YouTube Watch Time Calculator
Work out the views needed to close a watch-hour gap, or the hours some views will add.
Check YouTube Help for the current requirement.
From Studio, Analytics, Engagement.
Shows the views needed each day.
Enter your watch hours so far to see the gap.
Good to know
- Watch hours are views × average view duration ÷ 60. The average view duration is how long viewers watch on average, not the length of the video. Studio shows it for each video, under Analytics, Engagement.
- The target is a box you can edit, because YouTube sets the watch-hour requirement and can change it. 4,000 hours over 12 months is the value YouTube has published for ad revenue sharing at the time of writing. Check YouTube Help.
- Videos differ in average view duration, so use the figure for the kind of video you expect to make, or your channel average.
- Only public watch time counts toward the requirement, and it is counted over a rolling 12 months.
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Estimate ad income from views and your RPM, or work out the views a money goal needs. No built-in rates.
About the Watch Time Calculator
?What the watch time calculator does
It connects views and watch hours. It shows how many views you need to close a watch-hour gap at a given average view duration, and how many hours a number of views will add.
The sum is hours = views × average view duration ÷ 60. The hours target is a box you can edit, because YouTube sets the requirement and can change it. Everything runs in your browser.
→How to work out the views for your watch hours in 4 steps
Enter your watch hours
Your public watch hours from Studio, and the number you are aiming for.
Enter the average view duration
From Studio, Analytics, Engagement. Type it as 4:30 or as minutes.
Add a deadline
Optional. Enter a number of days to see the views needed each day.
Or switch the mode
Choose “Hours some views will add” to see what a number of views is worth.
✓What is in the tool
Views for the gap
How many views close the hours you are missing.
Views per day
The daily views needed to meet a deadline.
Hours from views
What a number of views adds in watch hours.
Progress bar
How far your hours are toward the target.
Editable target
Change it if YouTube changes the requirement.
Private
Nothing you type leaves your browser.
★Examples
Views for the gap
2,350 hours now, a target of 4,000 and an average view duration of 4:30.
Example:
1,650 hours × 60 ÷ 4.5 = 22,000 views.
A deadline
The same gap in 90 days.
Example:
22,000 ÷ 90 = about 245 views a day.
Hours from views
20,000 views at 4:30.
Example:
20,000 × 4.5 ÷ 60 = 1,500 watch hours.
♥Limits to know about
Average duration varies
Different videos hold viewers for different lengths of time.
Public watch time only
Only public watch time counts, over a rolling 12 months.
Not a forecast
It shows what the numbers imply, not what will happen.