Dissecting YouTube’s Activities Post-Uploading Videos

How Does YouTube Work After a Video Is Uploaded

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You use YouTube to watch videos, post your own content, and build up a following. That is how YouTube works for you. This article is about how YouTube works technically. There are a lot of steps which occur between you clicking ‘upload’ and a viewer clicking ‘play’. Understanding this process can be useful to YouTubers because it can help shed light on where problems may be occurring when you have issues uploading or watching videos. Generally when there is a problem it is on your end and there are multiple simple things you can do to fix it.

This article will explain what goes on behind the scenes when you upload a video, where that video really goes, and what happens when somebody clicks play.

How Does YouTube Work

1. What Happens When You Upload?

When you upload a video your computer or device packages it into IP packets. Packets are fragments of information containing both data from your video and the address you are sending it to, in this case YouTube. The packets are encoded into radio signals which are sent through a wifi or cellular network. Your video travels through switches and routers on the internet until they reach YouTube’s servers. Your video is then reassembled and stored.

If uploading takes a long time for you it probably has nothing to do with YouTube; there is a lot that needs to happen for your video to even get there. How long the upload process takes depends on a number of factors including how many devices share your internet connection, how strong your wifi signal is, and the age of your router. If your uploads are taking too long consider compressing your videos before you upload them. You can also try uploading from your college campus or public libraries as institutions like these tend to have fast internet speeds.

2. Where is Your Video Stored?

As it is owned by Google YouTube uses Google’s ‘Bigtable’, a compressed data storage system which allows it to store the 500+ hours of video uploaded to its servers every minute. Bigtable is software, though, not hardware. YouTube and Google both have massive amounts of data and it needs to be physically housed somewhere.

Google has Modular Data Centers all over the world where it keeps its servers. These centers could cost as much as $600 million dollars each and consume huge amounts of electricity. There are six of them in the United States, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one is South America.

3. What Happens When Someone Watches Your Video?

When a viewer clicks on your video their computer sends an encoded request through the internet to YouTube’s servers. After YouTube receives the play request it chooses which format to play the video in based on the viewer’s browser. Your video is again turned into packets, which are again sent as radio signals over the internet to your viewer. Your viewer’s computer or device reforms the packets into your video and their browser plays it.

If videos take a long time to load for you then there are a few things you can do to speed them up. First, consider changing the channel of your wifi router. Most people stay on the channel their router was set to when they first got it and so there is a good chance you and your neighbors are all on the same channel. This causes your networks to interfere with each other. You can also delete the temporary files on your computer. Besides helping you stream video faster this will free up storage space. Another thing you can do is make sure there are as few devices connected to your network as possible while you are watching videos. Besides mobile phones and laptops you may have appliances, like coffee machines and refrigerators, which are wifi enabled. Disconnect them temporarily and it will help your videos to load faster.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You use YouTube to watch videos, post your own content, and build up a following. That is how YouTube works for you. This article is about how YouTube works technically. There are a lot of steps which occur between you clicking ‘upload’ and a viewer clicking ‘play’. Understanding this process can be useful to YouTubers because it can help shed light on where problems may be occurring when you have issues uploading or watching videos. Generally when there is a problem it is on your end and there are multiple simple things you can do to fix it.

This article will explain what goes on behind the scenes when you upload a video, where that video really goes, and what happens when somebody clicks play.

How Does YouTube Work

1. What Happens When You Upload?

When you upload a video your computer or device packages it into IP packets. Packets are fragments of information containing both data from your video and the address you are sending it to, in this case YouTube. The packets are encoded into radio signals which are sent through a wifi or cellular network. Your video travels through switches and routers on the internet until they reach YouTube’s servers. Your video is then reassembled and stored.

If uploading takes a long time for you it probably has nothing to do with YouTube; there is a lot that needs to happen for your video to even get there. How long the upload process takes depends on a number of factors including how many devices share your internet connection, how strong your wifi signal is, and the age of your router. If your uploads are taking too long consider compressing your videos before you upload them. You can also try uploading from your college campus or public libraries as institutions like these tend to have fast internet speeds.

2. Where is Your Video Stored?

As it is owned by Google YouTube uses Google’s ‘Bigtable’, a compressed data storage system which allows it to store the 500+ hours of video uploaded to its servers every minute. Bigtable is software, though, not hardware. YouTube and Google both have massive amounts of data and it needs to be physically housed somewhere.

