You can get more out of YouTube with these cool YouTube URL tricks that let you make GIFs, loop videos, and more.
Though YouTube remains the premier video site on the web, you probably don't think much about customizing it. But whether you're a casual user or watch online videos every day, there are all sorts of ways to tweak YouTube.
A major category of these are special YouTube link tricks. Let's look at some YouTube URL tricks to help you get more out of the service, like turning videos into GIFs.
1. Link to Any Part of a Video
Normally, when you copy a link to a YouTube video and open it, it starts from the beginning. But if you want to show someone a certain section of a video or skip a lengthy intro, you can append a timestamp to the URL to start it at that time.
You can do this in a couple of ways. By manually adding &t=YmXXs to the end of a video URL, you'll set it to start Y minutes and XX seconds into the video. You can omit minutes, or use only seconds, such as 90s for a minute and a half.
Normally, when you copy a link to a YouTube video and open it, it starts from the beginning. But if you want to show someone a certain section of a video or skip a lengthy intro, you can append a timestamp to the URL to start it at that time.
You can do this in a couple of ways. By manually adding &t=YmXXs to the end of a video URL, you'll set it to start Y minutes and XX seconds into the video. You can omit minutes, or use only seconds, such as 90s for a minute and a half.
2. Loop a Video Infinitely
YouTube is a great place for listening to music that you can't find elsewhere, such as video game soundtracks for studying. If you're into a song and want to listen to it over and over, you can add repeater after youtube in the URL.
3. Bypass Age Restrictions
YouTube has age restrictions on certain videos flagged as containing mature content. Whether you don't have a YouTube account or don't feel like signing in to watch one, you can perform a little trick to bypass signing in.
4. Skip a Certain Amount of the Intro
Similar to the URL trick that lets you pick the start time of a video, you can also choose to skip a certain number of seconds at the start of the video. You can't specify minutes with this one, so use 90 (seconds) for a minute and a half.
5. Claim a Custom YouTube Channel URL
If you have your own YouTube channel and meet certain requirements, you can set a vanity URL for your page. This is much easier to remember than the default random string of characters, so it's worth doing for easier linking on social media and other sites.
To get a custom URL, your channel needs to meet the following criteria:
- Have at least 100 subscribers
- Be at least 30 days old
- Have an uploaded profile photo and channel art
If you satisfy these, head to YouTube Studio by clicking your profile picture at the top-right of YouTube and choosing YouTube Studio. On the left menu, click Customization, followed by Basic info at the top.
On this page, under Channel URL, you'll see your channel's normal URL as well as the field to set a Custom URL, if you're eligible. Use this to pick your channel's vanity URL.
You can only have one custom URL at a time. If you already have one, you can't change it, but you're allowed to remove your current URL and create a new one, if it's available. This is only an option three times per year, so don't change it too often.
