To reference a YouTube video in APA, I use the uploader as the author, the full upload date, the italicized video title, the label [Video], the site name YouTube, and the video URL. That is the basic shape, and it is the part people usually need most.
I keep coming back to the author line, because that is where mistakes start. APA says to name the account that uploaded the video as the author. If the upload name and the real creator do not match, the uploaded account still goes in the reference entry. If the creator matters for the point being made, that difference can be explained in the text.
The date also matters more than people expect. APA asks for the exact day the video was uploaded, not just the year. For a video reference, that means the full date sits in parentheses after the author. A short date is not enough here if the upload day is known.
The title is another fixed point. It is italicized, and it uses sentence case. That means only the first word and proper names are capitalized in the title itself. Right after it comes the bracketed label [Video], then YouTube, then the direct URL.
So the pattern looks like this in plain form: uploader name. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL. That is the form I would trust first when I am checking a reference or teaching one. It is simple, but each piece does work.
The part that still trips people up is the difference between the uploader and the speaker. A YouTube video can contain a person speaking on screen, but APA still wants the uploader in the reference list unless another source rule applies. That can feel odd. It is one of those cases where the platform record, not the content alone, controls the citation shape.
There is also a small but real limit. YouTube pages are not always tidy. Some videos have only a screen name. Some have a group account. Some have a clear person name and a separate channel name. The APA form can handle those cases, but the exact choice depends on what the page shows. When the posting details are unclear, the citation can only be as precise as the source page allows.
I think that is the main lesson worth keeping close. APA does not ask for a guess. It asks for the uploader, the date, the title, the format tag, the site name, and the URL. When those parts are in place, the reference is usually sound.
That is also why this sort of question belongs on the project side of Beyond Citation. The answer is not long, but it needs plain wording and a careful eye for the exact source details. The Source List works the same way for me: one digital source worth knowing, one search tip, and one honest limitation.