How to Add the End Screen Element to YouTube Videos

Adding an end screen element to YouTube is relatively easy. For the most part, it’s drag-and-drop while deciding what kind of element to use. Today, let’s take a look at adding them to your videos.

What you decided to use, however, is completely up to you and what your audience will want to see.

What is the YouTube End Screen Function?

The end screen is the last bit of your YouTube video, also known as the “outro.”

When uploading a YouTube video, you have the option to add End Screen Elements. This is where you can share videos and playlists from anywhere on YouTube to entice viewers to click and watch.

As your channel grows, you’ll also have the option to include links to external sources, such as if you had a blog or perhaps a social profile page you want to share.

The idea for most YouTubers, though, is to share videos you think the viewer will want to watch next. The more people binge-watch your content, the more often your videos are shown in the “Suggested” column or on viewers’ home pages.

The End Screen function is for the last portion of the video. This means you can’t add these elements anywhere at the beginning or middle. In fact, you’re restricted to the last 20 seconds of your video. And, the shortest amount of time the end screen element can show is five seconds.

How to Add Elements to the YouTube End Screen

To add an End Screen element, click on the End Screen option when uploading a video.

NOTE: You can also change the end screen at any time within the video’s details once it has been uploaded and published.

YouTube should automatically place you at the end of the video. If not, use the video marker to move toward the end.

Using the marker, find exactly where you want the screen elements to appear. If you have an end screen template within your video, find where it starts on the timer.

Adding a New Element

From here, you have three options. You can add a new element to start where your marker is placed in the video. Or, you can import from a previous video.

Another option is to use one of the pre-set layouts from YouTube that are available on the left of your video preview window.

Let’s start with adding a brand new element.

Adding a Playlist Element

Click the “+ Element” option on the top left.

Choose the type of element you want to add. For this example, I’m going to add a playlist.

You’ll see a screen displaying all of the playlists you have created on your YouTube channel. Or, you can search for a playlist on YouTube.

Click the playlist you want to add.

You’ll see the default element timer will stretch to its maximum of 20 seconds.

Hover your mouse over the far left side of the element until your cursor turns into a left and right arrow. Hold down your mouse click and drag the beginning of the element to the slider where you want the element to show.

The video will snap into place as you near the slider.

Now, we have to move the playlist element over to its blank spot on the End Screen template in the YouTube video.

Hover your mouse over the element itself on your video preview screen. Hold down the mouse and drag the element to where you want it placed.

Adding a Video Element

YouTube also lets you add a video as an End Screen element. It works a bit differently than the playlist option.

Simply click the “+ Element” option on the top left and click on Video.

You’ll see the video element will max out at 20 seconds by default. Grab the beginning of the video element and drag it to the slider.

Just like the playlist element, the video will snap into place once you near the slider.

Now, let’s move the video element to where we want it on the screen. Grab the video element and drag it to the appropriate location.

NOTE: You cannot place YouTube End Screen elements too close to one another. You’ll see a red message on the element’s screen informing you if you’re too close to another element in the preview window.

In the video element, you have three available options. You can show the most recent video you’ve uploaded, the best video for viewers, or choose a specific video you want to show.

This is completely up to what you want to show people when they get to the end of your video. However, a lot of people try to keep the videos relevant to one another in the hopes of enticing viewers to keep watching.

If you don’t know what video to show, perhaps the best option is to select “Best for viewer.” This lets YouTube decide which video you have on your channel that is better suited for the specific person watching your content.

Click the radio button corresponding to the type of video you wish to show.

Adding a Subscribe Element

The Subscribe element is your channel’s logo with the option to subscribe to the channel if someone hovers over it or taps it from a mobile device.

To add the Subscribe element, select it from the “+ Elements” list from the top left.

Grab the image of your channel’s logo and drag it to the appropriate location.

Grab the start of the Subscribe element and drag it to the video slider.

As with all elements of the YouTube end screen, it will snap into place as you near the video slider.

