From increasing views on past content to new video ideas from YouTube Studio, these 10 Secret YouTube hacks and features will help you grow your channel in 2025.

In this post (and coinciding video) I’m sharing 10 secret YouTube hacks you didn’t know existed. These are a combination of hacks and YouTube features you may be overlooking. From how to set a custom thumbnail with Shorts, to quick tips and tricks to increase views!

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Did you know that there are ways to increase your views on videos that you’ve already uploaded? 

Or that there’s a place in your YouTube Studio that tells you exactly what video you should make next? 

Today I’m sharing 10 Secret YouTube hacks, features, and strategies that will help you grow your YouTube Channel this year. I’m even throwing in a bonus ‘honorable mention’ at the end, which didn’t quite make the top ten… but is still a completely underutilized tool for YouTube growth. 

I’ve been making videos like this since 2020 on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok – and every time there’s always at least one hack that blows your mind! So without further ado, let’s jump in. 

If you’d rather watch instead of read, click play on the video below. 

10 Secret YouTube Hacks, Features, and Strategies You Should be Using in 2025

1. A/B Testing Your Thumbnails

Starting strong, this might not be the most revolutionary hack… but it is something every single YouTuber can work on right now to help them increase their views (even after you’ve published your videos). 

Your thumbnails are one of the most important aspects of your YouTube videos as they determine whether or not someone is going to click on and watch your video. 

So, if you’re currently getting low views on your videos – start A/B testing your thumbnails. If you’re a creator who simply makes one thumbnail for every video… you’re really limiting your growth. My team for example creates between 2-3 thumbnail concepts per video and then we use those thumbnails as split tests on my channel. 

This hack has also helped increase my views on videos that I’ve already posted. And that leads me to YouTube hack number two. 

2. Update Thumbnails & Create A/B Tests for Past Videos

Once again, if you’re thinking that these hacks aren’t super exciting – just know that they work. 

I had a student who uploaded a video that received 151 views and she was struggling to get any more views on it. She took my advice to update the thumbnail for the video… and overnight she had an increase of over 3,000 views. 

That’s 3,000 views just from changing her thumbnail. This is such a simple YouTube hack – and it’s such a good YouTube hack that I don’t think people even realize it’s one. It can be a game-changer for your videos and your channel. 

3. Cut Out Low Retention Moments in Your Videos

If you have enough data on your video, you’ll be able to see your audience retention graph. You can use this to look for big drops or other drop-offs through the graph. With this graph you’ll be able to see the moments when your audience is clicking off, getting bored, or no longer engaged with your video. 

So, you can use this data to your advantage! Go into the YouTube Editor and clip out the drop-offs to keep the pacing and improve your overall video performance. Since you’re losing viewers at these moments, cutting them will actually help your video overall. 

I learned this YouTube hack from Marcus Jones, he’s another YouTuber who was able to use this hack to increase one of his videos that had almost no views… to that video going viral overnight and receiving over 4 million views. 

4. Use YouTube Studio’s “Inspiration” Tab for Video Topic Ideas (for Long-Form and Shorts)

In this YouTube hack, you can use the “Inspiration” tab to get video topic ideas for both your long-form and short-form content. 

Your access to this feature will depend on: 

• Your posting frequency
• How many times you’ve posted altogether
• Data available from your channel (does YouTube have enough data to give you inspiration topics?)

If you do have access to this YouTube feature, head to your YouTube Studio → Click on Analytics → Click on “Inspiration” (it will be on the top with other options like ‘Overview’, ‘Content’, and ‘Audience’). You can also find this on your phone through the YouTube Studio app. 

YouTube is going to look at the content that you’re posting on your channel, and they’re going to recommend content ideas that are working well for other creators in your industry.

This is YouTube literally telling you what your audience is searching for – so make sure that you’re using this tool to find inspiration for your videos. 

If you’re someone who doesn’t have access to this tool or if the videos there aren’t inspiring you, then join my free workshop that teaches you how to come up with 4 months of content in one hour. This workshop is my favorite because I created an interactive workbook that you can fill out, as you go through the class. This means you walk away with tangible, niche content ideas – not just ideas about ideas… 

Plus you won’t just be coming up with general ideas. These ideas will be: 

• Ideas that your audience is actually interested in
• Ideas that will perform well for your channel

If that sounds interesting to you, join the workshop today! 

5. Create Custom Shorts Thumbnails

We can now create custom YouTube Shorts thumbnails! 

This is something that is relatively new to YouTube and while you would assume that now you could ‘upload’ your own YouTube Shorts thumbnail, that’s not quite the case. In the YouTube Studio on desktop, YouTube will still tell you that you can’t edit your thumbnail. 

But when you go to the YouTube app on your phone and upload a Short – there will be a little pencil icon in the left-hand corner of your video. When you click on that pencil, you will be able to choose a frame from your video to be the thumbnail. 

Not only will you be able to choose the frame, but now you can also add a filter and text to that frame to help it really stand out. 

So while we’re still waiting for the ability to upload our custom thumbnails, this is a good YouTube Shorts hack to help you get more clicks on your Shorts. 

BONUS HACK: Make Your Videos More Engaging Using B-Roll

Before moving on to YouTube hack number 6, I wanted to share a bonus YouTube hack that can help you make your videos more engaging. 

