We all know what YouTube is, right? You log in, watch three hours of cat videos and funny fails, then realize you've not even started on that report that's due first thing in the morning.

We're not interested in helping you write the report—but we are interested in helping you squeeze even more video content into your three-hour binge.

Here are ten awesome YouTube tricks to help take your viewing experience to the next level.

1. Move One Frame at a Time

Why should you need to move forward or backward by a single frame at a time?

Well, some content creators have an annoying habit of flashing up messages or images for a split second. Or perhaps you're trying to grab the perfect screenshot of a video for using elsewhere.

Be honest, how much time have you spent pausing and unpausing videos, trying to make them stop at the exact moment you need?

You won't have to anymore. Pause the video and use the Comma and Period keys to move forward and backward frame-by-frame.

Note: This only works on PC/Mac. If you're on mobile or streaming to a TV, you're out of luck.

2. Community Posts

youtube community

Okay, we lied. YouTube isn't all about videos. Not anymore.

In September 2016, YouTube launched its new Community feature. It gives content creators an alternative way to interact with their audiences. They can post GIFs, live videos, text, images, and more. As a viewer, you can comment on and like/dislike the posts.

If you want to see the feature in action, navigate to a channel and click on the Community tab.

3. Accurate Keyword Searching

With more than a billion videos already uploaded and an estimated 300 hours added every minute, it's not always easy to find exactly what you're looking for.

We've all searched for a long time and had to click through countless pages just to find the video we want.

Add allintitle: before your search term. YouTube will only show results that include all your keywords. Look at the difference in the results in the two examples below.

Without "allintitle:":

allintitle youtube off

With "allintitle:":

allintitle youtube on

4. Other Useful Hotkeys

We love the frame-by-frame hotkeys, but there are a few other useful ones you need to know about:

  • K: Pause
  • J: Rewind 10 seconds
  • L: Fast-forward 10 seconds
  • M: Mute
  • 0 (zero): Jump to the start of a video
  • 1 to 9: Jump to 10% to 90% of the video

Related: The YouTube Shortcuts and Tips Cheat Sheet

5. Slow Tutorials Down

youtube playback speed

Why do some people who make tutorial videos go so fast? Surely they realize if you're watching their content, it means you're not an expert in the subject and you need a slower pace?

Put the brakes on by slowing down the video's speed. Click the gear icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the video window and select Speed. You can drop the speed as low as 25%.

This trick is particularly useful for visual tutorials. If you're watching how to tie a tie or make an origami crane, it'll let you see all the little nuances in much more detail.

youtube timestamp

If you share many videos with friends, there will undoubtedly be times that you just want to draw their attention to a specific moment within it. If a video is only a minute or so long, that is not an issue. But in a two-hour documentary, it is more problematic.

Thankfully, it is easy to add a timestamp to a YouTube URL. Once added, the video will jump to that part when the link is clicked.

To add a timestamp to a YouTube video, click on Share, mark the checkbox next to Start at, and enter the time you require. YouTube will generate the link that you can then share.

If you would prefer not to share links, just use one of the many ways to watch YouTube with friends instead.

7. Personalized Video Feed

For such a popular website, the YouTube homepage is a bit of a mess.

At the top, you're presented with recommended videos YouTube thinks you want to watch based on your viewing history. They can be hit-and-miss.

Scroll down and you'll be shown some of your channels interspersed with other recommended topics and channels. The recommendations are frequently lousy, and there doesn't appear to be any logic to how videos are ordered under channels. It'll even prompt you to rewatch videos you've already seen.

The solution is to use the Subscriptions tab. Click Subscriptions in the left-hand panel and you'll be taken to a chronological list of all the videos released by all the channels you subscribe to.

8. Never Miss a Video

Even if you're using the Subscriptions tab, you're still liable to miss content from your favorite producers. The problem is especially acute if you subscribe to hundreds of channels. You'll be scrolling down forever just to find something worthwhile.

Save yourself the hassle and use video notifications. They're easy to set up. Navigate to the channel you want notifications for and click on the bell icon next to the Subscribe button in the top right-hand corner. Mark the checkbox and you're ready to go; the site will alert you every time something new is published.

To further customize your notifications, click on your profile picture, then go to Settings > Notifications. You can choose how you want to receive your alerts (push and/or email), enable desktop notifications via Chrome, and customize your email preferences.

You can also select which types of events you are notified about. Options include Subscriptions, Recommended Videos, Channel Activity, Comments Activity, Replies, Mentions, and Shared Content.

9. Convert a YouTube Video to a GIF

youtube gif

Want to convert that fun little YouTube video that you found into a GIF for using on social media? It's easy to do thanks to a simple URL hack. Just enter gif before youtube in the URL, so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3gmC7WmB4Q would become https://www.gifyoutube.com/watch?v=M3gmC7WmB4Q.

In the new window, you can edit the start time and add tweaks such as captions, padding, blur, hues, and crops. This isn't an official YouTube feature, but it works perfectly.

This is just one way you can access YouTube content without visiting YouTube itself.

10. Grab the Transcript

youtube transcript

There might be times that you would prefer to read a video's content rather than watch it. It's also really useful if you're trying to pull quotes from a video to use in an article or in marketing materials. In those instances, you can grab the transcript of the video, download it onto your device, and use it as needed.

To find the transcript of a video, just click on the three dots alongside the Save button, then choose Open transcript from the pop-up menu. The transcript will open in a panel on the right-hand side of the screen.

Keep in mind that not all video creators edit their transcripts, so the accuracy might not be perfect.

Share Your Favorite YouTube Tricks

The nature of YouTube means there are literally hundreds of nifty tricks and clever features for you to take advantage of.

The more tips and tricks you learn, the more enjoyment you can get out of the app, so it is definitely worth memorizing some of these features and use them in your day-to-day browsing.