YouTube Video ID Extractor
Paste any YouTube link and get the 11-character video ID out of it. All processing happens locally in your browser.
Works with watch, youtu.be, Shorts, embed and live links. You can also paste an ID on its own.
How to use
- Paste a YouTube video or Shorts link into the box above.
- The 11-character video ID is extracted immediately.
- Click Copy ID to copy it to your clipboard.
What is a YouTube video ID?
A YouTube video ID is the short identifier YouTube uses for a specific video. In https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ, the video ID is dQw4w9WgXcQ.
The same ID appears in different YouTube URL formats, including normal watch links, short youtu.be links, Shorts URLs and embed URLs. The rest of the link may contain things such as a playlist ID, timestamp or tracking parameter, but the video ID is the part that identifies the video itself.
Current YouTube video IDs are typically 11 characters and commonly use uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores. IDs should be treated as case-sensitive, so avoid changing their capitalization when storing them in a database, spreadsheet or application.
This tool extracts the ID from supported YouTube links or validates an ID that you paste directly. It does not contact YouTube to check whether the video is still public or available.
YouTube URL formats this tool can read
YouTube uses several link formats. The video ID appears in a different place depending on the URL:
| URL type | Where the ID appears | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Watch URL | v query parameter |
youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID |
| Short link | After youtu.be/ |
youtu.be/VIDEO_ID |
| Shorts | After /shorts/ |
youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID |
| Embed | After /embed/ |
youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID |
| Live URL | After /live/ |
youtube.com/live/VIDEO_ID |
| Older player URL | After /v/ |
youtube.com/v/VIDEO_ID |
If the current parser supports them, mobile YouTube links, privacy-enhanced embed links and URLs without https:// can be handled as well. Extra query parameters are ignored when they are not part of the video ID.
How to extract a YouTube video ID
- Paste the YouTube link. You can also paste the video ID itself if you already have it.
- Check the extracted ID. The result appears once the tool recognizes a supported YouTube URL or a valid-looking ID.
- Select Copy ID. Copy the clean identifier for use in another tool, API request, database or application.
If the input cannot be read, the tool should explain the problem instead of guessing. For example, it may detect an unsupported domain, a YouTube page with no video ID, or an ID with the wrong format.
Examples
Each of these points to the same video ID: dQw4w9WgXcQ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&list=PLabc&index=4— playlist information is ignoredhttps://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?t=42— the start time is ignoredhttps://m.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=dQw4w9WgXcQ— the video ID is still taken fromvyoutube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ— works if the parser accepts links without a schemedQw4w9WgXcQ— a bare video ID
These should not produce a valid result:
https://vimeo.com/123456— not a YouTube URLhttps://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions— a YouTube page, but not a video URLhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tooshort— does not match the video-ID format expected by the toolhttps://notyoutube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ— lookalike domain rather than YouTube
A safe parser should check the actual hostname rather than simply looking for the text youtube.com somewhere in the URL. This avoids accepting unrelated domains such as youtube.com.example.net.
Use cases: what can you use a YouTube video ID for?
- API requests. The YouTube Data API uses video IDs to identify video resources.
- Database records. Store the compact video ID instead of keeping every variation of a YouTube URL.
- Cleaning spreadsheets. Convert mixed YouTube links into consistent IDs so duplicate videos are easier to spot.
- Building embeds. Use the ID to create an iframe URL such as
youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID. - Creating thumbnail URLs. YouTube thumbnail addresses use the same video ID.
After extracting the ID, you can use the YouTube Embed Code Generator, Timestamp Link Generator or Thumbnail Downloader. If you need to inspect every part of a URL instead, use the URL Parser.
Video ID validation vs video availability
This tool checks the structure of the ID and where it appears in the URL. It does not ask YouTube whether the video currently exists.
A correctly formatted ID can still belong to a video that is private, deleted, unavailable in your region or otherwise inaccessible. Confirming availability requires opening the video or using a YouTube service that performs a network lookup.
Privacy
If the current implementation performs parsing entirely in the browser, the YouTube link does not need to be sent to TryFormatter or YouTube just to extract the ID. The browser reads the URL and returns the matching identifier locally.
Analytics should record only privacy-safe actions such as whether extraction succeeded or what type of validation error occurred. The pasted URL and extracted video ID should not be included in analytics events.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is a YouTube video ID?
Current YouTube video IDs are typically 11 characters. This tool validates the current format it supports, but YouTube does not document the identifier length as a permanent guarantee for all future IDs.
Does a YouTube Short use the same video ID as a normal video URL?
Yes. The same video resource can appear in different YouTube URL formats. For example, youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID and youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID can refer to the same video.
What happens to playlist and timestamp parameters?
They are ignored when extracting the video ID. Values such as list, index and t describe the viewing context rather than the identity of the video.
Are YouTube video IDs case-sensitive?
Treat them as case-sensitive. Do not lowercase or uppercase the ID when storing or processing it, because changing the characters can produce a different or invalid identifier.
Can I paste several YouTube links at once?
If the current tool is designed for one input at a time, it returns one video ID for one pasted link. Batch extraction would be a separate workflow.
Does editing a YouTube video change its ID?
Normal edits to an existing uploaded video keep the same video resource and ID. Uploading another video creates a separate video resource with its own ID.
Can this tool tell whether a video has been deleted or made private?
No. Local extraction only checks the URL and ID format. It does not contact YouTube, so it cannot confirm whether a video is public, private, deleted, restricted or still available.
Why store the video ID instead of the full YouTube URL?
The ID is a compact reference to the video and avoids carrying extra parameters such as playlist IDs, timestamps or tracking values. You can build the URL format you need later from the stored ID.