This bonus YouTube hack is to use b-roll to make your videos more engaging. This is especially important when you are creating videos where you’re talking to the camera and sharing a lot of information. Cutting to a relevant b-roll clip can help keep your audience engaged. 

But trust me, filming various b-roll shots for every break you want to have in your video can be time-consuming. That’s why I don’t. Instead, I use a stock media subscription service. 

Introducing: Storyblocks

I’ve been using Storyblocks since 2021 on my channel. They have an unlimited library of diverse and high-quality footage for one predictable subscription cost. Honestly, they have everything you need to create high-quality videos with over 1 million 4k videos, templates, sound effects and so much more. 

Plus, it’s easy to use. If you’re wondering just how easy… I have a video showing you exactly how it works to edit with CapCut. 

And the best part is that anything you download to use from Storyblocks is 100% royalty-free. Which keeps you legally covered as a creator. 

So, if you’re ready to use millions of high-quality stock videos for b-roll in your content (at one set price), then explore Storyblocks today. 

6. Add Related Videos to Your Shorts

I don’t think that this is an unknown feature, but I do think that it’s underutilized because YouTube released this feature under the radar. Now when you’re uploading or editing a YouTube Short, you can add a related long-form video to encourage users to keep watching videos from your channel. 

This is a great way to connect your short-form viewers to your long-form content. 

For example, if I share a 5-7 second long video on a specific transition you should try, I can now recommend one of my long-form transition tutorial videos to that Short. 

If you want some proof that this YouTube hack works – let me give you an example from my own analytics. 

Before my team and I implemented related videos on my Shorts, only 6% of my audience was watching both forms of my content. 

But after 2 days of going back through all of my Shorts and connecting them to a long-form video, that went up to 8% – and that was in less than 48 hours.

7. Use Your Pinned Comment to Lead People to Another Video

This is another YouTube hack that will help people watch more videos on your channel. This hack will help you gradually get more views as you’re growing your channel. 

There are so many ways to get people to binge your content, like adding ‘Cards’ to your videos or referencing another video on the outro of your YouTube video. This way you can have an edit screen that naturally encourages people to watch more videos from your channel. 

This is a great YouTube strategy because we love hanging out in the comments. Users on YouTube love hanging out in the comment section so use this space to encourage them to watch another relevant video.

Now another way that you can make this hack even stronger – is when you’re leading people to videos, choose videos that are part of a playlist. That way, when the next video ends, they’ll be in a playlist full of relevant videos. 

8. Bulk Video Editing

This isn’t necessarily a hack to help you get more views but I think it is a feature that not many people are utilizing and it could come in handy for you one day. 

When you’re on your desktop (this is only available on the desktop) you can go into your Content Lab and select videos that you want to edit all at once. There could be many different reasons why you want to do this. For example: 

• Updating tags
• Descriptions
• Ad-Settings
• Monetization
• Visibility

You can also use this feature to bulk-add specific videos to playlists. 

This feature came in handy for me when my channel got hacked. The hacker made all of my videos private and turned off monetization for those videos. When I got my channel back I was able to bulk edit my content to get everything back on YouTube and monetization quickly. 

9. Blur Faces or Objects in Post-Production or After Uploading a YouTube Video

This is a YouTube feature that I’ve used to blur out personal information that I didn’t organically catch when filming or editing a video. For example, I might accidentally show my personal email address or a student’s information when sharing an example. 

Even though I’m really diligent about this during the editing process, even once and a while there will be something that slips through the cracks so this YouTube feature really comes in handy. 

You can use this YouTube feature on your desktop. Do to your YouTube Studio → Click on Content → Click on a Video or Short → on the left, click on “Editor” → Blur. 

You can use this for hiding sensitive information / protecting the privacy of individuals.

10. Search YouTube Scripts for Keywords

This YouTube hack is more for the user, i.e. people who like to watch other people’s YouTube videos as opposed to YouTube Creators (unless you’re researching a topic!)

Say you’re watching someone’s video and you want to quickly search for a topic and they don’t have timestamps, you can search through the video transcript to help you find what you’re looking for. 

Here’s how you can use this YouTube Hack:

• Expand the description of the video
• Scroll toward the bottom and click on “Show transcript”
• Use CMD+F to search for words on a page
• Type in the keyword
• Scroll through the transcript to find the keyword and timestamp of that subject

This makes it so much easier to navigate through longer videos. 

YouTube Hack Honorable Mention: Clipping Your Long-Form Videos into Shorts

Now, while most people know that this feature exists, I have a little secret YouTube hack that I use to make this even easier. If you didn’t know, there is a ‘Clip’ option on your long-form videos. This allows you to choose a specific section of a video to upload as a Short. 

When you do this, it connects the YouTube Short to the long-form video helping viewers transition from short-form to long-form. 

Now this isn’t a strategy that I usually recommend for people who are trying to grow. It’s more of a strategy to maintain your presence on a platform. But there is a way that I use this hack! I script my YouTube videos – and then I go back through the script to pull out 10 or 30-second educational moments. Then I can edit this portion of my script to make sense for long and short-form videos. 

Clipping random points in your video can look… random. This helps your short-form content become more valuable to those watching it. 

Which of these 10 secret YouTube hacks have you found the most useful?

Now, if you’re somebody who wants to increase your views over on YouTube, be sure to watch this video. I also have a tutorial all about YouTube Shorts Specific hacks. 

I’ll see you in the next one! Follow your joy, bye!