How to find out what a deleted YouTube video was
When a video in one of your playlists, or in Liked videos, is deleted or made private, YouTube hides it, or leaves a placeholder with no title. Here's how to work out what it was.
Show the missing videos
YouTube hides unavailable videos in a playlist by default. To see them, open the playlist's menu and choose Show unavailable videos. They appear as [Deleted video] or [Private video], with no title or thumbnail.
Work out what it was
-
Copy the video's ID. Open the placeholder and look at the address: the ID is the code after v=, up to the next &.
-
Search for the ID on Google, in quotes. Pages that linked to the video often still show its title. Try the Images tab for the thumbnail.
-
Try the Wayback Machine. Paste the video's full address into web.archive.org. If the page was saved while the video was up, you'll see its title and description, though not the video itself.
None of these always works. A video that nobody linked to or saved can be gone without a trace.
Deleted or private?
- [Deleted video] was removed by its creator or by YouTube. It isn't coming back.
- [Private video] still exists, but only its creator can see it. It reappears if they make it public again.
Keep a record of the next one
Connect YouTube to Findy once, and every video you like arrives on its own, with its title, channel, description and a copy of the thumbnail. When a video comes down, its card in Findy still shows what it was, so you can find it again by searching for what you remember.
Quick answers
Why does my playlist say [Deleted video]?
The video was removed by its creator or by YouTube. YouTube keeps the slot but drops the title.
Can I watch a deleted YouTube video?
Not on YouTube. Archive sites sometimes keep the title and description, rarely the video.
Why are some videos missing from my playlist count?
Unavailable videos are hidden by default. Choose Show unavailable videos from the playlist's menu.
Next: YouTube's Watch Later limit · Connect accounts · All manual pages