YouTube Channel ID Finder

If you searched "get YouTube channel ID," you probably have a handle or custom URL, but the tool you are using needs the permanent UC ID.

Paste the channel URL into this finder and it returns the channel ID without making you inspect page source, open YouTube Studio, or guess from the handle. That is useful for RSS feeds, API calls, automation tools, dashboards, and subscribe link workflows.

The key rule: handles can change, channel IDs do not. When an integration asks for stable identification, use the channel ID.

Every YouTube channel has two identifiers:

The handle (@YourChannel): This is the human-readable part that can be changed. It's what appears in your YouTube URL after youtube.com/@

The channel ID (UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): This is the 24-character alphanumeric string that starts with "UC." It's permanent. It never changes even if you rebrand your entire channel.

Most of the time you only need the handle. But certain use cases specifically require the channel ID:

• RSS feeds: YouTube's RSS feed URL format requires the channel ID: `https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCxxxxxx`
• YouTube API integrations: Any API call that fetches channel data usually requires the channel ID as the parameter
• Podcast hosting platforms: Some platforms that republish YouTube content as podcast episodes need the channel ID to establish the feed
• Analytics and tracking tools: Tools like Social Blade, vidIQ, or custom dashboards often require the channel ID for accurate tracking
• Embedding: Some embed configurations reference channel ID rather than handle

If you need your OWN channel ID and want to find it without a tool:

• Open YouTube Studio
• Click Settings in the left sidebar
• Under Channel, look at the Advanced Settings tab
• Your channel ID is listed there under "Channel URL"

Alternatively, go to your channel page and look at the URL in your browser. If it shows a URL with "UC" followed by 22 characters, that's your channel ID. If it shows youtube.com/@handle, the ID is one step removed and this tool will find it for you.

This confuses a lot of creators. Here's the simple version:

When YouTube introduced handles (@yourname) in 2022, they gave every creator a user-friendly URL. Before that, channels used the channel ID directly in their URLs: youtube.com/channel/UCxxxxxxxxxx.

Now most channels show as youtube.com/@handle. But the channel ID still exists underneath. The handle is a nickname. The ID is the permanent identifier.

The tool works with both: you can paste either format and it will return your channel ID.

If you're here looking for a channel ID, chances are you're setting up either an RSS feed or an API connection.

For the RSS feed use case: once you have the channel ID from this tool, the RSS URL is simply: `https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=[YOUR_ID_HERE]`

Add that URL to any RSS reader (like Feedly, Inoreader, or a custom Zapier automation) and you'll get notified every time that channel publishes a new video. It's the most reliable way to monitor competitor channels without checking manually.

That's a genuinely useful workflow. And this tool gets you the ID you need to build it.