Millions of people watch and share videos with their friends on YouTube1. When you enjoy videos there, some users might catch your eye, and you may want to learn more about them, like their names and addresses. Getting their IP addresses might help, but not much.
In this post, we’ll share some legit methods to help you gather possible location information about a YouTube user.
Can you get someone’s precise location from an IP address?
The short answer is NO, for regular users. An IP address is a numerical label assigned to your device connected to a network, and it can provide general location information. But it’s hard to get one’s precise location from their IP address.
Because an IP address might be shared by thousands of people in the same area, masked with proxies and VPNs, and change over time. So even if you manage to extract a location from an IP address using third-party tools, chances are it is not correct. A user even shared that the location information decoded from their IP address is several hours’ drive away from their actual location2.
To get the possible location details about a specific YouTube user, you may need other information and other tools. Here we’ll share some efficient methods to help you learn more about them.
Method 1: Do some digging
This is easy. Simply go to the target’s YouTube account page and check for any useful information under About. Normally, people show their social accounts there, like Instagram, Twitter, and email addresses. If they do, you can jump to and browse these social networks.
You might find the user’s information like usernames on other platforms, real names, and maybe a direct way to communicate with them. Once you know other usernames, you can search for them one by one on Google and see any chances to dig out related information.
Unfortunately, some people don’t feel like sharing much on their YouTube pages. And we have some convenient options for you to locate them – let’s start with the username.
Method 2: Reverse look up the YouTube username
Some individuals choose to use different usernames across multiple social platforms as a way to avoid recognized. But for others, especially those who want convenience, using the same username across platforms may help. As this user has shared, they use the same username everywhere because it’s easier to remember3.
Assuming that’s the case, with one known YouTube username, you might find other social profiles linked to it. For example, you can search for the username on other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and see if there’s a match.
Simply copy the person’s username and search for it using the tools below.
1. BeenVerified
BeenVerified is one of the top people searching engines. It supports reverse username search, which requires access to a large amount of data sources. In its reports, you may find the linked social media pages, potential owners, and contact info of the username searched. To use the service:
- Go to the BeenVerified search page.
- Enter the username and click SEARCH.
- Wait as BeenVerified searches its data sources. Once finished, it will generate a report.
- On the report page, there is a navigation bar on the left to help you easily access the information that you’re interested in. For example, the Potential Owners section.
- Click on the Search person button to get more available information linked to the username, which may include hints on their possible addresses and more. Note that BeenVerified is a subscription-based service, and you’ll need to purchase a membership plan to view the report.
What do we like about BeenVerified?
BeenVerified is an all-around people search service. With one subscription, you can access its other search services like username, email address, and address lookups.
2. Social Catfish
Starting from a dating investigation service, Social Catfish is now an expert in people searching that supports reverse username lookups. With its access to data sources including social platforms and public records, it may help you find available information linked to a YouTube username. Also, it offers reverse image lookups.
- Go to Social Catfish.
- Choose to search by username, then click Search.
- Wait as it searches through its data sources and generates a report. You’ll need to purchase a subscription plan to unlock the full report that may contain the address, name, contact info, and dating profiles linked to the username.
3. Spokeo
Spokeo is another notable people search tool that also provides a username search service. By looking up a username, you can get detailed information available about the person, like phone numbers, photos, and address history, and more.
- Go to Spokeo.
- Enter the username and click SEARCH NOW.
- Wait for Spokeo to look through its database. Once finished, it can bring you a potential owner’s name, photos, and profiles on 120+ social platforms. You’ll need to purchase a subscription plan to view the report.
4. Google
You can also search for the username on search engines like Google and Bing. Simply copy the user name and paste it into the search box. Don’t forget to add the site of the social platform you want to search for at the end. For example: angelo site: twitter.com. Check every social network like this and see if you can find a match.
In additional, by looking through the posts from these social pages, you may find information revealing what their addresses are.
Method 3: Use an IP logger
Although an IP address won’t reveal the physical location of a YouTube user, you can still get it if you’re curious. A simple solution is to use an IP logger like Grabify. It can generate tracking links to gather information about the individuals who click on them, including their IP addresses. A YouTuber shared that they used such tools to help filter out unfriendly commenters’ alt accounts4. To use it:
- Prepare a normal link that doesn’t look suspicious, like a YouTube video link.
- Go to Grabify. Paste the link in the box and click Create URL.
- Grabify will generate a tracking link in the New URL box. But to make your link look normal, click View Other link Shorteners.
- Choose a shortener to generate a new link.
- Send the link to the target user. If you can’t communicate with them directly, you may comment on the user with this link. However, the link might be blocked by YouTube or clicked by the wrong person.
- When the person clicks the link, the logged IP address will show on Grabify. Note that this method is only valid when the link is clicked.
FAQs
Can you get the IP address of a YouTube user?
YouTube is not a peer-to-peer platform, and all the content displayed on the website is stored in its servers before being streamed to your devices. If you try to pull the IP address directly from a user (e.g. with a command prompt), you will only get the IP address of YouTube’s servers.
It’s hard unless you use an IP logger. Even if you do, you won’t get much useful information because of the wide use of VPNs and the difficulty of linking IP addresses to physical locations.
From a username to location info, how?
People search services like BeenVerified typically use automated processes to scrape and access publicly available information from various sources, including online directories, social media platforms, public records, government databases, and websites.
When you perform a username lookup, it uses its internal algorithms to search for information associated with the provided username. Then it matches the username with linked records and profiles where the username is mentioned. Once finished, the results are presented in your report.
That’s all we have to share on how to perform a YouTube IP lookup. We hope you find the post helpful!
- Ceci, L. (2023, January 2). Number of daily active users (DAU) of the YouTube app worldwide from 1st quarter 2018 to 4th quarter 2021. [Data set]. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1252638/youtube-app-dau-worldwide/ ↩︎
- r/techsupport [Prometheus]. (2021, December 1). Your ISP will be able to link your IP address to your precise service address.
But some random kid who… [Comment on the online forum post Can someone know your exact location using an ip address?]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/r602sx/can_someone_know_your_exact_location_using_an_ip/ ↩︎ - Casual Discussion [NiaAlexandria]. (2022, June 23). yeah, because it’s easy to remember, especially for social media, it’s help a lot and i don’t even had to… [Comment on the online forum post Do you use the same username on other platforms?]. MyAnimeList. https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2024888 ↩︎
- r/cybersecurity_help [Sure_Gas6498]. (2023, February 5). yes. any link you click on can secretly redirect you through an ip sniffer. i do this on my youtube… [Comment on the online forum post if I clicked on a youtube video link could someone get my IP address]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/cybersecurity_help/comments/zjp0xj/if_i_clicked_on_a_youtube_video_link_could/ ↩︎