YouTube has made it easier for creators to personalize their handles by adding support for 75 languages, including English. Since international characters were introduced in June, over 19 million creators have taken advantage of this feature. This update helps creators better express their identities and brands in their native languages.

By offering more languages, YouTube allows creators to choose handles that feel more personal and authentic. When YouTube first launched handles in November 2022, it supported only a limited set of characters. After feedback from creators, YouTube expanded the options to include 74 additional languages, giving creators more freedom to reflect their unique identities.

Expanding the language options wasn’t without challenges. Some of the issues included:

• Abuse: International characters could be misused, so YouTube restricted handles to Latin alphabet letters and numbers.
• Typing: Certain languages require specific keyboards, so YouTube introduced a copy-and-paste feature to make it easier for creators.
• URL confusion: Handles with international characters could cause confusion when shared, so YouTube limited the mixing of different scripts (e.g., Latin and Cyrillic).
  Working with Google

YouTube worked closely with Google’s Internationalization team to create rules that make handles easy to use. These rules include:

• Limiting characters to those with clear linguistic meaning.
• Setting character limits based on the language.
• Adjusting the “@” sign for languages that read from right to left.

This update allows YouTube creators to represent themselves more accurately, making the platform more inclusive.