Whether you watch videos with YouTube Premium or just with the free version, the service does more than just play videos. What hidden extras does YouTube have and how do you make sure you get the most out of the video service? We show it with this article with which we go for the ultimate viewing pleasure.
YouTube is visited by more than two billion logged in users every month. More than a billion hours of videos are watched every day, reaching millions of views. So you can enjoy yourself for hours (in fact years) on YouTube. And not just by watching the uploaded videos. You can do a lot more with it. YouTube has a large number of extras that many people have not yet discovered. It’s time to change that, because those extras, like creating GIFs or playlists, only make the global video channel more attractive.
Search for pros
Searching for the right videos on YouTube can be more accurate than meets the eye. You can search a video by keywords, excluding specific words. Type the keywords you want to search for, followed by the keywords you want to exclude. The latter is preceded by a minus sign. For instance: Nature trees –beach. In that search, ‘beach’ is excluded. The other way around is also possible: if you want the search results to contain a specific word, you use the plus sign. For instance: Nature +trees -beach. Even more interesting is the option to use filters. First, type the search query and let YouTube search. In the search box, click on the top left Filters. Bee Upload date you can filter by when the searched video was uploaded, for example This month.
The column next to it (Type) offers the possibility to sort by type of content, for example TV show or Movie. Finally, there are the filters categories Length and Functions. Through Length determine whether a video is short (less than 4 minutes) or long (longer than 20 minutes). Bee Functions You can sort by additional properties of a video, for example if you only want to see 360-degree videos or images in 4K resolution.
Even more search options
You can use the search box for additional options and increase your chances of finding the right video. If you are looking for a video in which one of the two keywords must appear (for example, either rain or sun), then use the following command: rain | Sun.
You can also look for keywords that only appear in a video title. To do this, use the command: Intitle:. For instance Intitle:summer. If you partially know the title, you can use an asterisk
use to omit the missing word.
Notifications under control Fortunately, you can control the notifications that YouTube shows. You decide how the notifications appear and what type of notification is shown. Open the hamburger menu at the top left of the window and chooseSettings . Click nownotifications . Bee General
turn off the notifications you no longer want to see. Do you want to receive notifications, even if YouTube is not open in the browser? Activate the option Receive notificationsin this browser. In the box below (Email Notifications
) determine whether YouTube can send messages to your email address. Disable all options to stop being contacted by email. Then open the sectionPrivacy . Do you want all playlists that you have saved yourself to always remain private and not be shared on your own channel? Then activate the optionKeep all playlists I’ve saved private . You can also choose not to share with the outside world which video channels you have subscribed to: activate the optionKeep all my subscriptions private
Take control of the notifications YouTube sends you.
Read on
Looking for specific information, for example in a study video, but no time to watch the entire video? In that case, you can make smart use of the transcript function: it shows what is spoken in the video and at what moments. Click on the button with the three dots and chooseOpen transcript . The text appears on the right. Click on a phrase to skip to it in the video. If you only care about the text, you can also disable the time code. Click on the button with the three vertical dots and chooseEnable/Disable Time Stamps
Read what is being said in the video and quickly switch to the correct fragment.
GIFs
Gifs (moving pictures) have been around for many years and are still immensely popular, for example for use on Instagram or in a blog. With a clever trick, you can also quickly turn your favorite video into a gif. Open the video you want to turn (partially) into a gif. Now go to the address line in the browser and change the section www.youtube.com inwww.gifyoutube.com
Instantly use a YouTube video as a gif.
Just start
You can easily share videos, but sometimes the entire video is not interesting or you want to refer to a specific part within the video. Make sure the video starts automatically at the correct time. Open the video and fast forward to the moment of interest. Then chooseShare . A new window will open. Place a checkmarkStart at . The correct time code has already been entered. You can also adjust these. Then click on hierna To copy to copy the link or share directly to another network via the sectionShare
Share the moments that matter.
without internet In conjunction with the YouTube mobile app (for iOS orandroid ) you can also watch videos when there is no internet, for example on an airplane. In the app, tapDownload . You can then indicate at which quality the video should be downloaded: the higher the resolution, the more storage is required. To watch the video later, open the sectionLibrary
.
Watch later If you come across an interesting video but don’t have time to watch it right away, you can save the video for later. On the page where the video is playing, click the buttonSave . You can then add the video to a playlist or save it to play at a later time (chooseWatch later ). To access these videos, click on the hamburger menu and chooseWatch later
Select a video to watch it later.
Manage history YouTube keeps track of the videos you watch. You also have control over this. Open the hamburger menu (top left of the window) and chooseHistory . In the list Watch history you will find an overview of all viewed items. To delete the entire list, click onClear entire watch history . You can also temporarily pause the history: it won’t keep track of what you’ve watched, but you have the option to turn the history feature back on later. ChoosePause Watch History
. click on Manage all history for the full set of options. Here you can, among other things, delete certain periods of history and set automatic deletion. click on Delete activity on the basis of and chooseSet up automatic deletion . Then choose the desired option, for exampleAutomatically delete activity older than 18 months
You are in control of recording your viewing behaviour.
Quick Shortcuts
Do you prefer the keyboard over the mouse? You can also control YouTube with keyboard shortcuts. For example, you can play or pause the video with the spacebar. With the K button you can play or pause a video in the player. M toggles the sound on and off. J fast forwards 10 seconds. L rewinds 10 seconds. Press F to see the video in full screen. With C you switch on the subtitles. Use the comma (,) to advance to the next frame. The > key increases the playback speed, the < key decreases it. 0 jumps to the beginning of the video. With / you are directly in the search box. Use Arrows Left and Arrows Right to fast forward and backward for 5 seconds. And the Up Arrow and Down Arrow buttons increase or decrease the sound.
Playlists Interesting is the ability to create playlists. You can, for example, place videos of the same theme here or group videos that you want to watch again later. Click on the image of your account in the top right and chooseYouTube Studio . A new window will open. In the left part of the window, chooseplaylists . Click on the top rightNew playlist . Give it a name Title
and then decide who can view the playlist. In the box Visibility do you choose Public if everyone can view the playlist or Privately if you want to keep the list to yourself. Finally, there is the optionHidden : Choose this if you only want to share the list with specific users who have the direct link. If you’re watching a video you’d like to add to a list, clickSave . Place a checkmark next to the desired playlist. You can also create a new list via this menu: chooseCreate new playlist
Group the videos into playlists.
Create playlists togetherYou can manage the playlists yourself, but other users can also contribute to the list. In the YouTube Studio, next to the playlist you want to collaborate on, click the pen button (Edit in YouTube ). Then click on the button with the three dots and chooseCollaborate
. Activate the optionContributors can add videos to this playlist . Also chooseAllow New Contributors . A link will appear: click on To copy and send the link to the people you want to collaborate on the playlist. The number of users will be indicated later in the sectionContributors . Confirm by clickingReady
.
View statistics YouTube keeps several stats for each video, including the resolution, quality of the connection, and which resolution is the most optimal. The statistics are hidden by default. Right click on the video image and chooseStatistics for nerds
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