How to Change a Shortened YouTube URL into a Regular URL

Last Updated: January 31, 2023 Tested

When you want to share a YouTube video, does it bother you to see that the link doesn't look like the standard youtube.com web link? With a flick of a few additional keys, you can change this sharing link into something more recognizable.

Steps

1
Find the shortened link you want to share. Click on "Share" on the link, and find the address below that.
2
Copy that to a text editor. You'll need to fix it up a bit more before publishing it to your friends, who will be able to see your item in full desktop mode.

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3
Change the shortened version of the YouTube website (youtu.be) to the full name YouTube in the address. Remove the period in between the youtu and be and add the .com URL extension to the domain of the address so it becomes www.youtube.com.
4
Add "watch?v=" to the address right of the backslash of the URL before the identification code from the sharing link.
5
Copy and paste this address you've created into wherever it's needed. The link is ready to be shared wherever you want to share it that way.