Most viewed YouTube videos of all time

Questions about this ranking

How is this list ranked?

By lifetime view count, highest first, using counts recorded from YouTube’s official Data API. The table retains the actual snapshot date instead of treating a scheduled refresh as a successful new observation.

Is this the same as the most viewed videos this month?

The two boards measure different scopes. This one uses lifetime views without an upload-date window. The monthly board only includes videos published in the last 30 days. A video can appear in both if it qualifies.

Where does the list of videos come from?

The candidate list is curated against Wikipedia’s public list of most-viewed YouTube videos. The counts, titles, channels and upload dates displayed here come from YouTube’s Data API. Wikipedia is not the source of those numbers.

How often does it update?

Counts can change when a source refresh succeeds; membership is reviewed separately. Check the actual snapshot date above the table. A planned collection does not guarantee that every count was newly observed.

Why do children’s songs appear so often?

This table only shows cumulative public view counts. Those counts do not explain who watched a video, how many unique people watched it or what caused its popularity. The ranking alone cannot answer those audience questions.