YouTube link cleaner
Clean a YouTube URL (strip si, feature, and share junk)
Phone share sheets append si=. Desktop adds feature=. The video is the same. This page returns the canonical watch URL, the ID, and the stills that go with it.
What a dirty YouTube share link looks like
https://youtu.be/jNQXAC9IVRw?si=AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw&feature=share&pp=ygUI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw&list=PLxxxx&index=3After cleaning, the video handle you want is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw
ID: jNQXAC9IVRwWhy strip si= from a YouTube URL
si is a share identifier. It does not change the still. It makes two rows in a spreadsheet look like two videos. It also leaks which share surface someone used. For thumbnail work, drop it. The video ID extractor is the same job if you only need eleven characters.
Clean links make thumbnail ops boring — in a good way
A CMS field, a changelog, or a design ticket should store https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID, not twenty unique share URLs for the same upload. Cleaning the link is also how you stop teammates from treating two si= variants as two videos.
If the paste was a playlist URL with no v=, we cannot invent a video ID. If both exist, the video wins for thumbnails and the playlist ID is shown as extra context. Next: find a YouTube video ID.
After you have a clean URL
Download stills on the HD downloader. Copy CDN paths with the thumbnail URL generator. Measure pixels with the size checker.
FAQ
YouTube link cleaner FAQ
What does a YouTube link cleaner remove?
Tracking and UI flags such as si, feature, pp, ab_channel, and similar query junk. The 11-character video ID stays. A playlist ID is reported if it was in the URL, but the clean watch link is video-only.
Why strip si= from a YouTube share link?
si is a share identifier. It does not change the video. It makes logs and spreadsheets noisier and can look like a different URL when it is not.
How do I get a clean YouTube URL from a Shorts link?
Paste the Shorts URL here. You get the video ID and a canonical watch?v= link. The stills are the same files as a long video.
Does cleaning a YouTube URL remove the timestamp?
This cleaner targets share and UI junk. A t= start time is not needed for thumbnails. Use the ID extractor if you only want the eleven characters.
Can I clean a youtube-nocookie embed URL?
Yes. Embed, live, music, and nocookie URLs all collapse to the same ID. The clean output is a normal watch link you can paste into any tool on this site.
Is a cleaned link required to download a thumbnail?
No. The HD downloader already ignores si= and friends. Clean the link when you will store it in a CMS, a spreadsheet, or a public page.