How to Watch a Removed YouTube Video
“You don’t need to be a YouTube guru to learn how to watch a removed YouTube video—just read this guide.”
I know we’ve all been there. We see a YouTube video on a jaw-dropping topic, but because we’re so busy, we save it to watch later. And when we’ve finally cleared our to-do lists and returned to watch the video—it’s gone. Poof. Deleted.
Trust me; it can be pretty crushing. Especially when you know the video is not going to get reuploaded ever again.
And if you’re feeling frustrated that you missed out on a great YouTube video that was removed? Don’t worry; it’s not gone for good.
I’m going to show you a few handy tips and tricks that can help you easily watch deleted videos on YouTube and enjoy the juiciest content YouTube has to offer.
Let’s get into it.
Use the Wayback Machine
Courtesy: web.archive.org
Just in case you didn’t know, using the Wayback Machine will let you take a fascinating journey through time to see what websites used to look like in the past.
The Wayback Machine is the time machine of the internet. It’ll let you peek into the past and find old tweets, see what historic news sites used to look like, watch private YouTube videos, and of course, watch deleted YouTube videos without stress.
And speaking of deleted YouTube videos, the Wayback Machine continuously crawls the internet, indexes billions of web pages, and saves their archived versions.
This allows you to access older versions of websites like YouTube, explore changes over time, and even take snapshots for future reference. The only thing you need to use the Wayback Machine is the deleted YouTube video link.
And you can get the video’s link by checking your:
- YouTube History
- Liked videos
- Any playlist that contains the deleted YouTube video
Once you’ve got the link, follow these simple steps:
Step 1
Open https://archive.org/web.
Courtesy: web.archive.org
Step 2
Paste the deleted video’s URL in the search bar at the top of the page and click ‘‘Browse History.’’
The Wayback Machine will display a simple timeline that’ll help you spot every day the site was crawled and archived.
Courtesy: web.archive.org
Step 3
Select the year, and month, and click on the date when the video was still active. Once that’s done, you should be able to watch the deleted video.
Courtesy: web.archive.org
Use Youtube Video Finder
YouTube Video Finder is a reliable chrome extension that leverages The Wayback Machine and the three major search engines, Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo, to find any private or deleted video.
All you got to do is:
Step 1
Paste the link to the deleted YouTube video in the search bar.
Courtesy: youtubevideofinder.site
Step 2
Choose whether you want to use The Wayback Machine or any search engine listed on the site to find the deleted YouTube videos.
Courtesy: youtubevideofinder.site
Step 3
If you choose the Wayback Machine, the YouTube Video Finder will display the video’s archived timeline so you can select the specific year, month, date, and time when the video was active.
Courtesy: web.archive.org
Step 4
Go ahead and watch the deleted YouTube video.
Courtesy: web.archive.org
Find deleted YouTube videos via google search operators
Like the Wayback Machine, Google has practically crawled and indexed every corner of the internet to create a robust archive. And you can search this archive with Google Search Operators.
These Google Search Operators are special characters and commands you can use to narrow your search query. With Google’s Search Operators, you can specify certain words or phrases, exclude words or phrases, define specific search properties, and even set custom date ranges for relevant results. They can help you find more accurate results than using general keyword searches.
So, start with:
Step 1
Get the URL of the deleted YouTube video. (We’ll use a live video for this example because I couldn’t find a deleted YouTube video URL). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0n1Q0CV-3A.
Step 2
Copy the video ID from the link. ‘v=_0n1Q0CV-3A’ and do a Google search. If the video has been uploaded on another platform, you should be able to see it.
Note: Video IDs always begin with ‘v=.’
Courtesy: Google.com
Search for the embedded video
Another way to watch a removed YouTube video is to find an embedded version. To search for the embedded version of a deleted YouTube video, all you have to do is remove the ‘watch?’ from the YouTube video URL and replace it with ‘embed/.’
So, instead of having a link like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDcUHGiplQ4, you’ll end up with a new link like this: https://www.youtube.com/embed/FDcUHGiplQ4.
Using this trick will let you find the videos on any other platform where it’s been embedded. But this works best if the video isn’t newly uploaded.
Recover deleted videos with software
If you’re a YouTube content creator, and you’ve accidentally deleted a video from any of your storage devices, don’t worry because, with the right software, you can recover your lost YouTube video quickly and start growing your channel’s subscribers.
