YouTube expands direct messaging test to more European countries

YouTube has been quietly testing direct messaging for a few months, and the experiment just got a whole lot bigger. On March 3, the platform confirmed it rolled out the DMs feature to select users in additional European countries, extending a limited test that first kicked off in November 2025.

The original rollout was restricted to users in Ireland and Poland. YouTube’s official Experimental Features post described the feature as a way to share videos you love (long-form, Shorts, and live streams) and have conversations about them directly in the mobile app, for adults 18 and older. 9to5Google reported on that November launch at the time, noting YouTube itself had called this a “top feature request” from users.

Around the same time, YouTube was making other changes across the app. We covered how the platform briefly caused confusion by relocating its Subscriptions tab on desktop during that same period, which gives you an idea of how active the testing cycle has been lately.

Now, a few months on, YouTube has expanded the DM experiment to more European markets. You can check the updated list of countries by tapping on the window below to expand it:

Users in the newly added regions are already stumbling on it. A thread in r/youtube surfaced today with hundreds of upvotes, featuring the familiar “Say hello to direct messaging on YouTube” welcome screen. The comments quickly turned into a nostalgia trip, given that YouTube actually had messaging before and quietly pulled it in 2019.

Similarly, a user also posted a screenshot of the popup ion X.

The feature runs on an invite system. You share a link outside the app, the recipient can accept or decline, and once connected, both of you can message and share videos directly inside YouTube. Invite links expire after 7 days. By default, anyone who opens a link you share can view your channel, but there is an option in privacy settings to turn that off.

Not everyone is sold on it, though. Several users on Reddit flagged concerns about spam and scams almost immediately, and at least one person mentioned getting unsolicited crypto pitches within the first hour. YouTube says messages fall under the same Community Guidelines as regular content, and flagged conversations may be reviewed. Block and report tools are available too.

This is still an experiment, and access can be pulled or adjusted at any time as YouTube refines things. But expanding to more European countries does signal the early data has been encouraging enough to push further.

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