Inspectors / INS-03 Runs in your browser
YouTube Channel ID Finder: Get the UC ID From a URL or Page Source
Paste a YouTube address and the tool pulls out the UC channel ID where the address contains one, then writes the RSS feed URL and the uploads playlist ID derived from it.
Inspector INS-03 Parses the address you paste
A handle, a /c/ or a /user/ address holds no identifier; that mapping lives on YouTube's side only, so for those the page source is the way. Nothing is uploaded; the parsing happens in this tab.
| Form | Value |
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What the identifier is and why it never changes
A channel ID is 24 characters beginning with UC. It is assigned when the channel is created, it is never reissued, and it is what every part of YouTube's own machinery uses internally.
Everything else attached to a channel is a label. The display name changes. The handle changes. The custom URL changes when the owner qualifies for one. The ID is the only stable reference, which is why anything you build that has to keep working next year should be keyed to it.
Two derived forms fall straight out of it. The uploads playlist swaps the second character from C to U, giving UU followed by the same 22 characters. The RSS feed takes the ID as a query parameter. Both are documented properties of the scheme rather than tricks, and both are written out above once the tool has an ID to work with.
Why a handle cannot be resolved in the browser
The mapping from a handle to an ID lives in YouTube's database. The address bar carries only the handle, so resolving one means asking YouTube — either through the Data API with a key, or by fetching the channel page and reading the ID out of it.
Neither is possible from a page running in your browser. The API needs a key, and putting a key in a public page means publishing it. Fetching the channel page is blocked by the browser, because YouTube does not permit cross-origin reads of its HTML.
Which leaves the manual route, and it takes about fifteen seconds. Open the channel, press Ctrl+U to view source, select all of it, and paste it in here. Reading it by eye works as well: the canonical link at the top of the source already points at the /channel/ address. Paste either one and the tool validates it and derives the rest. Slower than a magic box, and it never returns a wrong answer because a scraper hit a consent page.
The quicker paths, when they apply
If the channel is yours, skip all of it: YouTube Studio, Settings, Channel, Advanced settings shows the ID directly.
If you have a video from the channel rather than the channel itself, the video page source carries the uploader's identifier in the same fields. Paste the whole thing into the box and the tool will find it.
If you only have an embed code, look for a URL of the form UU followed by 22 characters. That is the uploads playlist, and the channel ID is the same string with the second character changed back to C. The tool accepts that direction too.
What the ID is actually for
The RSS feed is the most useful thing most people do with it. It gives a plain, key-free feed of a channel's uploads that works in any reader, and it has outlived several rounds of YouTube redesigns that broke scrapers built on the page HTML.
The uploads playlist is the second. Embedding it produces a player that always leads with the channel's newest video, without anyone maintaining a playlist by hand.
Beyond that, every Data API call that touches a channel takes the ID rather than a name, so any reporting or automation you build starts here. Keep the ID in your notes rather than the handle: the handle will change eventually, and everything keyed to it will quietly stop resolving.
What happens to an identifier after a channel goes
Delete a channel and its identifier is retired rather than recycled. Requests for it return nothing instead of returning somebody else's content, which is the behaviour you want from a permanent reference.
The practical consequence is that a stored ID either resolves to the channel you saved or resolves to nothing at all. A stored handle carries no such guarantee: handles are released when a channel is removed and can be claimed by someone else, so a link built on one can quietly start pointing at a stranger.
Questions people ask
Why does a /@handle URL not give me the ID?
Because the handle is a label pointing at the channel, and the mapping between them lives on YouTube's side. The ID is nowhere in the address.
The reliable way to get it from a handle is to open the channel, view the page source, and paste the whole thing in here. The tool reads the identifier out of the canonical link, the identifier meta tag or the externalId field. Searching by hand works too: Ctrl+F for externalId, which appears exactly once.
What is the difference between the ID and the handle?
The ID is permanent and machine-facing: 24 characters starting with UC, assigned once and never changed. The handle is chosen by the owner, human-readable, and can be changed.
Anything that has to keep working (an RSS feed, an embed, an API call) should use the ID. Anything a person will read can use the handle.
How do I turn the ID into an RSS feed?
Replace the ID in feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC… and you have a working feed of the channel's uploads. It needs no key and no account, and the tool writes it out for you.
This is the most durable way to follow a channel outside YouTube. It survives the site redesigns that break scrapers, because the feed endpoint has been stable for years.
What is the uploads playlist for?
Every channel has an automatic playlist containing all its public uploads. Its ID is the channel ID with the second character changed from C to U, so UCabc… becomes UUabc….
That substitution is a documented property of the identifier scheme, not a trick. It is useful when you want a playlist embed that always shows the newest video without maintaining a list.
Do the old /c/name and /user/name URLs still work?
They still resolve, and plenty of older links use them, but they are legacy forms. Neither contains the ID either, so both need the same page-source step as a handle.
If you own the channel, the ID is in YouTube Studio under Settings, then Channel, then Advanced settings, which is quicker than reading source.
Is anything I type sent anywhere?
No. The tool runs in this page and there is no server behind it, so nothing you type is transmitted, logged or stored. Disconnect from the network, reload from cache, and it still works.