof, and YouTube Help says a commenter "may get a notification that you responded" when you pin, heart or reply, depending on their settings.

If a fan later writes the best comment under a video, pin it to reward them and keep your signup link in the first line of the description. Our guide on how to announce a new video covers the rest of the upload-day plan.

Creator at a kitchen table laughing as she reads a fan's kind comment on her laptop, deciding to pin it to the top

The bottom line

Learning how to pin a comment on YouTube takes a minute: open the comment's More menu, choose Pin and confirm. If the option is missing, turn on advanced features first. The harder choice is what goes in that single slot.

Make it the line that brings fans back. Claim your channel, copy your link, and pin it under your next upload. For the full playbook, read the creator's guide to email and our walkthrough on building an email list from YouTube.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I pin a comment on YouTube?

Open your video on YouTube while signed in to your channel. Find the comment you want to highlight, which can be your own or a fan's. Select the three-dot More menu next to it, choose Pin, then confirm. The comment moves to the top of the comments with a "Pinned by" label and your channel name. In YouTube Studio, open Community and view the comments for one video, then select More and Pin. You need advanced features turned on first.

Why can't I pin a comment on YouTube?

The most common reason is that your channel does not have advanced features. YouTube Help lists pinned comments as an advanced feature, which needs phone verification plus channel history, ID verification or video verification. Check your status in YouTube Studio under Settings, Channel, Feature eligibility, and allow up to 24 hours for new features to show up. Comments are also off on videos set as made for kids. In YouTube Studio, the Pin option only appears when you view one video's comments.

Can you pin more than one comment on YouTube?

No. You can pin one comment per video. If you pin a new comment, it replaces the one that was already pinned, and an unpinned comment moves back to its original position. Live chat works the same way: you can pin one message at a time during a live stream or Premiere. To feature several things, write one comment of your own that covers them, with the most important line and link first.

Can you pin a comment on YouTube Shorts?

Yes. Open the Short's comments in the YouTube app, tap More next to the comment and choose Pin, the same as on a regular video. The catch is links. YouTube Help says URLs in Shorts comments and Shorts descriptions are not clickable, to reduce spam and scam attempts. So on a Short, pin a comment that sends viewers to your channel page, where your first channel link sits near the Subscribe button and stays clickable.

Does someone get notified when you pin their comment?

They may. YouTube Help says that if you heart, pin or reply to a comment, the commenter may get a notification that you responded, depending on their notification settings. That makes pinning a fan's comment a small public thank-you that they might see. On a computer, the pinned comment also shows a "Pinned by" label with your channel name, so everyone reading the comments can see that you chose it.

What should I put in my pinned comment?

Put the one thing you most want every viewer to do next. For most creators, that is a link that brings fans back for the next upload, such as an email signup for upload alerts. YouTube's bell no longer reaches every subscriber, because subscribers on All who have not watched a channel in a while only get alerts inside the app. An email lands in their inbox for every upload. Keep the comment short, with the link in the first line.

Make your pinned comment bring fans back

Claim your channel on Sublark. Fans who join from your pinned comment get an email usually within the hour of every upload, and you can see and export every one of them.