First, you’ll need to look for data recovery software specializing in recovering deleted videos from YouTube. This software will scan your computer and external drives for deleted YouTube video titles. Once your computer is scanned, you can preview the files and select which ones to restore.
Here’s a short list of excellent video recovery software you should check out.
Recoverit
Courtesy: Recoverit by Wondershare
Recoverit is a powerful data recovery software designed to help you recover deleted, lost, or inaccessible files from your computer and connected devices. It can also recover deleted YouTube videos.
It’s got a user-friendly interface that’s pretty easy to use, even for beginners. The platform supports over a thousand file formats and can recover deleted YouTube videos from external storage devices, USB drives, digital cameras, and other digital media.
And yes, it has a deep scan option that’ll let you recover files from completely formatted or crashed drives.
EaseUS Data Recovery
Courtesy: EaseUS
EaseUS Data Recovery is one of the best data recovery software for recovering deleted content. It’s specifically designed to help you recover data from damaged, formatted, or deleted storage devices.
The software supports many file types and can access deleted YouTube videos from external hard drives, memory cards, USB drives, and recycle bins. Not to mention that it can also help you repair corrupted videos.
Other ways you can watch a removed YouTube video
Courtesy: Unsplash
Contact YouTube Support
This method is only available to you if you’re a YouTube partner and the video you are looking for was posted on your YouTube channel. This can provide you with a link to the video or be able to help you locate a cached version of the same video.
As a YouTube partner, you can access the ‘Get Creator Support’ option and submit your issue via email. Remember to provide as much relevant information about the video when contacting YouTube Support.
Check other platforms
Visiting platforms like Reddit, Twitter, or Facebook can help you find a cached version of the video you want.
Also, don’t forget to check the content creator’s website. Most creators upload their content on their website, making it a great spot for finding deleted videos uploaded on YouTube.
And if all else fails, posting a request for the video title and URL on social media platforms like Reddit’s r/tipofmytongue may prompt other users to provide you with the video’s link.
Conclusion
So far, it’s pretty clear that watching a deleted YouTube video isn’t as impossible as it may sound. You can use the Wayback Machine, YouTube Video Finder, or Google Search Operators to find the archived version of the deleted video.
Besides recovering deleted videos with specialized software, YouTube creators can contact YouTube Support for assistance.
Also, you can check other platforms like Reddit, Twitter, or Facebook to search for find the deleted video link or cached version. With these methods, you can find and watch deleted YouTube videos.
The best part about this is that you don’t have to be a tech guru to know how to watch a deleted YouTube video.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your network speed and whether the video has been fully loaded.
Say your network speed is slow, and a YouTube video gets deleted while you are watching it; then you most likely won’t be able to continue watching it and will get an alert that the video has been deleted.
But, say you’ve got strong network speed, and the video’s fully loaded. In that case, you’ll be able to watch the video completely, but the video won’t be available once you refresh the page.
To find the URL of deleted YouTube videos, you should first check your YouTube history. The URL will be visible if the video is still listed in your history. If you can’t find the URL, you can try using a third-party website, which could’ve cached a version of the video earlier.
You cannot retrieve your deleted YouTube watch history to get the URL link to a deleted video.
But you can get a deleted video link from your YouTube history. To do this, log into your YouTube account and go to the ‘History’ tab. You can view the videos and get their URLs from here.
If the video you are looking for is not on the list, it’s been deleted from your history, and you will need to use other methods to try and find the URL.
Here are a few steps to help prevent YouTube from deleting your videos. First, ensure your videos comply with YouTube’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.
Also, ensure you have the appropriate copyright permissions for any content you upload. Finally, make sure to respond to any copyright complaints or strikes that are sent to you as soon as possible.
No, you can’t watch deleted YouTube videos without the video URL, but if you recall the video’s title then you can search whether any other YouTuber has commented on or reuploaded the video.
The Wayback Machine contains billions of archived web pages and other content from across the internet.
YouTube videos are not stored in the Wayback Machine but are cached. So, it’s doubtful that you’ll be able to find a deleted YouTube video if it’s already been removed from YouTube servers without being cached by the Wayback Machine.
Sadly, it’s not possible to restore permanently deleted videos from YouTube’s servers is impossible. Once a video has been permanently deleted, it cannot be recovered. All you can do is find a backup video and reupload it if you’ve got one.
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