How to Find a YouTube Video ID (Computer, Phone and Studio

Last updated: October 2026

You paste a YouTube link into a thumbnail downloader, an embed tool, or a plugin, and it asks for a "video ID". You look at the link, and all you see is a pile of letters, slashes, and question marks. Which part is the ID? It's a fair question, and the answer is simpler than the link makes it look.

The short answer: the video ID is the 11-character code inside the video's link. In a normal link it comes right after v=, in a share link it comes right after youtu.be/, and in a Shorts link it comes right after /shorts/. In youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ, the ID is dQw4w9WgXcQ.

Where the video ID sits in a link

Below you'll find where the ID hides in every kind of link, how to copy it on a computer and on a phone, and the small mistakes that trip people up.

What is a YouTube video ID?

Think of it as the video's name tag. Every public video gets its own unique code, and YouTube uses that code behind the scenes for the watch page, embeds, and the thumbnail images stored at fixed addresses.

The ID is always 11 characters long. It can contain capital letters, small letters, numbers, hyphens (-), and underscores (_). It is also case-sensitive, so one wrong capital letter gives you a different address, or none at all.

Where is the video ID in each type of link?

The position changes depending on how the link was shared. This table covers the common ones.

Link type	What it looks like	Where the ID is
Normal watch link	youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID	After v=
Share link	youtu.be/VIDEO_ID	After youtu.be/
Shorts link	youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID	After /shorts/
Embed link	youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID	After /embed/
Live link	youtube.com/live/VIDEO_ID	After /live/

How to find the video ID on a computer

1. Open the video in your browser.
2. Look at the address bar at the top of the window.
3. Find the part that starts after v=.
4. Copy the next 11 characters and stop there. If you see an & sign, everything from that sign onward is something else.

Here is a link with extra bits on the end:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&t=30s

The ID is only dQw4w9WgXcQ. The &t=30s part just tells YouTube to start at 30 seconds. It has nothing to do with the ID.

How to find the video ID on Android or iPhone

Find the video ID

The app has no address bar, so you grab the link first and read the ID from it.

1. Open the video in the YouTube app.
2. Tap Share below the video.
3. Tap Copy link.
4. Paste it somewhere you can read it, like a notes app or your browser's address bar.
5. Take the 11 characters after youtu.be/.

A copied link often carries a tracking tail after a question mark, like this:

https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=abcdef

Ignore everything from the question mark onward. The ID is still the 11 characters before it.

How to find the ID of your own video in YouTube Studio

If the video is on your channel, there's one more route.

1. Open YouTube Studio and go to Content.
2. Click the video to open its details page.
3. Look at the address bar. The ID sits between /video/ and /edit.

The details page also shows the public video link, so you can copy that and read it the usual way.

What can you do with the video ID?

The most common use is building a direct link to a thumbnail. YouTube keeps each thumbnail at a fixed address with this pattern:

https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/maxresdefault.jpg
https://img.youtube.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/hqdefault.jpg

Swap VIDEO_ID for your 11 characters and you have the image. Not every video has the largest version, so if one link fails, try the other. The steps are laid out in our guide to downloading a YouTube thumbnail in HD, and our thumbnail size and resolution guide explains what each version looks like.

The same ID also builds an embed address, youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID, which is what website and blog embeds use. If you would rather skip the manual work, you can paste a full link into our thumbnail downloader, and it will pick out the ID for you.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Copying too much. The ID is only 11 characters. Leave out &, ?si= and time stamps.
• Mixing up playlist and video IDs. A link with &list= also contains a playlist ID. The video ID is still the one after v=.
• Typing it by hand. Because the ID is case sensitive and has look-alike characters, copy and paste it instead.
• Using a channel link. Links that look like /@name or /channel/ point to a channel, so there's no video ID in them.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a YouTube video ID?

It is 11 characters long and made up of letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores.

Is the video ID the same as the video URL?

No. The URL is the whole web address. The ID is the short code inside it that points to one specific video.

Does the ID change if I edit the title or thumbnail?

No. You can change the title, description and thumbnail as often as you like, and the ID stays the same.

How do I find the ID of a YouTube Short?

Open the Short, copy its link, and take the characters after /shorts/.

Can I find the ID of a private video?

If it's your video, yes, from the YouTube Studio address. But the thumbnail link for a private video won't load for the public.

Wrapping up

The video ID is just the 11-character code in the link: after v=, youtu.be/ or /shorts/. Copy only those characters and you're ready to build a thumbnail link, an embed or whatever else needs it. For more guides like this one, head over to the blog.