When communicating and filling out forms regarding YouTube, it is important to provide the YouTube Channel ID in the proper format. Incorrect IDs will lead to forms being rejected or mishandled requests. Often, people confuse other YouTube codes and URLs for Channel IDs.
The YouTube Channel ID looks like this: UCsu46WMP5zS87wFJq6aAWrw
The full URL would be: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsu46WMP5zS87wFJq6aAWrw
The YouTube Channel ID:
- is exactly 24 characters
- begins with the capital letters “UC”
- is not a vanity URL, i.e., (https://www.youtube.com/@labelcaster)
On vanity URLs: Channels may have custom URLs that do not reveal the channel ID. These vanity URLs appear similar to the links below and cannot be used in forms.
- https://www.youtube.com/c/memberX
- https://www.youtube.com/user/memberX
- https://www.youtube.com/@username
Copying your properly formatted YouTube Channel ID
Finding your Channel ID is the same for Topic, O&O (Owned and Operated) and OAC (Official Artist Channel) channels.
In a browser on the Desktop
- Go to the YouTube channel you need the ID for.
- Select …more in the channel description text; a window pops up.
- From the pop-up window, select the Share channel button and choose Copy channel ID.
On mobile
- Go to YouTube in your browser, e.g., Safari or Chrome, NOT in the YouTube app.
- From your browser’s settings, select Request Desktop Site to view the page as if you were in a desktop browser.
- Follow the above steps for the Desktop.