Google has Modular Data Centers all over the world where it keeps its servers. These centers could cost as much as $600 million dollars each and consume huge amounts of electricity. There are six of them in the United States, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one is South America.

3. What Happens When Someone Watches Your Video?

When a viewer clicks on your video their computer sends an encoded request through the internet to YouTube’s servers. After YouTube receives the play request it chooses which format to play the video in based on the viewer’s browser. Your video is again turned into packets, which are again sent as radio signals over the internet to your viewer. Your viewer’s computer or device reforms the packets into your video and their browser plays it.

If videos take a long time to load for you then there are a few things you can do to speed them up. First, consider changing the channel of your wifi router. Most people stay on the channel their router was set to when they first got it and so there is a good chance you and your neighbors are all on the same channel. This causes your networks to interfere with each other. You can also delete the temporary files on your computer. Besides helping you stream video faster this will free up storage space. Another thing you can do is make sure there are as few devices connected to your network as possible while you are watching videos. Besides mobile phones and laptops you may have appliances, like coffee machines and refrigerators, which are wifi enabled. Disconnect them temporarily and it will help your videos to load faster.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You use YouTube to watch videos, post your own content, and build up a following. That is how YouTube works for you. This article is about how YouTube works technically. There are a lot of steps which occur between you clicking ‘upload’ and a viewer clicking ‘play’. Understanding this process can be useful to YouTubers because it can help shed light on where problems may be occurring when you have issues uploading or watching videos. Generally when there is a problem it is on your end and there are multiple simple things you can do to fix it.

This article will explain what goes on behind the scenes when you upload a video, where that video really goes, and what happens when somebody clicks play.

How Does YouTube Work

1. What Happens When You Upload?

When you upload a video your computer or device packages it into IP packets. Packets are fragments of information containing both data from your video and the address you are sending it to, in this case YouTube. The packets are encoded into radio signals which are sent through a wifi or cellular network. Your video travels through switches and routers on the internet until they reach YouTube’s servers. Your video is then reassembled and stored.

If uploading takes a long time for you it probably has nothing to do with YouTube; there is a lot that needs to happen for your video to even get there. How long the upload process takes depends on a number of factors including how many devices share your internet connection, how strong your wifi signal is, and the age of your router. If your uploads are taking too long consider compressing your videos before you upload them. You can also try uploading from your college campus or public libraries as institutions like these tend to have fast internet speeds.

2. Where is Your Video Stored?

As it is owned by Google YouTube uses Google’s ‘Bigtable’, a compressed data storage system which allows it to store the 500+ hours of video uploaded to its servers every minute. Bigtable is software, though, not hardware. YouTube and Google both have massive amounts of data and it needs to be physically housed somewhere.

Google has Modular Data Centers all over the world where it keeps its servers. These centers could cost as much as $600 million dollars each and consume huge amounts of electricity. There are six of them in the United States, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one is South America.

3. What Happens When Someone Watches Your Video?

When a viewer clicks on your video their computer sends an encoded request through the internet to YouTube’s servers. After YouTube receives the play request it chooses which format to play the video in based on the viewer’s browser. Your video is again turned into packets, which are again sent as radio signals over the internet to your viewer. Your viewer’s computer or device reforms the packets into your video and their browser plays it.

If videos take a long time to load for you then there are a few things you can do to speed them up. First, consider changing the channel of your wifi router. Most people stay on the channel their router was set to when they first got it and so there is a good chance you and your neighbors are all on the same channel. This causes your networks to interfere with each other. You can also delete the temporary files on your computer. Besides helping you stream video faster this will free up storage space. Another thing you can do is make sure there are as few devices connected to your network as possible while you are watching videos. Besides mobile phones and laptops you may have appliances, like coffee machines and refrigerators, which are wifi enabled. Disconnect them temporarily and it will help your videos to load faster.


Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

You use YouTube to watch videos, post your own content, and build up a following. That is how YouTube works for you. This article is about how YouTube works technically. There are a lot of steps which occur between you clicking ‘upload’ and a viewer clicking ‘play’. Understanding this process can be useful to YouTubers because it can help shed light on where problems may be occurring when you have issues uploading or watching videos. Generally when there is a problem it is on your end and there are multiple simple things you can do to fix it.

This article will explain what goes on behind the scenes when you upload a video, where that video really goes, and what happens when somebody clicks play.

How Does YouTube Work

1. What Happens When You Upload?

When you upload a video your computer or device packages it into IP packets. Packets are fragments of information containing both data from your video and the address you are sending it to, in this case YouTube. The packets are encoded into radio signals which are sent through a wifi or cellular network. Your video travels through switches and routers on the internet until they reach YouTube’s servers. Your video is then reassembled and stored.

