How to View YouTube Shorts in the Regular YouTube Player

YouTube's "Shorts" is YouTube’s answer to TikTok and Instagram reels but let’s be honest, the YouTube Shorts player lacks some functionality, such as the ability to fast forward and go back in the video.

However, you might be surprised to know that every video that loads in the "Shorts" player is actually a regular video, and by changing the URL slightly, you can load the same video in the regular player along with all the functionality of a traditional YouTube video.

Changing the URL

Changing the URL is the easiest way to switch the player from a technical standpoint. It’s so easy even your grandma can do it, as long as she knows how to type an address into the address bar of a browser.

 

Let’s use this super popular short video about AI taking over ping pong as an example. Look in the URL bar of a video playing in the "Shorts" player, where you should see the text Shorts/. Replace that text with watch?v= and load the new URL.

So in this example, the URL of the short video:

https://www.youtube.com/Shorts/nmHzvQr3kYE

becomes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmHzvQr3kYE

As you can see, the same video now displays in the traditional YouTube player. Alternatively, you can replace /Shorts/ with /v/ which is faster and easier.

So in our example, the URL would be: https://www.youtube.com/v/nmHzvQr3kYE

Using a Bookmarklet

A more advanced tip is to use a bookmarklet, a browser bookmark that executes JavaScript instead of opening a webpage.

What are Bookmarklets and Why You Should Use Them

If you've ever wished that your web browser could do more, bookmarklets might be the solution. They’re small pieces of JavaScript code stored as bookmarks in your browser. Unlike regular bookmarks, which direct your browser to a webpage, bookmarklets execute JavaScript code, adding new features or functionalities to your browser.

The Power of Bookmarklets

With bookmarklets, you can interact with or manipulate the websites you already have open. They can modify the appearance of a webpage, extract data from a webpage, or even control HTML5 audio and video playback parameters. They're a lightweight alternative to browser extensions, and because they're written in JavaScript, they're compatible with any web browser that supports bookmarks, including mobile browsers

Using a Bookmarklet to Redirect Your Browser

To open the Shorts video in a traditional YouTube video player, you can save a bookmark that runs JavaScript to redirect you. Simply save this as a bookmark in your bookmark bar. When you open up a YouTube short, hit the bookmark, and it'll automatically redirect you. Here is the JavaScript code for the bookmarklet:

javascript:(function() { 
    var currentUrl = window.location.href; 
    var youtubeShortRegex = /^https?:\/\/(www\.)?youtube.com\/Shorts\/([a-zA-Z0-9_-]+)$/; 
    var match = currentUrl.match(youtubeShortRegex);   
    if (match) {   
        var videoId = match[0];   
        var newUrl = 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=' + videoId;   
        window.location.href = newUrl; 
    }

})();

To create this bookmarklet, follow these steps:

1.      Depending on the browser, add a new bookmark. There’s usually an "Add Bookmark" button.

2.      In the URL field, paste the JavaScript code provided above.

3.      Give the bookmark an intuitive name something like "YouTube Shorts Redirect".

4.      Now, whenever you open a YouTube short, you can click this bookmark to automatically redirect to the regular YouTube player.

As a safety reminder, only run code you trust in your browser. In this case, the code provided is safe and redirects from the YouTube Shorts URL to the regular YouTube video by replacing the ‘/Shorts/’ portion of the URL with ‘watch?v=’ like we did above.

Viewing YouTube Shorts in the regular player has several advantages:

Playback Control:

Probably the biggest advantage is that in the regular YouTube player, you can have more control over video playback. You can choose to watch it faster or skip ahead, which isn’t possible in the Shorts player.

Full Video Description:

In the regular player, you can see the full video description, links included by the creator, and comments from other viewers. This helps to give some additional context or information about the video.

Better Viewing Experience:

You may find that watching Shorts in the regular player provides a better viewing experience. The regular player offers better video quality, especially on larger screens.

Avoid Distractions:

The regular player doesn’t automatically repeat the video, unlike the Shorts player that continuously plays Shorts, which can be pretty distracting to be honest.

Access to Video Settings:

In the regular player, you get access to video settings like captions, playback speed, quality, and more. These options are limited or unavailable in the Shorts player.

 

Anyway, we hope that you’ve found this tip useful and in a future post, we’ll cover some really helpful YouTube shortcuts that we wished we knew earlier. Thanks for your support as always!