This YouTube RSS feed generator builds the feed URL of any YouTube channel or playlist so you can follow it in an RSS reader, a newsletter tool, or an automation, without a YouTube account and without an API key. YouTube still publishes an Atom feed for every channel and every public playlist; it stopped advertising the feeds on channel pages years ago, which is why the address is hard to find. Paste a channel URL, a bare UC channel ID, a playlist link, an older youtube.com/user/Name URL, or any video link, and the page writes the addresses. For a channel you get four: everything the channel uploads, regular videos only, Shorts only, and live streams. When all you have is an @handle, the page walks you through reading the channel ID from the channel page's source, because no key-free YouTube endpoint hands it to a browser.
How to get the RSS feed of a YouTube channel
- Paste the channel, a playlist, or a video. Any of these works:
youtube.com/channel/UC..., the bare channel ID, youtube.com/playlist?list=..., a watch URL that carries list=, an older youtube.com/user/Name URL, or a link to one of the channel's videos. From a video link the generator asks YouTube's public oEmbed endpoint for the channel name and handle, then needs the ID (step 2). A pasted @handle goes straight to step 2.
- Get the channel ID if you only have a handle. Open the channel page on youtube.com, view its source (Ctrl+U, or Cmd+Option+U on a Mac), select all, copy, and paste it into the box that appears under the tool. The page reads the
UC ID from the source and builds the feeds. Channel owners can skip the paste: YouTube Studio lists the ID under Settings, Channel, Advanced settings, and the channel page's Share channel menu has Copy channel ID.
- Copy the feed your reader needs. Most readers want the all uploads feed. Pick videos only to leave Shorts out, Shorts only or live streams for the opposite. Paste the URL into the reader's add-feed box; the reader fetches it from youtube.com. Opening the URL in a browser tab shows the raw XML, which is normal.
The feed URL forms
| Feed | URL | Notes |
|---|
| Channel, all uploads | youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC... | The documented form; the feed title is the channel name. Shorts are included: the channel checked on 2026-09-29 had 11 Shorts among its 15 newest entries. |
| Channel, videos only | youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=UULF... | Replace the leading UC of the channel ID with UULF. Returns the regular videos only, feed title Videos. Undocumented; verified 2026-09-29. |
| Channel, Shorts only | youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=UUSH... | UC replaced by UUSH. Feed title Short videos. Undocumented; verified 2026-09-29. |
| Channel, live streams | youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=UULV... | UC replaced by UULV. Feed title Live streams. Undocumented; verified 2026-09-29. |
| Playlist | youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=PL... | Any playlist you can open signed out, including the channel's own UU... uploads list. The feed title is the playlist title; an unknown ID returns 404. |
| Legacy username | youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?user=Name | Works for old youtube.com/user/Name accounts only; a handle in this form returns 404. Use the channel ID when in doubt. |
The three prefix forms are the playlist IDs YouTube uses behind a channel's Videos, Shorts and Live tabs. YouTube has not documented them and could change them; if a prefix feed ever stops answering, the channel_id feed keeps working, and the generator always shows that one first.
What the feed contains
Each feed is an Atom document with at most 15 entries, the newest first; the channel, uploads, videos-only and Shorts-only feeds of the channel checked on 2026-09-29 each returned exactly 15, and its live-stream feed and a short public playlist returned 2 each. There is no documented page or count parameter, so a reader that polls a few times a day is how you keep the complete history of a busy channel. Every entry carries:
- the video ID and the channel ID (
yt:videoId, yt:channelId);
- the title, and the link to the video, which is a
/watch?v= URL for a regular video and a /shorts/ URL for a Short, so a reader or a script can tell them apart without a second request;
- the channel name and channel URL as the author;
- the published and updated timestamps;
- a
media:group with the description, the view count, the rating count, and one thumbnail: i2.ytimg.com/vi/VIDEO_ID/hqdefault.jpg at 480x360.
The thumbnail in the feed is the 480x360 rendition. For the 1280x720 image, paste the video ID or link into the YouTube thumbnail grabber, or build the URL yourself from the thumbnail URL guide; the thumbnail statistics study measured how often each size exists across 8,664 videos, and its recent-uploads sample was itself collected from these feeds.
