YouTube Memberships tab missing in Studio Earn? See the eligibility requirements YouTube's pages list, how to check each one and what paused mode means.
YouTube's page says the Memberships tab, found in YouTube Studio under Earn on a computer, only appears if your channel is eligible. Check Partner Program status, age, location, the subscriber and upload figures, the Commerce Product Module and the made for kids setting. YouTube decides eligibility.
SummaryYou are in the YouTube Partner Program. You open YouTube Studio, click Earn, and look for Memberships. The tab is not there. It is easy to think something broke, or that your channel was quietly punished. YouTube's own pages describe a simpler first explanation: the tab is shown only to channels that meet the requirements.
This guide follows YouTube Help pages on getting started with channel memberships, on turning memberships on or off, and on how to earn money on YouTube. It lists the requirements, shows where each one comes from, and explains the case where memberships were switched on and then paused. Official steps come first, and YouTube decides. We cannot promise a result. A wrong step can cost you your levels and members, so know what you are doing before you start.
Last checked: 28 October 2026. YouTube changes Partner Program terms and thresholds from time to time, so every figure below is what the page currently says.
YouTube's page Turn on or turn off channel memberships says to use a computer, sign in to YouTube Studio, click Earn in the left menu and click the Memberships tab, and then states: "This tab will only surface if your channel is eligible." So the first job is not to hunt for a setting. It is to check the requirements below, one at a time, against your own channel.
The page How to earn money on YouTube has a table of minimum requirements to turn on monetization features. Under Channel memberships it currently lists the following. The page also says each feature has its own requirements and that some features may not be available due to local legal requirements.
| Requirement | What the page currently says | How you can check it |
|---|---|---|
| Partner Program status | The table applies once you have been accepted in the YouTube Partner Program | Look at the Earn area of YouTube Studio |
| Subscribers | 500 subscribers | Your channel subscriber count |
| Public uploads | 3 public uploads in the last 90 days | Your own list of public videos |
| Watch time or Shorts views | Either 3,000 qualified watch hours on long form videos in the last 365 days, or 3 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days | The page does not say where in Studio to see this |
| Age | At least 18 years old | The date of birth on your Google Account |
| Location | Live in a country where channel memberships is available | The location list on the Get started page |
| Commerce Product Module | Have accepted the Commerce Product Module or the formerly available Commerce Product Addendum | The Agreements area of Studio, as the turn on page describes for networks |
| Made for kids | Channel is not set as Made for Kids and does not have a significant number of videos set as made for kids or ineligible | Your channel and video audience settings |
| Music channels | Not a music channel under SRAV | The Get started page notes music channels under SRAV contract are not eligible right now |
The last column is partly our own suggestion about where to look. The pages themselves only say where the tab and the agreements sit, so confirm against your own Studio. The YouTube Partner Program overview & eligibility page also says qualified watch hours count long form videos you set public, and that watch hours from private, unlisted or deleted videos, ad campaigns and Shorts do not count.
Location is the first. The page Get started with channel memberships on YouTube says memberships are currently available to eligible creators in a list of locations, and that list currently includes Malaysia. It says you must live in one of those locations. It does not tell you what to do if your Google Account is set to a different country, and this guide does not either. Do not try to change your country to make a tab appear. It is not a step in any of these pages.
The second is the made for kids setting. The same page says your channel must not be set as made for kids and must not have a significant number of videos set as made for kids, and that videos set as made for kids, or videos with music claims, count as ineligible. It does not define a significant number, so we cannot. If a video is set that way by mistake, see our guide on setting made for kids and appealing.
The turn on page carries a note that the channel membership feature may not be activated immediately once a channel is accepted into the YouTube Partner Program, because the channel is subject to review against the eligibility criteria. It says the process can take up to 2 days. That is the page's current wording. It does not say what to do after 2 days other than to check the requirements, so we would not guess.
The Get started page explains a different situation, in which memberships exist but are paused. It says memberships enter paused mode if any of these apply.
In paused mode, the page says members lose access to perks such as badges, emoji and members-only posts, member payments pause, and the Join button disappears from your channel. To exit, it says you must fix the issue that caused it, and then on a computer you go to the memberships page of your monetization settings in YouTube Studio and click Turn on in the channel memberships box. It says you can only turn memberships on if you agree to and comply with the terms and policies, including the Commerce Product Module.
The page also gives time limits for members. It says members who joined on YouTube.com are automatically cancelled if 120 days pass with your channel still in paused mode, and that if your channel does not exit paused mode within 120 days, the memberships program ends and you lose all your members. Read that section on the live page, because the details differ by how a member joined.
The turn on or off page warns that if you turn off channel memberships, your levels, members and perks will not be saved, and all recurring monthly member payments will be cancelled. It says that if you turn memberships on again, viewers must voluntarily join again. So switching it off and on is not a safe test. If the tab is missing, there is nothing to switch off. If it is present and you are unsure, leave it alone until you have read the live page.
A notice at the top of the Help page currently says that starting 1 February 2027 YouTube is introducing updates to the Partner Program, and that to continue fully monetizing your content, you should review and accept the updated terms in YouTube Studio by 31 January 2027. The pages we read do not say how this affects the Memberships tab, so we cannot say. Check the Earn area for any prompt, as the notice describes.
Some creators work through the checklist alone, and the official steps come first. The risks are plain. Turning memberships off costs you your levels and members, by the page's own warning. Changing a country setting or buying views to hit a threshold can break platform rules and put your account at risk. A made for kids setting changed in a hurry can put memberships into paused mode, as the Get started page says. And anyone who offers to add a tab for payment is offering something YouTube's pages do not describe.
If the checklist leaves you stuck, your income depends on the channel, or you are not sure which requirement you are missing, handing the case to an experienced team such as AwareXone is the safer choice. We can help you go through the pages in order, and word any request calmly. See our YouTube channel help page, and use the Apply for Case Review button at the end of this guide.
A review helps when several requirements look met but the tab is still missing, when the channel recently changed owner, network or country, or when you also see a monetization notice. AwareXone is a service serving clients worldwide, independent of YouTube, that helps you use the official routes. We never ask for your password or any code, and we do not promise a result. See how we work on our trust page. If you were turned down for the Partner Program itself, see YouTube Partner Program application rejected.
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