Search FAQs

Use the channel lookup box on the home page, subtitle search or metadata search. Type the channel's name, @handle or UC channel ID, then select the matching suggestion so it becomes a green channel tag. Selecting the suggestion ensures that you search the intended channel; unselected text can automatically resolve to several matching channels.

With the channel selected:

• Enter a spoken word or quote in subtitle search to match its automatic or manual captions.
• Use the title box in Metadata search to match video titles.
• Use subtitle search's Video Title field under Filters to require both title words and matching subtitle text.

You can also start directly on the channel's Filmot page. The search box below the channel card has Auto for automatic subtitles, Manual for manually created captions and a title button for video titles. Each search is restricted to that channel.

Additional filters combine with the channel and query. Remove an active filter with the x on its tag when you want to broaden the results.

Use the channel lookup box on the home page, subtitle search, metadata search or unlisted video search.

• Type a channel name, @handle or UC channel ID and click the matching suggestion to create a green channel tag. Repeat to add more channels.
• To add several at once, paste a comma-delimited list such as @LinusTechTips,@JerryRigEverything,@Dave2D,@GamersNexus. You can mix handles and channel IDs and select up to 200 channels per search.
• If you enter text without selecting a suggestion, Filmot automatically looks it up and uses up to the top six matching channels. Select the suggestion when you need exactly one channel.
• Where an Include/Exclude switch is available, Include restricts the search to the selected channels; Exclude removes those channels from the results.

To reuse a channel list, bookmark the subtitle or metadata search URL. The selected channels are retained in the address, so you can reopen it and change the query or other filters. Signed-in users can also click the bell button to save a named search with its query, channels, filters and description.

The lookup on the home page and subtitle search only includes channels with subtitles available for search. Metadata and unlisted search include all known channels, even when no captions or transcripts have been indexed.

Filmot cannot limit search results or matches to your YouTube watch history.

For your subscribed channels, you can build the list yourself and search only inside it:

• In the channel lookup box on the home page, subtitle search or metadata search, type a channel name and click a suggestion. You can also paste a comma-delimited list of handles or UC channel IDs, for example @LinusTechTips,@JerryRigEverything,@Dave2D,@GamersNexus. Handles and channel IDs can be mixed in one list.
• Use up to 200 selected channels per search.
• If an Include/Exclude switch is shown, choose Include to search only inside the selected channels.

To reuse the list, bookmark the search page. Signed-in users can also save a search with its selected channels; see Saved Searches.

Use the channel lookup box on the home page, subtitle search or Metadata search. Enter the channel's name, @handle or full UC channel ID, select the matching suggestion and open the resulting green channel tag's tooltip. It contains links to the channel's Filmot page and YouTube channel.

To add several channels at once, paste a comma-delimited list of handles or IDs. You can mix them, for example @DIYPerks,UCWFKCr40YwOZQx8FHU_ZqqQ. You can also open a known channel directly at /channel/ followed by its UC channel ID.

If a channel recently changed its YouTube name, Filmot may still have the old name. Non-standard Unicode characters in a name can also make lookup difficult. Try its @handle or full UC ID; the ID is the most reliable option because it does not depend on the display name.

The home-page and subtitle-search lookup only includes channels with searchable captions. Metadata and Unlisted Video Search include known channels without indexed subtitles, so try those pages if the channel is missing from subtitle lookup.