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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →MrBeast is YouTube’s most-subscribed channel, according to YouTube’s account of its record history; he reached 500 million subscribers on June 12, 2026. Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark” holds Guinness World Records’ record for most-viewed YouTube video, with 16,643,177,027 views as of February 4, 2026. These are different kinds of records: one counts channel subscribers, the other a video’s accumulated views.
Who has the most subscribers on YouTube?
MrBeast, the channel of creator Jimmy Donaldson, is the leader identified by YouTube. In a post dated June 12, 2026, YouTube said he had become the first individual creator to reach 500 million subscribers. The post also says his channel became YouTube’s most-subscribed channel in June 2024. The 500-million figure is a dated milestone, not a live count.
The distinction matters: “most-subscribed channel” ranks channels, while “first individual creator to reach 500 million” describes a milestone for a person’s channel. YouTube’s account supports both statements, but they are not the same measurement.
What is the most-viewed YouTube video of all time?
Guinness World Records names Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark” as the most-viewed YouTube video. Its record entry lists 16,643,177,027 views as of February 4, 2026. Guinness notes that records change daily and that online publication may not be immediate, so this number should be read with its as-of date rather than as a current view total.
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This is an all-time video-view record, not a ranking of what viewers are watching most today. It also cannot be compared directly with a channel’s subscriber count: the units and scopes differ.
What does “most popular” mean on YouTube?
There is no single ranking that answers every version of “most popular.” A channel can lead by subscribers, a video can hold an all-time views record, and a different upload can be rising quickly on a country-specific chart. Music charts, Shorts charts and podcast charts use still other measures.
- Subscribers: a channel-level audience measure. MrBeast’s cited 500-million milestone is dated June 12, 2026.
- Lifetime video views: accumulated views on an individual video. Guinness’s Baby Shark figure is dated February 4, 2026.
- Trending: a changing chart intended to surface newly popular videos, calculated from multiple signals rather than simply sorted by views.
- Music, Shorts and podcast charts: rankings with their own eligible content and counting methods, described below.
Is YouTube Trending the same as a most-viewed list?
No. YouTube says its Trending charts update roughly every 30 minutes and consider view count and view-growth speed alongside topic relevance, video age, view sources and how a video performs against recent uploads from the same channel. The charts are not personalized, and the applicable chart is for viewers in a particular country. A video with the most views on a given day may therefore rank below a video with fewer views.
YouTube announced on July 10, 2025, that it was moving away from one all-purpose Trending list toward category-specific charts. As a result, a claim about a current chart leader needs the chart category, country and observation date; “number one on YouTube” is not precise enough.
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How YouTube’s other charts count popularity
Music video and song charts
YouTube’s Daily Top Music Videos chart ranks the most-viewed official music videos and refreshes daily. The Weekly Top Music Videos chart also ranks official videos by views. Weekly Top Songs is broader: it combines views from official music videos, user-made videos using the official song, and lyric videos. Weekly Top Artists combines views across an artist’s discography, including official videos, user-made videos featuring the official song, live performances, remixes, lyric videos, album songs and collaborations.
Those are not interchangeable totals. A song or artist chart can include more types of video than an official-music-video chart. YouTube says paid advertising views are excluded from YouTube Music Charts, and content that violates policy may also be ineligible.
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Shorts music charts
Shorts music charts measure how many Shorts are created featuring each song. That is a use-of-a-song measure, not a ranking of the songs’ total video views or a channel’s subscriber count.
Podcast charts
Weekly Top Podcast Shows rank podcast playlists by total watch time in a market, not by video view totals. YouTube’s help page lists availability in the United States, Canada and Mexico. A podcast’s position should therefore be identified as a watch-time chart position in a named market.
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Why dates and counting rules matter
Views and rankings change, and even the definition used for a view can change. YouTube’s Analytics help says that beginning August 24, 2026, views are counted when a video starts to play across Shorts, long-form videos and live streams. Do not assume a comparison published before that date used an identical counting method without checking its methodology.
For a useful leaderboard claim, include four details: the metric (such as subscribers, lifetime views or podcast watch time), its time window, its scope (platform-wide or a category and market), and the date of the snapshot. This keeps an all-time record separate from a fast-moving chart rank.
Sources for the records and chart definitions
- YouTube Blog: “500 million and counting!” — MrBeast milestone and channel-record context, June 12, 2026.
- Guinness World Records: “Most viewed video on YouTube” — Baby Shark record entry and dated view count.
- YouTube Help: “YouTube Charts & Insights” — chart types, cadence, markets and counting methods.
- YouTube Help: “Trending Charts on YouTube” — chart criteria and limitations.
- YouTube Help: “Understand your YouTube content performance” — view-count reporting update beginning August 24, 2026.
- TeamYouTube: “Changes to Discovering Trending Content on YouTube” — July 10, 2025 announcement of the move toward category-specific charts.
Keeping a YouTube channel live around the clock
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