Export Your YouTube Subscriptions to OPML (and Use Any RSS Reader)

YouTube doesn't make it easy to take your subscriptions elsewhere. But every channel still has a public RSS feed.

This guide lets you:

Export all your subscriptions
Generate a valid OPML file
Import them into any RSS reader
Beat the algorithm

No extensions. No API keys. No Google Takeout.

Step 1 - Open the Subscriptions Page

Go to:

https://www.youtube.com/feed/channels

Step 2 - Create a Bookmarklet

Create a new bookmark in your browser.

Set the URL of the bookmark to the following:

javascript:(async function(){function sleep(ms){return new Promise(function(r){setTimeout(r,ms);});}
if(location.pathname==="/feed/subscriptions"){alert("Open https://www.youtube.com/feed/channels and run again.");return;}
function esc(s){return String(s).replace(/&/g,"&amp;").replace(/</g,"&lt;").replace(/>/g,"&gt;").replace(/"/g,"&quot;");}
function pickText(t){if(!t)return"";if(typeof t==="string")return t;if(t.simpleText)return t.simpleText;if(t.runs&&t.runs.length){var out="";for(var i=0;i<t.runs.length;i++)out+=t.runs[i].text||"";return out.trim();}return"";}
function walk(node,fn){if(!node||typeof node!=="object")return;fn(node);if(Array.isArray(node)){for(var i=0;i<node.length;i++)walk(node[i],fn);}else{for(var k in node)if(Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(node,k))walk(node[k],fn);}}
function fromInitialData(){var m={};try{walk(window.ytInitialData||{},function(o){if(!o||typeof o!=="object")return;var id=o.channelId;if(typeof id==="string"&&/^UC[0-9A-Za-z_-]{20,}$/.test(id)){var title=pickText(o.title)||pickText(o.channelTitle)||pickText(o.name);if(title){m[id]=title;}else if(!(id in m)){m[id]="";}}});}catch(e){}return m;}
function fromDOM(){var m={};var links=document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="/channel/"]');for(var i=0;i<links.length;i++){var a=links[i];var h=a.getAttribute("href")||"";var mm=h.match(/\/channel\/(UC[0-9A-Za-z_-]{20,})/);if(!mm)continue;var id=mm[1];var title=(a.getAttribute("title")||"").trim();if(!(id in m))m[id]=title;}return m;}
function merge(a,b){for(var id in b)if(Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(b,id)){if(!(id in a)||(!a[id]&&b[id]))a[id]=b[id];}return a;}
var chans=merge(fromInitialData(),fromDOM());
var stable=0;
for(var iter=0;iter<60;iter++){
  window.scrollTo(0,document.documentElement.scrollHeight);
  await sleep(650);
  var before=Object.keys(chans).length;
  chans=merge(chans,merge(fromInitialData(),fromDOM()));
  var after=Object.keys(chans).length;
  if(after===before)stable++;else stable=0;
  if(stable>=6)break;
}
var ids=Object.keys(chans);
ids.sort(function(a,b){
  var ta=(chans[a]||a).toLowerCase(), tb=(chans[b]||b).toLowerCase();
  if(ta<tb)return -1; if(ta>tb)return 1; return 0;
});
var outlines=[];
for(var j=0;j<ids.length;j++){
  var id=ids[j];
  var title=(chans[id]||"").trim()||id;
  var feed="https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id="+id;
  var html="https://www.youtube.com/channel/"+id;
  outlines.push('    <outline type="rss" text="'+esc(title)+'" title="'+esc(title)+'" xmlUrl="'+feed+'" htmlUrl="'+html+'" />');
}
var opml='<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<opml version="2.0">\n  <head>\n    <title>YouTube Subscriptions</title>\n  </head>\n  <body>\n    <outline text="YouTube Subscriptions" title="YouTube Subscriptions">\n'+outlines.join("\n")+'\n    </outline>\n  </body>\n</opml>\n';
var blob=new Blob([opml],{type:"text/xml;charset=utf-8;"});
var url=URL.createObjectURL(blob);
var a=document.createElement("a");
a.href=url;
a.download="youtube-subscriptions.opml";
document.body.appendChild(a);
a.click();
setTimeout(function(){document.body.removeChild(a);URL.revokeObjectURL(url);},1000);
alert("Downloaded youtube-subscriptions.opml ("+ids.length+" channels).");
})();

Save the bookmark.

Step 3 - Run It

Go to https://www.youtube.com/feed/channels
Click your new bookmark\
Wait a few seconds (it scrolls automatically)
A file named youtube-subscriptions.opml will download

Step 4 - Import Into Any RSS Reader

Most RSS readers support OPML import. Look for:

Settings → Import → OPML

Examples:

Feedly\
Inoreader\
FreshRSS\
Reeder\
NetNewsWire\
Tiny Tiny RSS\
Miniflux

What This Does

Each YouTube channel exposes an RSS feed at:

https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=CHANNEL_ID

The script:

Extracts all your subscribed channel IDs
Builds proper RSS feed URLs
Generates a valid OPML file
Downloads it locally

No data is sent anywhere. Everything runs inside your browser.

jillesvangurp/yt-opml-export.md

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