How to Enable YouTube Mid-Roll Ads in 2026: Step-by-Step Guide

Before you can enable mid-roll ads, confirm two things: (1) Your channel is enrolled in the YouTube Partner Program — this requires 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. (2) Your video is 8 minutes or longer. Both must be true. If your channel is not yet in YPP, mid-roll options will not appear regardless of video length. If your video is under 8 minutes, mid-roll options will not appear regardless of YPP status.

Go to YouTube Studio (studio.youtube.com). Click 'Content' in the left sidebar. Find the video you want to monetize and click its title or the pencil edit icon. In the left sidebar of the video editor, click 'Monetization.' Under 'Ad formats,' you will see checkboxes for 'Before video,' 'During video,' and 'After video.' Check 'During video' to enable mid-roll ads. Choose 'Automatic' to let YouTube place breaks, or 'Manual' to set break points yourself. Click 'Save' in the top right. Changes apply within a few minutes.

Automatic placement: YouTube analyzes your video and places ad breaks at points where it predicts viewer retention will remain highest. This is the easiest option and often performs well. Manual placement: You watch your own video and place a break marker at each spot you want an ad. This gives you control to avoid breaks mid-sentence or during tense moments. For most creators, start with automatic placement and switch to manual if you feel ads are landing at disruptive points. For videos between 8-12 minutes, YouTube typically places 1-2 mid-rolls automatically.

When uploading a new video, the Monetization step appears in the upload flow. Click 'Monetization' in the left sidebar during upload. Select your ad formats — check 'During video' for mid-rolls. If your video is under 8 minutes, 'During video' will be greyed out. Once you choose automatic or manual placement, click 'Next' to continue uploading. YouTube processes mid-roll placement in the background after the video finishes uploading. Mid-rolls are live as soon as the video is published and processing is complete.