A deleted YouTube video is one that has been removed from the platform, either by the uploader or by YouTube itself. There are a few main reasons why someone may want to recover a deleted YouTube video:
The original uploader may have accidentally deleted the video and wants to restore it. Or, the video may have been removed due to a copyright claim or Terms of Service violation, but the uploader believes it was a mistake and wants to challenge the takedown.
Viewers who enjoyed or valued the video may want to watch it again or share it with others. Fans of a particular YouTube channel or persona may seek out their old deleted videos.
Researchers, journalists, and historians may want access to deleted videos that have significance as cultural artifacts or evidence. Even controversial or offensive videos may be of interest for research purposes.
In some cases, legal action related to a video may require accessing a deleted copy. Individuals who appear in a video, for example, may need to view a deleted upload for a potential privacy lawsuit.
Overall, there are many valid reasons why someone may want to recover a video after its removal from YouTube, whether for personal, professional, academic, or legal purposes. The techniques to access deleted YouTube videos vary in effectiveness and technical requirements.
Finding Deleted Videos
If a YouTube video was deleted, there are still some methods you can try to find and watch the deleted video again.
One option is to use the Wayback Machine at archive.org. This service archives snapshots of websites over time. To try to find a deleted YouTube video:
- Go to archive.org and enter the original YouTube URL for the deleted video in the search bar.
- If the video had been archived, you’ll be able to browse through the different snapshots to find ones where the video was still available.
- When you find a snapshot with the video, you can play the cached version to watch the deleted YouTube video.
The Wayback Machine doesn’t archive every page, but it can be worth checking if you have the original URL for a deleted YouTube video. Some Reddit users have reported successfully recovering deleted videos this way.
Video Recovery Sites
There are some video recovery services that keep databases of deleted YouTube videos and allow you to search for and recover them. Two of the most well-known are:
Internet Archive – This is a non-profit digital library that archives web pages, books, software, music, videos, and more. Using their Wayback Machine, you can search for deleted YouTube videos and watch archived versions if they exist.
CleverFiles – This data recovery software company offers a free online deleted YouTube video search. Just enter the old URL and it will search its database for archived copies you can restore.
The chances of finding a deleted YouTube video depend on if it was popular enough to have been archived by one of these sites. But for hard to find videos, these recovery services may be your best option.
YouTube Video Metadata
Even if a video is deleted on YouTube, some of the metadata such as the title, description, and tags may still be accessible through YouTube’s API and third party metadata tools. Services like MW Metadata allow searching deleted videos by their metadata.
When a video is uploaded to YouTube, metadata like the title, description, tags, and thumbnails are indexed by YouTube’s search engine. If the video is later deleted, YouTube removes access to viewing the actual video file, but the indexed metadata may still remain in their database. This allows the text in titles, descriptions and tags to be searchable even if the video itself can no longer be watched.
So while you can no longer see a deleted video, you may be able to find some of its metadata through YouTube’s API. This can reveal elements like the original title and textual description, though the video itself will be inaccessible. Services like MW Metadata tap into this API to allow searching and discovering videos that have been deleted.
YouTube Thumbnails
Even if a YouTube video is deleted, the thumbnail image may still be accessible through a Google Images search. When Google crawls and indexes YouTube, it caches thumbnail images. So you can perform a Google Image search and filter by size to find full resolution YouTube thumbnails.
To try finding a deleted YouTube video this way, go to images.google.com and click on the camera icon to do a reverse image search. Upload or enter the URL of the video thumbnail. If the image is still cached by Google, you may get a result linking back to the original YouTube video URL. This doesn’t always work, but can be an option to find deleted videos whose thumbnails are still indexed.
According to a OrbitingWeb blog, you can also view the direct URL of a YouTube thumbnail image by modifying the video URL. Though this doesn’t help recover deleted videos, it allows seeing the thumbnail in high resolution. For example:
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1234567
Thumbnail URL: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1234567/maxresdefault.jpg
In some cases, parts of a deleted video may still be discoverable through cached thumbnails on Google Images. This provides another possible avenue to recover visual information, even if the video itself is gone.
Reuploads
Deleted videos are often reuploaded by other users. According to this Quora post, when you delete a video on YouTube, you lose the views, engagement, and watch time associated with that video. As a result, other users may download copies of popular deleted videos and reupload them to their own channels in hopes of capturing some of the lost engagement. While reuploads don’t always use the exact same title or description, you can often find them by searching for distinctive keywords or visuals from the original video. Reuploads allow people to continue viewing deleted content, but usually lack the context provided by the original uploader.
YouTube Copyright Claims
Videos that have been removed from YouTube due to copyright claims may still be found if they were reuploaded by another user. When a video receives a copyright claim on YouTube, the original uploader has the option to dispute the claim or remove the video to avoid a copyright strike. However, other users are able to download and reupload videos that were already posted publicly on YouTube before they were removed.
Searching on YouTube and Google using keywords from the original video title can sometimes surface reuploaded copies. There are also sites that aggregate reuploaded videos that have been removed, though the legality of these sites is questionable. If you find a reuploaded version, be aware that it could also receive a copyright claim and be removed. But in some cases, a reuploaded copy may stay available if the copyright holder does not issue a new claim.
Contacting the Original Uploader
If you know who originally uploaded the deleted video, you may be able to directly ask them if they still have a copy of the video file. This is probably the simplest and most straightforward way to potentially recover a deleted video.
Search for the channel name or username of the original uploader. If they are still active on YouTube or other social media, you can send them a direct message or email asking if they have the video file still saved on their computer.
Explain that you are hoping to see their deleted video again because you enjoyed it or found it useful. Oftentimes uploaders keep backup copies of their videos, so they may be willing to re-send or re-upload it for you if asked politely.
However, keep in mind that there is no guarantee the original uploader still has the video file or is willing to share it again. If it was deleted due to privacy concerns, copyright claims or other issues, they may not be able or willing to re-post it. But for many casual deletions, simply asking the uploader nicely can make recovering the video straightforward.
YouTube Data Viewer
Google created a tool called YouTube Data Viewer that can help you find metadata and thumbnails for some deleted or private videos on YouTube. This tool isn’t designed for the general public, but tech savvy users can still access it.
To use YouTube Data Viewer, you need the video ID of the deleted YouTube video. This is the unique code associated with each YouTube URL. For example, if the video URL is www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123, then the video ID is abc123.
Take the video ID and plug it into this URL: https://dataviewer.google.com/youtube/v3/videos?id=VIDEO_ID. Replace VIDEO_ID with the actual ID. The page will display the title, description, thumbnail and other details of the video if it’s still on YouTube’s server.
YouTube Data Viewer won’t work for every deleted video, but it’s worth trying if you have the video ID. Just keep in mind that this tool is meant for developers and could stop working at any time.
Conclusion
While recovering deleted YouTube videos can often be challenging, there are a few potential options to explore. As summarized above, using video recovery sites and tools may allow you to find cached copies or metadata associated with deleted videos in some cases. However, factors like privacy restrictions, copyright claims, and limited archives can make video recovery difficult. Often, the most reliable way to access a deleted video is to get in touch with the original uploader directly. Overall, recovering deleted online content requires some persistence and creativity. But for videos of particular importance, it may be worthwhile to explore the various options outlined here in hopes of finding that lost footage.