Watch Deleted YouTube Videos on Archive.org

Some deleted YouTube videos were preserved by the Wayback Machine. While most archive snapshots only save the web page (metadata), occasionally the actual video file was saved too.

1
Search for the channel or video
Use any search method to find the video you're looking for.
2
Filter by "Has Video"
Click the "Has Video" tab in the results toolbar. This filters to only show videos where we detected an archived video file on the Wayback Machine.
Video file available indicator Video file available indicator
3
Click "Watch on archive.org"
Videos with archived files show a "Watch on archive.org" link (with a blue play icon). Click it to open the video in the Wayback Machine player, where you can watch it directly in your browser.
Video file availability is rare. The Wayback Machine primarily saves web pages, not video streams. Only a small percentage of YouTube videos have their actual files archived.

How to Save the Video to Your Computer

Once you're watching the video on archive.org, you can save it locally:

Method 1: Right-click on the video player

  1. Open the video on archive.org by clicking "Watch on archive.org"
  2. Wait for the video to start playing in the browser
  3. Right-click on the video player
  4. Select "Save video as..."
  5. Choose a folder and click Save

Method 2: Download from the archive.org page

  1. On the archive.org video page, scroll down or look for a "Download" section on the right side
  2. You'll see download options with different formats (MP4, WebM, etc.)
  3. Click the format you want — the download will start automatically

Method 3: Use the direct file URL

  1. On the archive.org page, right-click the video player and select "Copy video address"
  2. Paste the URL into a new browser tab and press Enter
  3. Use Ctrl+S (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+S (Mac) to save the file
Archived videos are typically in MP4 or WebM format. MP4 files work in almost any video player. If you get a WebM file, VLC Player can play it (free download at videolan.org).

How Video Detection Works

During the search pipeline, Tube Search checks the Wayback Machine for files matching the pattern 2oe_/VIDEO_ID — this is how the Wayback Machine stores captured video files. If a match is found, the "Has Video" flag is set.

Alternative: View on Archive.org

Even if the video file isn't available, you can still see the archived YouTube page. Click "View in Archive" to see the Wayback Machine's snapshot of the video page, which may include the thumbnail, title, comments, and other metadata that was visible at the time of crawling.

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