Free tool · runs in your browser

YouTube Channel ID Finder

Paste any channel URL or @handle and get the underlying UC… channel ID — the identifier YouTube's API, embeds, and RSS feeds actually use.

How to use this tool

  1. 01

    Paste the channel URL or handle

    Any of the YouTube channel URL formats works — @handle, /c/customurl, /user/legacyname, or a full channel URL.

  2. 02

    Get the ID

    Click Find — the tool tries oEmbed first, then falls back to HTML parsing through a CORS proxy if needed.

  3. 03

    Use the UC… ID where needed

    Copy and paste into API tools, RSS readers, or anywhere that requires the immutable ID.

Why this matters

YouTube has three identifiers per channel: the immutable UC… channel ID, the display @handle, and (for legacy channels) a custom URL like /c/channelname. The UC… ID is the only one that's permanent and required by YouTube's Data API, channel RSS feeds, and many third-party tools — but YouTube doesn't expose it in the UI for channels with handles or custom URLs.

This tool resolves any channel reference to its UC… ID using YouTube's oEmbed endpoint first (clean, supported, fast) with a CORS-proxy HTML fallback for edge cases where oEmbed fails. The UC… ID is the safe reference for long-term automation — it survives channel name changes, handle changes, and ownership transfers. Pair it with the video ID extractor for full URL parsing coverage.

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FAQ

The channel ID is the immutable UC… string YouTube assigns at channel creation — it never changes. The @handle is the human-readable display name introduced in 2022 (e.g. @mkbhd). Custom URLs (/c/name or /user/name) are the older legacy format granted to established channels. APIs and RSS feeds require the UC… ID; humans and links use the handle.

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