YouTube Channel ID Finder

What the YouTube Channel ID Finder does

Paste the link of any public YouTube channel into the box above and click Find now. The tool gives you the channel ID, so you can copy it and move on. It works for your own channel and for channels you do not own.

How to use it

1. Open the channel on YouTube and copy its URL from the address bar.
2. Paste the URL into the box above. If you only know the channel's name, look it up with our YouTube Channel Search first.
3. Click Find now.
4. Copy the ID from the result.

Sample loads an example so you can see how the tool works, and Reset clears the box.

What a YouTube channel ID looks like

A channel ID is 24 characters long and always starts with UC. After that come 22 letters, numbers, hyphens or underscores. It looks like random text because it is not meant to be read by people. It is the label YouTube uses internally to tell one channel from another.

Channel ID, handle and custom URL

These are three different things, and mixing them up is the most common reason an app rejects a channel link. The handle is the name that starts with @, like @yourchannel. It is easy to remember, and you can change it. The channel ID is the UC string, and it never changes. Many tools and apps ask for the ID for exactly that reason: it keeps working after a rename.

The handle in the address bar does not show the ID. Some older channels have a /channel/UC... link, and for those the ID is right there in the URL.

How to find your own channel ID on YouTube

You can skip the tool and get it from YouTube Studio:

1. Sign in and open YouTube Studio.
2. Click Settings in the left menu.
3. Go to Channel, then Advanced settings.
4. Your channel ID is listed on that page.

There is a second route that works for any channel. Open the channel page, click ...more under the description, then Share channel, then Copy channel ID. On a phone, the quickest way is to copy the channel link from the Share menu and paste it into the tool above.

Where you will need the ID

Embedding a channel on your site is the usual reason. If you are building that page, the YouTube Embed Code Generator can help with the embed code. The ID is also what you use for a channel's RSS feed, which lives at youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id= followed by the ID. Developers pass it to the YouTube Data API, and the channels.list documentation shows where it goes. Some school and workplace video filters also allow or block channels by ID.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not paste a video ID by mistake. Video IDs are only 11 characters long, while a channel ID has 24. Copy the full string without a trailing space, because one extra character is enough to break an import. If a tool still rejects the ID, check that it starts with UC.

FAQ

Is the channel ID the same as the handle?

No. The handle starts with @ and can be changed. The channel ID starts with UC and stays the same for the life of the channel.

Can I change my YouTube channel ID?

No. You can change the handle and the channel name, but the ID is fixed.

Can I find the ID of a channel I do not own?

Yes. Channel IDs are public, so the tool works with any public channel.

Is the tool free?

Yes. It is free and needs no registration.

Once you have the ID, you can look at the channel's numbers with our YouTube Channel Statistics tool. It is a quick way to check a channel before you embed it, track it or work with it.

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