If uploading takes a long time for you it probably has nothing to do with YouTube; there is a lot that needs to happen for your video to even get there. How long the upload process takes depends on a number of factors including how many devices share your internet connection, how strong your wifi signal is, and the age of your router. If your uploads are taking too long consider compressing your videos before you upload them. You can also try uploading from your college campus or public libraries as institutions like these tend to have fast internet speeds.

2. Where is Your Video Stored?

Click here


As it is owned by Google YouTube uses Google’s ‘Bigtable’, a compressed data storage system which allows it to store the 500+ hours of video uploaded to its servers every minute. Bigtable is software, though, not hardware. YouTube and Google both have massive amounts of data and it needs to be physically housed somewhere.

Google has Modular Data Centers all over the world where it keeps its servers. These centers could cost as much as $600 million dollars each and consume huge amounts of electricity. There are six of them in the United States, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one is South America.

3. What Happens When Someone Watches Your Video?

When a viewer clicks on your video their computer sends an encoded request through the internet to YouTube’s servers. After YouTube receives the play request it chooses which format to play the video in based on the viewer’s browser. Your video is again turned into packets, which are again sent as radio signals over the internet to your viewer. Your viewer’s computer or device reforms the packets into your video and their browser plays it.

If videos take a long time to load for you then there are a few things you can do to speed them up. First, consider changing the channel of your wifi router. Most people stay on the channel their router was set to when they first got it and so there is a good chance you and your neighbors are all on the same channel. This causes your networks to interfere with each other. You can also delete the temporary files on your computer. Besides helping you stream video faster this will free up storage space. Another thing you can do is make sure there are as few devices connected to your network as possible while you are watching videos. Besides mobile phones and laptops you may have appliances, like coffee machines and refrigerators, which are wifi enabled. Disconnect them temporarily and it will help your videos to load faster.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Guide on Purging Stored Videos From YouTube Watchlater

The YouTube Watch Later playlist is a great way to save videos and view them later. But if you don’t keep on top of it, your Watch Later list can quickly become unmanageable and cluttered with content that you no longer want to watch afterward.

If you are wondering how, you can declutter the playlist, we’ve got you covered. To help you with the task, we’ve compiled a comprehensive step-by-step guide. In this article, we will show you how to clear Watch Later on YouTube with just a few clicks.

So, without beating around the bush, let’s get started with our tutorial!

How To Delete YouTube Watch Later Playlist

If your YouTube Watch Later playlist is filled with videos you’ll never watch again, or you are not interested in that specific content type, you can quickly delete these videos at any time.

Here’s the step-by-step process on how to clear Watch Later on YouTube Web and App:

How To Delete YouTube Watch Later Playlist On Web?

You can delete the YouTube Watch Later Playlist on your desktop in the following ways:

From YouTube Homepage

To clear the YouTube Watch Later Playlist from the YouTube Homepage, do the following steps:

Step1 First, open a browser on your PC and visit the YouTube homepage. Sign into your account if needed and click the “Library” option located at the left-hand side menu panel.

Step2 Croll down and click the “See All” option under the Watch Later header. Click the Three Dots below the Watch Later playlist details on the next page.

Step3 From the drop-down menu, click “Remove Watch Videos.” This will instantly remove all the videos you’ve watched but are still in the playlist.

Step4 Finally, to remove the unwatched videos, hover over a video and click the Three Dots. Select the “Remove from Watch Later” option to delete the video. You can repeat this process to remove all the content from the playlist until it is decluttered at the point of your satisfaction.

Using A Script

Since the above process can be tiring, you can use a script to remove all the videos at once from the Watch Later playlist in the following way:

Step1 In the first step, launch the Google Chrome browser on your system and head to the YouTube website**.** Next, select the “Library” option in the left pane and click “Watch Later” from the menu.

Step2 Now, hit the “Ctrl + Shift + J” keys on Windows or the “Command + Option+ J” buttons on Mac to launch the developer mode and open the console window.

Step3 Copy and paste the following lines of the script at the end of the line under the Console tab where the cursor is blinking.

setInterval(function () { document.querySelector(‘#primary button[aria-label=”Action menu”]‘).click(); var things = document.evaluate( ‘//span[contains(text(),”Remove from”)]‘, document, null, XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE, null ); for (var i = 0; i < things.snapshotLength; i++) { things.snapshotItem(i).click(); } }, 1000);

Step4 In the last step, hit the “Enter” key to clear the Watch Later Playlist on YouTube. However, the process may take some time, depending on the number of videos in your playlist.

