💾 Recovering Lost YouTube Videos from the Wayback Machine (2010/2011)

This method allows you to recover certain old YouTube videos by leveraging how the Internet Archive saved their direct video file links from YouTube's Content Delivery Network (CDN) around the 2010–2011 period.

Step-by-Step Recovery Guide

1. Find the Archived YouTube Page:
   Go to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and search for the lost YouTube video's URL. Select a snapshot date, ideally from mid-2010 to 2011.
2. Locate the Video's CDN URL:
   With the archived page loaded, view the page source by pressing Ctrl + U (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Option + U (Mac). Search for the string generate_204 and copy the entire URL that contains it.
   Example URL Structure:
   v(number).lscache(number).c.youtube.com/generate_204?p=...
3. Find the Archived Video Playback URL:
   Paste the copied URL back into the Wayback Machine search bar. **Crucially, manually edit the URL** by changing generate_204 to videoplayback. Search for this modified URL to see if it was archived.
   Modified URL Structure:
   v(number).lscache(number).c.youtube.com/videoplayback?p=...
4. Access the Video File Archive:
   If an archive exists, click the saved date to load the page. It will likely show a plain blue or black screen.
5. Download the Video:
   
   • Right-click on the screen and select Inspect (or press F12).
   • Go to the **Network** tab in the Developer Tools.
   • Press Ctrl + R to reload the page and populate the network log.
   • In the log, look for the request named **videoplayback** with a status of **200 OK**.
   • **Double-click** the videoplayback entry to start the download of the MP4 file.

Congratulations, you've successfully recovered a lost video!