Finding the channel ID behind an @handle
Handles (youtube.com/@name) arrived in 2022 and are what YouTube shows everywhere, but the feeds only take the permanent channel ID. Nothing public and key-free converts one into the other from a browser: YouTube's oEmbed endpoint returns a video's channel as the @handle URL, the channel page cannot be read by another website in the browser, and the Data API needs a key. The channel page does carry the ID in several places, which is what the paste box reads: the page still links its own feed in a <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"> tag that is not displayed (a reader with feed autodiscovery may accept the channel URL as-is for that reason), the canonical link is youtube.com/channel/UC..., and a <meta itemprop="identifier"> tag holds the bare ID. A video page's source names its channel as "channelId":"UC...", so pasting a video page's source works too. Only the ID is read from the paste and nothing leaves the page. If you own the channel, YouTube Studio shows the ID under Settings, Channel, Advanced settings; the subscribe link generator takes the same ID for a link that never breaks when the handle changes.
Why the page builds the address instead of fetching the feed
The feed URL answers without any cross-origin header, so a web page on another domain is not allowed to read it in the browser; that is a property of youtube.com, not of your reader, which fetches server-side and works fine. This page therefore does the part that can be done client-side: it parses what you paste, calls the oEmbed endpoint for a video link, and writes the addresses. If a feed you built comes back empty or missing in your reader, open the URL in a normal browser tab: a working feed shows XML that starts with the channel or playlist title, and a wrong ID shows a plain 404.
Using the feed
- RSS readers take the URL as-is. Add the videos only feed if a channel's Shorts flood the list.
- Newsletters and automation (a mailing tool, a Discord or Slack bot, a static-site build) get the title, link, published date and a thumbnail per video without an API quota. Combine the video ID with the embed code generator to embed the newest upload, or with the timestamp link generator when the post should open at a chapter.
- Watching several channels means one feed per channel; there is no combined feed for a set of channel IDs. A public playlist you curate is the closest thing: one
playlist_id feed for whatever videos you add.
Frequently asked questions
Does YouTube still have RSS feeds?
Yes. YouTube publishes an Atom feed per channel at youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC... and per playlist at youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=.... The subscribe button that once advertised the feed on channel pages is gone, but the feeds answer with HTTP 200 and the newest entries; checked on 2026-09-29.
How do I get the RSS feed of a YouTube channel from its @handle?
The feed needs the channel ID, and the handle alone does not give it: YouTube's oEmbed endpoint returns the handle, not the ID, and the channel page cannot be read by another website in the browser. Open the channel page, view its source, copy it, and paste it into the box on this page; the ID appears in the page as channel_id=UC..., in the canonical link, and in an identifier meta tag. The channel owner also finds it in YouTube Studio under Settings, Channel, Advanced settings, or on the channel page under Share channel, Copy channel ID.
Can I get a YouTube feed without Shorts?
Yes. Replace the UC at the start of the channel ID with UULF and use that as a playlist ID: youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?playlist_id=UULF.... It returns the channel's regular videos only, titled Videos. UUSH gives Shorts only and UULV gives live streams. YouTube does not document these prefixes; the three feeds were verified on 2026-09-29 and the plain channel feed keeps working if they ever stop.
How many videos does a YouTube RSS feed show?
At most 15, the newest first. Channel, uploads, videos-only and Shorts-only feeds checked on 2026-09-29 each returned 15 entries; a playlist or live-stream feed with fewer items returns what it has. There is no parameter for more, so a reader that polls regularly is how you keep the full history.
What does each entry of the feed contain?
The video ID and channel ID, the title, the watch or Shorts link, the channel name and channel URL, the published and updated dates, the description, the view count and the rating count, and one thumbnail URL: the 480x360 hqdefault.jpg. For the 1280x720 image, put the video ID into the YouTube thumbnail grabber on this site or build the URL from the thumbnail URL guide.
Why does my reader say the feed was not found or is empty?
A wrong or mistyped channel ID returns HTTP 404, and so does the user= form when the name is a handle rather than an old username. A playlist you cannot open signed out, private or deleted, has no feed to read. Paste the channel URL or a video link again to rebuild the address, and open the feed URL in a browser tab first: a working feed shows XML that starts with the channel or playlist title.
Does this page read or store my feed?
No. The feed URL is not readable by a web page on another site, because youtube.com sends no cross-origin header on it, so this page only builds the address and your reader fetches it. The one request this page makes is the oEmbed lookup when you paste a video link, from your browser to youtube.com. Nothing is sent to a server of ours, because there is none.
