Search Deleted Videos by YouTube Channel
The most powerful way to use Tube Search is to look up an entire YouTube channel. You'll see every video we know about — live, deleted, and with varying levels of archived metadata.
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Enter the channel identifier
Type one of the following into the search bar:
- Channel URL — e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/@JREClips - @handle — e.g.
@JREClips - Channel ID — e.g.
UCnxGkOGNMqQEUMvroOWps6Q - Legacy URL path — e.g.
/user/fletcher2008or/c/LinusTechTips
You don't need the full YouTube URL — just the path is enough. All legacy formats are supported: /user/name, /c/name, /channel/UCxxx, and /profile?user=name.
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Wait for the search to complete
After clicking "Search", the system runs a multi-phase background pipeline. A progress bar shows the current stage and percentage. Results appear in real time as videos are discovered — you don't need to wait for the full scan to finish.
How the Search Pipeline Works
When you search for a channel, Tube Search automatically scans multiple web archive sources to find every video it can:
- Channel resolution — identifies the channel and finds all known aliases
- Archive scan — searches the Wayback Machine and Common Crawl for archived channel pages, playlists, and RSS feeds
- Status check — determines which videos are still live on YouTube and which have been deleted
- Metadata enrichment — extracts titles, descriptions, dates, and other details from archived pages
- Video file detection — checks if the Wayback Machine has the actual video file stored
How Long Does It Take?
Search time depends on the channel size and whether it has been scanned before:
| Channel size | First scan | Repeat scan |
|---|---|---|
| Small (under 100 videos) | 30 sec – 2 min | 5 – 15 sec |
| Medium (100 – 1,000 videos) | 2 – 5 min | 15 – 30 sec |
| Large (1,000 – 5,000 videos) | 5 – 15 min | 30 sec – 1 min |
| Very large (5,000+ videos) | 15 – 40 min | 1 – 2 min |
For large channels, the scan continues in the background even after you close the browser tab. Come back later — the results will be ready.
Where to Track Progress
- Progress bar — shows the current pipeline stage and completion percentage in real time
- Result counter — the "X videos found so far" counter updates as new videos are discovered
- Search history — registered users can check Profile → Search History to see the status of all their searches (completed, running, or failed) and the number of videos found
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Browse the results
Results appear as videos stream in. You'll see a channel summary card at the top with the channel name, avatar, stats, and known aliases. Below that, each video shows:
- Thumbnail (from archives or YouTube)
- Title and upload date
- Status badge: Live (still on YouTube) or Deleted (with metadata level)
- Duration, view count, and category
- Action links (Watch on YouTube, Watch on archive.org, Subtitles)
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Filter and sort
Use the tabs at the top of results to filter: All, Live, Deleted, Has Video (file available on archive.org), Has Subtitles. Sort by date or title using the dropdown.
If the channel was terminated or deleted, you can still search for it by Channel ID. Tube Search will find archived videos even if the channel no longer exists on YouTube.
Understanding Video Status
- Live — The video is still available on YouTube
- Deleted + Meta — The video was removed, but we recovered its title, description, and other metadata from archives
- Deleted + ID Only — The video was removed and we only know its video ID (no metadata recovered yet)
- Checking — YouTube status not yet verified