YouTube Video ID Extractor

A YouTube video ID extractor pulls the 11-character ID out of YouTube links in any common format: watch, youtu.be, embed, Shorts and live. IDs are used for embeds, schema and API work.

It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste or upload is sent to a server or stored.

How to read the result and act on it

Paste one link per line and read the output as a list of 11-character IDs, in the same order. Links in the common formats, such as watch, youtu.be, embed, Shorts and live, should all return the same kind of ID. Check any line that comes back empty: that usually means the link is cut off, has a typo or is a playlist or channel link with no video in it. Copy the clean list into your spreadsheet, embed code, schema markup or API request. For a large batch, keep the original links in a column beside the IDs so you can trace any problem back to its source link.

Common mistakes to avoid

Do not assume an ID means the video is public. The tool reads the link text and does not check that the video exists, so a deleted, private or region-blocked video still returns an ID. Another mistake is copying the whole URL into a field that expects only the ID, which makes embeds and API calls fail. Be careful with links that include a playlist parameter or a start time, since the video ID is only the 11-character part. Watch out for characters lost when links are pasted from chat apps. Finally, remember that IDs are case sensitive, so do not change letter case when cleaning your list.

What does a video ID look like?

11 characters of letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores.

Where do I use the ID?

In embed URLs, thumbnail links, VideoObject schema and API calls.

How do I find a YouTube video ID?

The ID is the 11-character string in the link: after v= in a watch link, after the slash in a youtu.be link, or after /shorts/, /embed/ or /live/. You can copy it by hand or paste the link into the extractor.

Are YouTube video IDs case sensitive?

Yes. IDs can include upper and lower case letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores, and changing the case produces a different or invalid ID. Copy them exactly and avoid tools or spreadsheets that auto-correct capitalisation. This matters when you paste IDs into embeds, schema or API calls.

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