Import a video from a link or from YouTube
Bring a video into VideoBB from a YouTube link or a direct file link, up to 4 GB. See the daily limits, the rights rule, and why a link is refused.
Paste a YouTube link or a direct link to a video file, and VideoBB downloads it, encodes it and adds it to your channel. A direct link must point at the file itself, not at a web page. YouTube links are the one exception: paste the normal link to the video.
How to import a video
- Open the upload page and choose Import from link.
- Paste a YouTube link, or the direct download link of the video file. For a YouTube link, tick I own this video or have the rights to upload it.
- Add a title if you like, and choose Private draft, Unlisted or Public. The menu starts on the visibility from your upload defaults. Public needs a chosen display name.
- Press Import video. Progress shows on the page and under Imports in your studio.
Only import videos you made or have the right to publish. The community guidelines apply to imports just as they do to uploads.
Get a YouTube download link
Paste a watch, youtu.be or Shorts link, confirm your rights, and press Get download link. VideoBB retrieves a direct URL. Press Download video to save the file to your device, then return to Upload a file. To save the file, right-click Download video and choose Save link as…. If the video opens in a player, right-click the video and choose Save video as…. On a phone or tablet, touch and hold the download button and choose the download option if available.
Choose 360p or 720p when YouTube provides that quality as a single file with sound. Unavailable qualities are disabled. The link expires after a few hours; request a fresh link if it stops working. The upload page shows your remaining allowance and a countdown to the next refill. Your YouTube history lists submitted URLs, including failed and cancelled requests. Close a result with × and reopen it from history whenever needed. Ready links show their expiry countdown. Nothing is published until you upload the file.
Better quality than 360p
For better quality, download the video from YouTube yourself and upload the file. In YouTube Studio: Content → the video's Options menu → Download. The original camera or editor file gives the best quality.
Limits
You can request 5 YouTube download links in 24 hours on a free account, or 20 on Premium. Failed and cancelled requests do not count. Only request videos you own or have permission to upload. Playlists, live streams, age-restricted, private and members-only videos are not supported. Videos must be no longer than 4 hours and no larger than 4 GB.
What a direct link looks like
A direct link opens or downloads the file itself, and it often ends in a file name such as clip.mp4. A link to a page with a player on it will not work. Good sources are a file on your own server, a direct download link from cloud storage, or a clip you made on Higgsfield.
Daily limit and file size
You can run 10 direct-link imports in any 24 hours on a free account, or 100 on Premium. YouTube imports are counted separately, as described above. Each file can be up to 4 GB, the same as a normal upload.
Why a link is refused
- It does not start with http or https.
- It has a user name or password written into it.
- It uses an unusual port instead of the standard web ports.
- It points to a private or local network address.
- It leads to a web page, not a video file.
- The file is larger than 4 GB, the server answers with an error, or the download takes too long.
After the import
The video gets your upload defaults, then goes through the same encoding as any upload; see encoding times after upload. If it is three minutes or shorter, it becomes a Short.