Your exact subscriber count is in YouTube Studio. Open studio.youtube.com or the Studio app, and the number is right there on your Dashboard. Always accurate. Updates within minutes.
Can you see who subscribed? Only partially. YouTube shows subscribers who keep their subscriptions public. Most people keep theirs private, so your visible list is typically a fraction of your total.
The more useful question: which videos earn subscriptions? YouTube Studio answers that in the Audience tab. That data is worth studying. Names are not.
The privacy rule
Subscribers choose public or private. You only see the public ones. If your list shows 200 names but you have 10,000 subscribers, it is working as designed.
Check Your Count
YouTube Studio shows your exact subscriber count on the Dashboard. The path is slightly different on desktop vs mobile.
Desktop
Click Analytics then Audience for historical data.
Mobile
Tap Analytics for trends. Same data, smaller screen.
Rounding vs Exact
Your public channel page rounds the count once you pass 1,000 subscribers. Studio always shows the exact number.
See Who Subscribed
To find your subscriber list, follow this path in YouTube Studio:
You will see channel names, profile pictures, and subscriber counts of people who subscribed with public settings. Private subscribers count toward your total but remain invisible.
No workaround exists. Private subscriptions are a privacy feature, not a bug. If 9,800 of your 10,000 subscribers are private, that is normal.
Even with limited visibility, the list can be useful. Spotting fellow creators in your niche or noticing when a larger channel subscribes gives you context about who resonates with your content.
What to Look at Instead
Knowing who subscribed matters less than knowing what content earns subscriptions. The Audience tab shows which videos gained (and lost) subscribers. That data is actionable.
Signals Worth Tracking
Subscribers per video
Identifies your highest-converting content
Do this: Double down on topics that convert
Subscribed vs not subscribed
Shows how much of your audience has already committed
Do this: Tailor content for new vs returning viewers
Unsubscribe spikes
May signal audience mismatch or off-topic content
Do this: Review videos that triggered unsubscribes
Subscriber sources
Reveals where your best viewers discover you
Do this: Invest in traffic sources that convert
Pattern recognition
If your tutorials consistently earn more subscribers than your vlogs, that is useful information. You do not need to see a single name to act on it.
Real-Time Counts
YouTube Studio is your source of truth. It updates within minutes and reflects the most accurate number available. If you are watching a milestone approach, Studio is where to look.
Third-party tools like Social Blade display counts and historical trends, which can be useful for comparing channels or viewing long-term curves. They pull from YouTube's public API, which may lag slightly behind Studio. For your own channel, trust Studio first.
For more on tracking tools, see our guide to YouTube analytics tools.
Common Questions
Why can't I see everyone who subscribed?
YouTube allows subscribers to keep their subscriptions private, and most do. Your total includes both public and private. There is no setting you can change to see private subscribers.
Does YouTube notify me when someone subscribes?
Not reliably. You may see occasional notifications, especially for larger channels, but YouTube does not guarantee alerts for every subscriber. Check Studio instead.
Do not chase the list of names. Chase the videos that earn subscriptions. The subscriber list is incomplete by design. What you can see clearly is which content converts viewers into subscribers.
Ready to put this into practice? Learn how to get more subscribers or see what converts in your niche.