YouTube’s embed player accepts a long list of URL parameters that control almost everything about how a video looks and behaves once it is on your page. This reference collects the ones that matter, with plain-language explanations and examples.

How parameters work

Every parameter is added to the embed URL as a query string value, joined with an ampersand: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/VIDEO_ID?param1=value&param2=value. You can combine as many as you need. Parameters that expect a 1-or-0 boolean use 1 for “on” and 0 for “off”; unless stated otherwise, leaving a parameter out entirely uses YouTube’s own default behaviour.

Playback control parameters

Parameter Values What it does
autoplay 0 or 1 Starts playback automatically. Most browsers require mute=1 alongside it.
mute 0 or 1 Starts the player muted. Required by most browsers for autoplay to work.
start seconds Begins playback at the given number of seconds into the video.
end seconds Stops playback at the given number of seconds.
loop 0 or 1 Replays the video. For a single video, also add playlist=VIDEO_ID (the same ID) or looping will not work.
controls 0 or 1 Shows (1, default) or hides (0) the player’s control bar.

Display and layout parameters

Parameter Values What it does
rel 0 or 1 When 0, related-video suggestions shown at the end are limited to the same channel.
modestbranding 0 or 1 Reduces YouTube’s logo presence in the player controls (support varies by player version).
fs 0 or 1 Enables (1, default) or disables (0) the fullscreen button.
cc_load_policy 0 or 1 Forces captions to display by default when set to 1.
hl language code Sets the player’s interface language, e.g. hl=de.
color red or white Sets the colour of the video progress bar.

Playlist and multi-video parameters

Parameter Values What it does
list playlist ID Loads an entire playlist. Combine with the /embed/videoseries path instead of a single video ID.
listType playlist, user_uploads Changes how the list parameter is interpreted.
index number Which item in the playlist to start on, counting from 0.

Worked examples

Privacy-friendly, responsive, starts at 90 seconds, no related videos:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/VIDEO_ID?start=90&rel=0

Muted autoplay background video, controls hidden, looping:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/VIDEO_ID?autoplay=1&mute=1&controls=0&loop=1&playlist=VIDEO_ID

Clip that plays only from 30 to 90 seconds:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/VIDEO_ID?start=30&end=90

An entire playlist, starting from the third video:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLAYLIST_ID&index=2

Parameters that no longer work

A few older parameters that used to appear in embed tutorials, such as showinfo and disablekb, have been removed or deprecated by YouTube over the years. If a parameter you find in an old blog post has no visible effect, that is usually why: YouTube’s player has changed and the parameter is simply ignored.

A note on reliability

Some display-related parameters, like modestbranding, are applied on a best-effort basis and their exact visual effect can shift as YouTube updates its player. The playback-control parameters (start, end, autoplay, mute, loop, controls) are the most consistently reliable ones and the ones worth building your embed strategy around.

Build it without memorising any of this

You do not need to hand-write these query strings. Our free embed code generator exposes the most useful parameters, start time, end time, autoplay, mute, loop, hidden controls, privacy mode, Shorts format and playlists, as simple toggles and fields, and assembles the correct URL automatically. Use this page as the reference when you want to understand exactly what a generated embed is doing, or when you need a parameter the generator does not expose and want to add it to the code by hand.

For the layout side of embedding, see our guide on responsive YouTube embeds. For the privacy side, see embedding YouTube videos without cookies.