One such is related to URLs (Uniform Resource Locator), which allows you to perform a bunch of useful operations by tinkering with the video’s URL. So in this article, we bring to you some of the best YouTube URL tricks to help you get the most of your experience on YouTube.
The Best YouTube URL Tricks
1. Loop a video
If you use YouTube to listen to music, this trick can come in handy and save you time every time you wish to listen to a song on repeat. All it requires you to do is slightly modify the URL for the video you want to play on loop. After this, it plays it on repeat, indefinitely. To loop a video, tap the address bar to reveal the video URL and replace the word youtube with youtuberepeater. For instance, if the URL looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4, you need to change it to https://www.youtuberepeater.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4. Once done, the video will open in a new tab, and you can watch it on the loop there. Side note: you can also loop a video by double-clicking on the video and selecting ‘Loop’ from the options.
2. Create a time link for a video
A lot of the times when you stumble upon something intriguing in a video, and you wish to share it with friends or peers, you usually send them a timestamp to pick up the video at the desired point. However, there’s a neat little trick to help you set a time link for a video, which starts it at the exact timestamp you want, so you can share it with others easily. For this, open the video you want to share and hit the Share button. In the pop-up window, tick the checkbox that says Start at and enter the timestamp you want the video to start at. Finally, share the link using your platform of choice.
Alternatively, you can also tap on the address bar and append &t=xmys to the end of the URL, where x=minutes and y=seconds. For instance, if you wish to start a video at 1 minute 30 seconds, you can do so by appending &t=1m30s to the end of the video. And then, share this link further. For eg: you can create a 1 minute 30 second time link to the following URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4 by modifying it to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4&t=1m30s.
3. Watch a video without signing-in
If you have been using YouTube for some time, you would be aware that, when you are not signed in to your Google account, YouTube does not allow you to view certain (age-restricted) content. However, sometimes, this can even happen with videos that do not violate the platform’s policies but are still not deemed fit for the entire audience by YouTube. So, to view such videos, you can simply add nsfw before youtube in the URL like the following link: https://www.nsfwyoutube.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4.
4. Download a YouTube video
Although YouTube gives you the option to download a video and take it offline to watch without requiring an internet connection, sometimes, you might find the need to download it on your computer for personal use. In such instances, the SaveFromNet utility can be quite useful. To download a video using SaveFromNet, head to the video, and tap the URL.
Now, add ss between www and youtube in the URL. For eg: https://www.ssyoutube.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4. Once done, you will be redirected to SaveFromNet’s website. From here, you can choose the video quality, and hit the Download button to start downloading the video.
5. Skip some part of a video
In much the same way as you could append time to the end of a video URL to share a particular time link with someone, you can also skip some part (at the beginning) of the video. For this, select the URL and add &start=x, where x is the time in seconds. So, say you want to skip the first one and a half minutes of a video, you can simply add &start=90 at the end of the video, and the video will skip that much part. However, do note that, for this trick, you can only add time in seconds. For instance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4&start=90.
6. Make GIF from video
If you are a big-time meme dealer, and you wish for an easier way to create memes using certain parts of a video, here’s a simple URL trick to do it. To create a GIF from a video, tap on the address bar and add gif before youtube in the URL. For eg, if the video address looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4, modify it to https://www.gifyoutube.com/watch?v=U5lM2ZNFhM4.
After that’s done, you will be taken to the gifs.com page. Here, you can add the start and end time for the GIF and also perform a bunch of other editing operations, such as adding captions, cropping frame, adjusting padding/hue/blur, and more. Those were some of the YouTube URL tricks you can use to get the most out of YouTube. Although, you can use third-party software/services to accomplish some of those actions, getting rid of the extra steps always helps and makes the entire process less complicated.
