Why Can't I Find My Video on YouTube Search?

Once you've created your latest video masterpiece and uploaded it to YouTube, ideally you want it to be made available to the masses right away. If you've tried to locate your video using the YouTube "Search" box, however, and it doesn't pop up right away, there's no need to become overly concerned. Oftentimes the most effective solution is to practice a bit of patience.

According to YouTube's Help pages, finding your video on a YouTube search may simply be a waiting game. With millions of videos playing on the platform each day, YouTube's servers are processing and indexing a lot of information. As a result, it can take up to eight hours for your video to show up in the search index. If it's been approximately eight hours -- more or less -- you may need to wait a bit for your video to show up.

Another reason for your video not showing up in a search could be you haven't added the correct tags. According to the site, if you search for your video using your YouTube username, it won't show up in a search unless you tag it with that username. As such, make sure to add as many relevant tags as you can to your video to help the search process along.

You most likely searched for your video using the title. After the eight-hour window, typing that title into the search box should turn it up. Another important thing about YouTube search is choosing a title that helps others find your video. When creating a video, try to imagine the search terms other people might use, and create a title that closely matches one of those words or phrases. This strategy could potentially help your video receive more views.

So you've waited the requisite eight hours or more, and you're still not seeing your video. Keep in mind that eight hours is just a guideline, and depending on the amount of information YouTube is processing that day, it could take longer than expected. If it's well past the anticipated time frame, however, you have the option to contact YouTube Help. Before you do, it's a good idea to go back to your "Videos" page to ensure that your video did upload and was not set to "private." Either one of these could cause it not to show up in the search.