YouTube often gets left out of the conversation related to the most popular social sharing websites. Although Facebook might be in the top position, YouTube boasts the second-greatest reach. Also, this platform is the second biggest search engine after Google.
YouTube has so much going for it. It has tons of cool features that you might not know. To help you make the most of this platform, here is a guide compiling the lesser-known hacks, tricks and features.
Turn Videos into GIFs
Who doesn’t love GIFs? Everyone finds them entertaining, and often, people use GIFs instead of words and emojis to express their emotions. On YouTube, you can create GIFs from the videos.
You can create a GIF from YouTube videos by choosing a video and finding the URL. Then, add the word “gif” before the domain name. This is going to take you to gifs.com, and the video will already be uploaded on the website. All you need to do is edit the video. You will find a host of options and tools in the menu. Use them to personalize the GIF. You can crop its frame, set the GIF duration and add captions.
Next, choose Create GIF and then give it a title. Click Next and share your newly created GIF with your near and dear ones. You can also sign up with gifs.com to download the GIF to save it offline.
Enable and Disable the Restricted Mode
On YouTube, there are different levels of Restricted Mode. The different settings are:
- Strict restricted YouTube access which will make the least amount of videos available to users and use the most limiting filters.
- Unrestricted YouTube access, which is when you have disabled the Restricted mode on YouTube.
- Moderate restricted YouTube access, which means the scrutiny of the videos won’t be as strict as with the Strict setting.
- Can approve videos is a feature for families with kids where you can approve some videos that signed-in users can watch.
Restricted mode can be enabled by going to your account > clicking your profile picture > choosing Settings Account > turning on Restricted mode. Then, you can set the different levels of restrictions. You can do this via your web browser on the desktop or mobile application.
But if you are searching for videos that are not displaying because this mode is turned on, you must know how to turn off Restricted mode on YouTube mobile. The steps are the same as when you were enabling this mode. On the YouTube app on your mobile, you have to go to Settings, find Restricted mode and toggle it off. If you are using the desktop version, you have to do the same via your web browser.
See Written Transcripts of Uploaded Videos
YouTube generates a written transcript for the video uploaded on the platform. Unless the user has hidden it from view, everyone can access the transcript.
You can see a video’s transcript by opening the video > selecting the More tab underneath the video title > and selecting Transcript. If you cannot see it, it is because the user has hidden the transcript.
Create and Collaborate on Playlists
Similar to iTunes and Spotify, you can create playlists on YouTube. Playlists are a place to store and organize the videos you like. You can keep the playlist private, public or share it with friends.
Playlists are useful for several reasons, such as collecting cooking videos for an upcoming party, creating a workout mix or segmenting a brand’s videos to understand the different content by topic.
You can create a playlist on your desktop by going to the Playlists page (choosing your account icon > Playlist) > clicking New Playlist, and choosing whether to keep it public or private. On mobile, open the YouTube app and select Playlist. Then, add videos to your created playlist.
You can share the playlist with your friends by copying and pasting the link. Alternatively, if you want to collaborate on the playlist, you can add friends to it. Collaborators can add videos to the platform and make other changes. You can see the name of the person who has contributed to your playlist.
Create Custom URL
Creating a custom URL is important if you are a YouTuber and want to grow your channel. When you want the maximum attention, it is best to have a URL your subscribers can easily remember and share. However, please note that once you have created a custom URL, you cannot make any changes to it.
Once you have acquired more than 100 subscribers, you become eligible to create a custom URL. Go to YouTube account settings and click Advanced in the name section. If you are eligible, follow the instructions on the screen.
Wrapping Up
These are some YouTube tricks you may have overlooked or didn’t know. When you are browsing this platform, ensure to implement these to augment your experience.