Whether you’re a researcher, content creator, or data analyst, extracting a complete list of videos from a YouTube channel is a common task. But YouTube’s interface only shows a scrolling feed, making it impractical for large channels. Below are all reliable methods.

Retrieving a complete list of videos from a YouTube channel is a common requirement for content audits, archival, competitive analysis, and data migration. YouTube’s public interface only displays a paginated subset (typically the most recent videos), necessitating programmatic or manual workarounds. This report evaluates three primary methods: the YouTube Data API v3, scraping tools, and manual extraction. The API method is recommended for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with YouTube’s terms of service.

To identify and document all videos published on a specified YouTube channel, including metadata such as:

YouTube removed the direct "Oldest First" button in recent updates, making it hard to watch series from the beginning. However, there is a workaround for desktop users using an external tool.

Using the YouTube API is the most robust solution. For a quick one-off export, third-party tools work well. Avoid manual scrolling for anything beyond 50 videos — you’ll waste hours.

To list all videos on a YouTube channel, you can use built-in platform features for quick viewing or advanced data export methods for more technical needs. 1. View All Videos (Browser & App)

This is the most straightforward method for general browsing. Desktop Browser Navigate to the specific Click on the tab located under the channel name.

Scroll down continuously; older videos will load automatically as you go. YouTube App Open the channel and tap the section at the top. Ensure the sort filter is set to Recently uploaded to see the full list from newest to oldest. 2. Export a Full List (For Creators)

If you own the channel, you can export your entire video library as a spreadsheet using YouTube Studio Sign in to YouTube Studio from the left menu. Change the time frame to Advanced Mode (top right) and then select the icon to download as a Google Sheet

If you have over 500 videos, you may need to export in subsets by filtering specific date ranges. 3. Generate a Video URL List (General Use)

To create a list of links for any channel without manual copying, use the "Uploads" playlist trick. The "UU" Method Find the channel's ID (which starts with Replace the in the channel ID. Add this new ID to the end of a playlist URL:

  • Suggested JSON schema (example): 
    
  "videoId": "abc123",
  "title": "Example",
  "publishedAt": "2024-03-01T12:00:00Z",
  "description": "...",
  "duration": "PT5M30S",
  "viewCount": 12345,
  "thumbnail": "https://...",
  "privacyStatus": "public"
  • Pros: Simple, no API key, easy to parse.
  • Cons: Typically limited to recent uploads (not guaranteed to list every historical video); not suited for complete enumeration of large archives.

    • video_ids = [] next_page_token = None

    while True: playlist_request = youtube.playlistItems().list( part='contentDetails', playlistId=uploads_playlist_id, maxResults=50, pageToken=next_page_token ) playlist_response = playlist_request.execute()

    for item in playlist_response['items']:
    video_ids.append(item['contentDetails']['videoId'])
next_page_token = playlist_response.get('nextPageToken')
if not next_page_token:
    break

    print(f"Found len(video_ids) videos.")