Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 02:30 am
Updated 7.8.2022
There will be a time when we watched a video or a series of videos on YouTube and forgot about it.
We didn’t bookmark the video or subscribe to the channel, probably because we were in a hurry.
Then after a period of time, we need to watch the video but can’t remember the exact title.
We surely can locate the video if we remember the channel name.
Trouble is, we can’t recall the channel name.
Is there a way to find a YouTube channel without knowing the name?
Well, there are ways you can try your luck with.
Before you read on, you may want to take a look at this quick video to get an idea of the best solutions to the problem.
Check You Channel Subscriptions
The easiest way to find a YouTube channel you forgot the name of is to check through your subscriptions.
Even if you don’t remember a channel’s name, coming across a particular channel may ring a bell.
Most of us are in the habit of subscribing to dozens of channels. Only very few spend time checking what channels they’ve subscribed to after a while.
Some don’t even know how to check their subscriptions.
If you’re one of them, here’s how to do it.
To do so, you would have to log in to your YouTube account.
After doing so, visit your YouTube subscription page.
Alternatively, you can click on your account profile on the YouTube page and choose Your Channel.
Next, on the left panel, click on Subscriptions.
When you do that, you would be brought to a page that displays the latest videos from the channels you’ve subscribed to.
You can scroll through these videos to see if any from the channel you’re looking for is there.
However, there’s a quicker way. Click on the Manage button at the top right-hand corner.
You’ll see a list of channels you’ve subscribed to. Scroll through to see if the channel you’re looking for is there,
Check Your Browser History
If you’re not in the habit of clearing your browser history, it may serve you well in this instance.
Just remember roughly when you last watched a video from the channel. It would be good if you had done it in the past few weeks.
Scanning through your browsing history may ignite your memory and you may find the channel through a video link.
If you’re on Chrome just hit the CTRL + H keys to access the browsing history page.
Hopefully, this method will allow you to find a YouTube channel without knowing the name.
Use Google Auto Suggest to Rekindle Your Memory
Do you remember using a search term or keyword that led you to the YouTube video?
Go to Google and type in the term or keyword phrase. Don’t worry if you’ve forgotten the whole phrase.
Even a word like why or how will do to retrieve what you searched for in the past.
When you type the word(s) Goggle autosuggest or autocomplete will pull up keywords you had entered in the past.
This may lead to something fruitful.
Use Google My Activity to Track Down Your YouTube Viewing Activity
Google My Activity is a service that many seldom use. It keeps a record of your web activity.
All activities must have been conducted with the Chrome browse when logged into your Google account.
If you head to its page (after logging in to your Google account), you’ll be given the following options – Web Activity, Location History, and YouTube History.
Click on YouTube History.
Under Activity Controls, click on Manage History.
Under YouTube History, you can do a search. Otherwise, you can also filter your history by date.
If you remember when you accessed the video or channel you’re looking for, fill up the After and Before fields.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be accurate here. Just start with whatever you can remember.
With some luck, you may be able to track the video you’re looking for.
Use YouTube Search Auto Suggest
To make use of this feature you must be logged in to your Google account. This would be the one you used to view the video or channel you’re looking for.
Maybe you did a search and used one of the keywords suggested to you.
You just have to remember the first one or two words to get started.
Any of the search suggestions may ring a bell and lead you to the video and on to the channel you’re looking for.
Use YouTube Channel Filter
Enter the keyword that you think gets close to the video you’re looking for. Hit the search button.
When the search results are displayed, hit the Filter button and choose Channel.
You’ll see a list of channels displayed. Scroll through them. Hopefully, this will help you find a YouTube channel without knowing the name.
Do a YouTube Search on Google
If you remember the keyword or a phrase you use to search the video, do a Google search.
Just type in the phrase and add youtube to the search as shown below.
Google will pull up all YouTube videos related to the search.
Scroll through them to see if the one you’re looking for is listed.
Search Channel Owner’s Name
Search Google
Do you remember the channel owner’s name?
Sometimes a channel name is difficult to remember, but you may easily remember the name of the person behind the channel.
Recently I visited a channel the name of which I couldn’t recall, But then I remembered the channel owner’s name.
This helped me search Google for the channel.
I just had to type Marcus Campbell YouTube into Google Search and it led me to the channel.
Through the channel owner’s name, I managed to locate the channel.
Search YouTube
You may also want to search for the owner’s name on YouTube. This would be useful if can only remember the first name, but not the last.
You will be in luck if the owner’s name is one that is frequently searched.
Choosing the name may lead you to the channel’s home page as shown below.
Visit YouTube Often
What if you can’t find a YouTube channel you forgot the name of by using the above methods?
Well, all you have to do is visit YouTube often. You know YouTube displays videos from channels you have visited before.
The algorithm studies your interests and displays videos accordingly.
There are channels I have long forgotten. But when I visit YouTube I get videos from these channels displayed on the YouTube home page every now and then.
You’re banking on pure luck here, but then it’s worth trying.
Hopefully, the above methods will help you find a YouTube channel you forgot the name of.
How to Increase the Chances of Finding a Forgotten Channel
One way you can increase the chances of finding such a channel is to view similar videos on other channels.
For example, the channel you have forgotten about my feature videos on affiliate marketing.
What you have to do is watch other YouTube videos on affiliate marketing. Watch as many as you can, regularly.
Hopefully, YouTube remembers that you have watched videos on the subject on the channel you’re looking for.
On your next visit, a new video from the channel may pop up on the home page.
Does this mean only when the channel owner posts a new video it will happen?
Not necessarily. Sometimes an old video you watched months ago, may pop up on your YouTube home page.
It happens. You’ve just got to keep your fingers crossed.
Tips to Avoid Wasting Time and Effort Looking for a Channel You’ve Forgotten
Save Channel Details
When you watch a video or two on a channel and are impressed, quickly save the channel details somewhere. Don’t bank on your memory to serve you at a later time.
Either you subscribe or copy and save the necessary links somewhere.
Bookmark Video or Channel
The method I use is I bookmark a video or a channel on my browser if I can’t decide whether to subscribe to the channel or not.
I drag and drop the video URL on the bookmarks bar, And I just leave the bookmarks there as I add more links.
In this way, I make sure I don’t miss out on the good stuff.
If you don’t fancy, bookmarking YouTube videos, then copy and paste the channel link somewhere.
Use Google Docs or Sheets
A good way of doing this is by using Google Docs, or sheets.
Any link you copy and paste there becomes automatically clickable.
The advantage of using any of these apps is you can access your links on any computer or device with an Internet connection.
Create or Add to Playlist
This is such an easy thing to do but many do not do it out of habit.
YouTube allows you to create an unlimited number of playlists. You’re allowed up to 5000 videos per playlist.
Also, you can create up to 10 playlists a day.
Create playlists on topics or your favorite videos from a channel.
Whenever you see a video that interests you, click on the Save button as shown below.
Next, you can add the video to an existing playlist or create a new one.
This is by far the easiest way to keep track of YouTube videos that interest you.
Get into the habit of saving videos if you’re not already doing it.
Those are the ways you can find a YouTube Channel You Forgot the Name Of.
Still Can’t Find the Channel?
If you still can’t find the channel despite using the above methods, chances are the channel is deleted or made private by the owner.
This is highly unlikely but it does happen.
When an owner does either, the channel will no longer appear in the search results.
Those are among the ways you can find a YouTube channel without knowing the name.
