With over 2.7 billion monthly active users, YouTube is undoubtedly one of the most popular video-sharing platforms in the world. YouTube has all the answers, from how to bake cookies to which mobile to buy in your budget.
Since YouTube is a free platform, people can watch videos on repeat. But what if one day, you cannot find your favorite 90s video track saved on YouTube? Even though you marked it as Watch Later, the link shows that the video has been deleted.
If you’re just a streamer, it’s not a big deal. But losing your video overnight can be a nightmare if you’re a content creator. All your hard work and efforts may have been for nothing. That’s why it’s important to know how to recover deleted YouTube videos. People often complain about YouTube videos getting lost or deleted from their accounts. If you are also facing the same problem, don’t get discouraged. Read this article to learn how to recover YouTube videos with or without URLs. But first, let’s understand why YouTube videos have been removed.
Why Are YouTube Videos Deleted?
YouTube videos can be deleted for various reasons—some by the uploader, others by YouTube itself. Some of the most common reasons are:
- User Deletion: The creator may have accidentally or intentionally deleted the video.
- Community Guidelines Violations: YouTube may remove content that violates its policies.
- Copyright Claims: If you use copyrighted music, footage, or clips without permission, your video might be taken down after a copyright strike or DMCA complaint.
- Account Issues: If your YouTube account gets suspended or banned, all your videos are deleted.
- Technical Glitches: Although uncommon, videos may sometimes disappear due to YouTube server issues or sync problems.
- Deleted or Private Channels: If a channel is deleted by its creator or made private, its videos are inaccessible to the public.
After knowing why the YouTube videos were removed from your channel, you can begin the process of recovering them. However, before that, you need to find the URL of the deleted videos, as the video’s URL is essential for recovery methods like Wayback Machine (below).
Explained in 3 min: Watch this video to learn how you can also recover deleted YouTube videos.
How Can I Find Deleted YouTube Video URLs?
You can find the URLs of the deleted YouTube videos in the following places:
1. Check Your Email or YouTube Notifications
You will receive an email notification when a video is removed—whether by you or by YouTube. This email usually contains the video title, URL, and the reason for deletion (if by YouTube).
Check your email; they might be your only lead to find the lost video URL. If you cannot find the email, move to the next step.
2. Browser History
You can look for the deleted video URL in your web browser’s browsing history. Here’s how to open browsing history in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari browser:
Google Chrome
- Open Google Chrome and click the three dots in the top-right corner.
- Go to History and then again click History from the submenu.
- Scroll through the browsing history to find the deleted YouTube video > click on it to view its URL in the address bar.
Mozilla Firefox
- In Mozilla Firefox, click the menu button in the top-right corner, then click History.
- Select Manage History to view the full history in the Library window.
- Browse through the history to find the deleted YouTube video and its URL.
Safari
- Open Safari browser on your Mac and click History in the top menu bar.
- Choose Show All History.
- Use the search bar to look for YouTube or related keywords.
- Look for the deleted YouTube video and click on it to get the URL at the address bar.
3. YouTube Watch History
You can also look for the deleted video URL in the YouTube watch history. Here’s how:
- On YouTube, click the menu icon in the top-left corner.
- Select History from the sidebar.
- Scroll through the Watch History to find the deleted video. Click on the video to see the URL in the address bar.
4. YouTube Playlist or Liked Videos
You can even check YouTube’s Playlist and Liked Videos section for the URL of the deleted video.
5. Bookmarks
If you previously bookmarked the YouTube video, check your web browser’s bookmarks.
To check bookmarks in Google Chrome, click the three-dot menu > Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager. Browse through the list to find the YouTube video.
In Mozilla Firefox, click the library icon, select Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks, and use the search box or browse folders to find your saved YouTube Videos link.
For Safari on Mac, click Bookmarks > Show Bookmarks and browse or search for the YouTube video URL.
6. Shared Links
Check your messages, emails, or social media where you have shared or received the YouTube video link.
Once you have found the URL of the deleted video on YouTube, let’s move forward in recovering them.
How do you recover deleted YouTube videos with URLs?
If you have the URL, you can use the following methods to get back your deleted YouTube videos.
Method 1: Use the WayBack Machine to Recover Deleted YouTube Videos
The WayBack Machine use Internet Archive’s to save digital copies of published works be it videos, books, webpages, and others on the Internet. If a YouTube video was uploaded and then deleted, you can easily find and recover the lost or deleted YouTube videos on your local drive.