Adding a Channel Element

The “Channel” element works just like the Subscribe element above. The only difference is that you’re sharing a channel other than your own. Using the search field, you can look up specific channels on YouTube to add to your end screen.

You would do this if you have other channels viewers might be interested in seeing or if you’re collaborating with another YouTuber to share his or her channel with your audience.

In a nutshell, the “Channel” end-screen element is used to promote other channels on YouTube.

Adding a Link

Adding a link works similarly to the above only that you can send viewers to an external website, such as a blog or perhaps an eCommerce site.

However, you need to be a part of the YouTube Partner Program in order to use the Link element. This means you’ll need 1,000 subscribers and have 4,000 hours of watch time within 12 months.

Importing End Screen Elements from Videos

What if you have a template you’ve already been using or want to use end screens similar to a video you already have published? Instead of using the “+ Element” option, you can click, “Import from Video.”

On this next screen, you click the video on your channel of the end screen elements you want to use.

Or, you can click on the option to “Import from latest video.”

From here, you can simply edit the elements to change the video types, playlists, positions, or even the length of time when they show. All you need to do is click on the element from the video preview screen on the right and then make your adjustments on the left.

The benefit of using the import option is that it saves you a lot of time from having to move, resize, or adjust common end-screen elements you’ll use most often.

This is especially useful for those who use end-screen templates within their videos, such as the example in the images above.

Once you’re done making adjustments to your End Screen on YouTube, click the “Save” button on the top right of the screen.

Free YouTube End Screen Templates

If you don’t have the money to have an end screen template created, there are several places online where you can download them for free.

These are royalty-free videos and images you can use at the end of your own YouTube video. The only drawback is that they won’t be as unique as they would be if you had one professionally created.

Still, when you don’t have a lot of money, there’s nothing wrong with using a free template. All you have to do is download the template you want and add it to the end of your video within your favorite editing software.

Canva

Canva is one of my favorite online graphic websites. It has templates available for just about everything on the Internet. In this case, you can search for “youtube video outro.”

There are a lot of different outros you can choose from both free and paid. Just click the template you want to use and begin customizing.

With Canva’s easy-to-use tools, you can do quite a bit for turning a stock video or image template into something a bit more unique. This includes adding your social links, different video backgrounds, and other graphic elements to the outro.

In reality, Canva probably has one of the largest collections of free templates for video outros and end screens on the Internet. And if you pay for the premium service, the number of available templates increases exponentially.

Pixabay

Pixabay is a popular royalty-free stock photo site that also has a small collection of end-screen videos you can add to YouTube. For the most part, they appear somewhat generic, but many of them still look nice.

There are even a few videos that incorporate a greenscreen background so you can add them easily within the video. This includes animated subscribe buttons.

It is important to note that these also appear in Canva’s database as it pulls from Pixabay. That means you can use Canva’s editor to make a few adjustments to the video itself.

Snappa

Snappa is another online graphic design tool that is easy to use. It has templates for a wide range of platforms including designing the end screen for YouTube videos.

You have access to a wide range of backgrounds, effects, text, graphics, and shapes to fine-tune the layout you want for your content.

One of the best features of using Snappa for outros is the “YouTube safe zone.” This addition shows you where you can place end screen elements safely in the outro. That’s because YouTube prevents elements from appearing too high or too low on the end screen.

Toggling the safe zone on lets you plan accordingly when creating a template for your videos.

The drawback is that I can’t seem to find free video templates for Snappa. If you’re aware of how to access these, feel free to leave a comment.

How Often Do You Use End Screen Elements?

End screen elements for YouTube can provide a bit of engagement from viewers. It all really depends on whether your audience is invested in the videos you create.

In any case, the elements at the end of your video give the viewer options for what to watch next. While some creators don’t use them, others do. It all depends on what you create and what your target audience expects at the end.

It’ll take a bit of trial and error to see if end screen elements work for your YouTube videos. Keep track of the adjustments you make to videos to figure out what works best for your content.