Although a bit tech-savvy, the script execution method is the most effective way to delete all Watch Later videos at once.

You can also replace the number at the end of the script with a lower entry to delete videos according to your preference. Also, choosing a lesser number can speed up the video deletion process from YouTube Watch Later list by a great deal.

Note: It is important to note that experimenting with scripts is only for some. The script above has been confirmed to work, but others still need to be thoroughly checked and could potentially damage your computer. To prevent this from happening, only look for scripts from reliable sources instead of those posted by random people in various forums.

Easy and Safe Partition Software & Hard Disk Manager

How To Delete YouTube Watch Later Playlist On YouTube App?

If you are using YouTube on an Android or iOS device, it is possible to clear the Watch Later Playlist by doing the steps below:

Step1 In the first step, swipe up on the Homescreen of your Android device or swipe right on your iOS device to launch App Drawer, and tap “YouTube” to launch the app.

Step2 Now, tap the “Library” option in the bottom-right corner of the screen and tap “Watch Later.”

Step3 Next, tap the three dots (vertical ellipses) icon on the top-right side of the screen and choose the “Remove Watched Videos” option to delete them from the playlist.

Step4 If there are still unwatched videos in the playlist, select a video and tap the three dots next to it. Now, tap the “Remove from Watch Later” option. Repeat the process to remove all the unwatched videos to clear the playlist.

Is there an Alternative Way to Download YouTube Videos without Using Software?

Now that you’ve learned how you can clear the Watch Later playlist on YouTube, you might be looking for a way to download your favorite videos on your PC for later watch without using any software. If so,click here to find out 13 proven ways to get this done.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Bonus Video Tutorial: From a User to a Creator, How To Edit YouTube Videos Like a Pro

Hopefully, you have found the most appropriate solution to clear your YouTube Watcher Later playlist. However, while you are a YouTube user, how can you transfer your character from a user to a creator? In this video era, why not participate in the creation party and be one of them?

If you have any interests, you can watch the video we specially prepared for you. This video will show you how to use a user-friendly video editor, Filmora , to create your own YouTube videos!

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve discussed how to clear your YouTube watch later playlist from both the YouTube web from the homepage and using the script in the browser’s developer mode. We’ve also provided a step-by-step process for deleting the Watch Later playlist on the YouTube mobile app.

This guide was informative enough to answer most of your queries, and after reading it, you can now unclutter your YouTube Watch Later without any issues.

How To Delete YouTube Watch Later Playlist On YouTube App?

If you are using YouTube on an Android or iOS device, it is possible to clear the Watch Later Playlist by doing the steps below:

Step1 In the first step, swipe up on the Homescreen of your Android device or swipe right on your iOS device to launch App Drawer, and tap “YouTube” to launch the app.

Step2 Now, tap the “Library” option in the bottom-right corner of the screen and tap “Watch Later.”

Step3 Next, tap the three dots (vertical ellipses) icon on the top-right side of the screen and choose the “Remove Watched Videos” option to delete them from the playlist.

Step4 If there are still unwatched videos in the playlist, select a video and tap the three dots next to it. Now, tap the “Remove from Watch Later” option. Repeat the process to remove all the unwatched videos to clear the playlist.

Is there an Alternative Way to Download YouTube Videos without Using Software?

Now that you’ve learned how you can clear the Watch Later playlist on YouTube, you might be looking for a way to download your favorite videos on your PC for later watch without using any software. If so,click here to find out 13 proven ways to get this done.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Bonus Video Tutorial: From a User to a Creator, How To Edit YouTube Videos Like a Pro

Hopefully, you have found the most appropriate solution to clear your YouTube Watcher Later playlist. However, while you are a YouTube user, how can you transfer your character from a user to a creator? In this video era, why not participate in the creation party and be one of them?

If you have any interests, you can watch the video we specially prepared for you. This video will show you how to use a user-friendly video editor, Filmora , to create your own YouTube videos!

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve discussed how to clear your YouTube watch later playlist from both the YouTube web from the homepage and using the script in the browser’s developer mode. We’ve also provided a step-by-step process for deleting the Watch Later playlist on the YouTube mobile app.

This guide was informative enough to answer most of your queries, and after reading it, you can now unclutter your YouTube Watch Later without any issues.