- Open archive.org and paste the copied URL into WayBackMachine’s search window.
- Click Browse History.
- Now, you can see information about your lost or deleted YouTube videos, including the title, description, and even a thumbnail. Sometimes, you can even find the playable video, which you can download using online video downloaders.
Note: This method will only work if the video is publicly accessible and archived before deletion.
Method 2: Use YouTube Video Finder to Recover Deleted Videos
YouTube Video Finder is a web-based tool that helps you locate an archived version of deleted or private YouTube videos by using their URL. It checks multiple archive sites, such as Wayback Machine, GhostArchive, etc., to see if they’ve stored a copy of the video or its metadata.
If the video or its information was archived before it was deleted, you’ll get a link to view the video. If the video was not archived, check the next method to recover deleted videos on YouTube.
If you cannot find the video’s URL deleted from your YouTube channel, check the methods below to recover deleted videos.
How do you recover deleted YouTube videos without URLs?
If the YouTube video you created was deleted from your channel, there are two ways to restore it.
Method 3: Recover Deleted YouTube Videos from Backup
Taking regular backups of your important files and information is critical these days. Yes, at times, you may not even need a backup, but when you do, it can save you all the hassle you might otherwise go through.
If you have a backup of your videos on your computer or external drives, you can easily restore the deleted video from the backup.
If you don’t have a backup, you should try other methods to find deleted YouTube videos.
Method 4: Use Google Takeout to Recover Deleted YouTube Videos
Google Takeout is a service provided by Google that allows you to download a copy of your data, including uploaded videos, watch and search history, comments, and other content you’ve created on YouTube and YouTube Music.
Here’s how to use Google Takeout to recover YouTube videos:
- Scroll down, check the YouTube and YouTube Music box, and click Next step.
- Choose your export settings, i.e., destination, file type, and size. Then click Create Export.
- Google will prepare your archive and send you a download link via email.
Once downloaded, you can open the ZIP file and find your uploaded videos, usually under Takeout > YouTube and YouTube Music > Videos.
Note: This method only works if you backed up your YouTube videos using Google Takeout before the videos were deleted.
Method 5: Contact YouTube. Help the support team.
While it’s unlikely to recover deleted videos on YouTube, you can contact the YouTube Creator Support Team for assistance. They may not be able to restore the videos but can provide guidance or check for exceptions.
Moreover, to be eligible to contact the YouTube Creator Support Team, your channel should be part of the YouTube Partner Program or have at least 10,000 lifetime channel views.
Follow these simple steps to recover deleted YouTube videos:
- Open YouTube and then sign in to your channel.
- At the bottom of the page, you will find the Help option.
- Then click Need more Help > Get creator support.
- You will see many options. Now select the issue you’re facing. Fill out the form that includes the Video title(s), approximate date of deletion, URL (if available), and why you need it restored.
- Choose a contact method (email or chat, if available).
How do you recover a backup of deleted videos using Video Recovery Software?
If you have deleted the backup of your YouTube video from your computer hard drive or any other external media by mistake, use Stellar Photo Recovery to recover lost or deleted YouTube videos.
Stellar Photo Recovery is the best method to recover lost or deleted YouTube video backup from your camera SD card, computer, or any external hard drive. Even if the original videos are deleted from a computer, hard drive, or SSD, Stellar Photo Recovery will search for the created videos and restore them.
Summing it up
Generally, YouTube videos are deleted by mistake or due to changed preferences, quality issues, editing issues, copyright issues, etc.
If you have also faced a similar situation, you should consider the following points:
- Once a video is deleted from YouTube, it is a permanent action. YouTube has no feature that restores the deleted video or allows users to undo the steps.
- You can only re-upload the video on your channel if you have a backup. But remember that the re-uploaded video will not have comments, likes, or views of the original video.
- You can try the above methods to recover deleted YouTube videos according to your situation. Suppose you don’t have a backup or have deleted the backup yourself. In that case, Stellar Photo Recovery can help you recover lost or deleted YouTube videos and all media files from any storage device.
Does YouTube delete old videos on its own?
YouTube never deletes or hides any video or channel unless it goes against the YouTube Community Guidelines or in case of a copyright infringement. Interestingly, the very first YouTube video, which was uploaded in 2005, is still up for viewing.
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