The Most-Viewed YouTube Videos of All Time (2026)

The most-viewed YouTube videos reach a scale little else online matches — the leader has been watched more times than there are people on Earth, many times over. The ranking is dominated by two genres: children's nursery rhymes and global music hits. Below is the current top 20 with verified view counts, the milestones that shaped the list, and what the list shows about how views compound on YouTube.

All view counts are as of April 19, 2026, per Wikipedia's continuously-updated List of most-viewed YouTube videos, which tracks live counters. Figures grow daily and are rounded to the nearest 0.01 billion.

Quick answer

The most-viewed YouTube video of all time is "Baby Shark Dance" by Pinkfong, with about 16.87 billion views (as of April 2026) — roughly double the second-place video. The most-viewed conventional music video is "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi (~9.00 billion). As of April 2026, 30 videos have passed 4 billion views and 14 have passed 5 billion. The first video ever to reach 1 billion was Psy's "Gangnam Style," in December 2012.

The 20 most-viewed YouTube videos of all time

Source: Wikipedia — List of most-viewed YouTube videos (as of April 19, 2026).

What the list tells you

A few patterns explain why these videos sit at the top:

• Kids' content dominates. Nursery rhymes and learning songs (Pinkfong, Cocomelon, ChuChu TV, LooLoo Kids) fill most of the top 20. Young children rewatch the same video on loop, and autoplay keeps it running — so the same child generates new views again and again.
• Music is the other engine. Despacito, See You Again, Shape of You, Uptown Funk, and Gangnam Style show how a global hit turns radio and streaming ubiquity into repeat YouTube plays.
• Age compounds. Most of the list was uploaded between 2009 and 2018. View counts accumulate for years, so older videos that never stopped being watched keep climbing — the one exception here is the 2024 Temu ad, which bought its way up fast.
• The top is lopsided. "Baby Shark Dance" (16.87B) has nearly double the views of #2, an unusually wide gap for a #1.

Milestones in YouTube view history

• First to 1 billion: "Gangnam Style" (Psy), December 2012. In 2014 it also became the first video to pass roughly 2.15 billion views — the ceiling of YouTube's original 32-bit view counter — which prompted Google to rebuild the counter to hold larger numbers.
• The 4-billion-plus club: 30 videos have crossed 4 billion views as of April 2026; 14 of them are past 5 billion.
• The current leader: "Baby Shark Dance" has held #1 since late 2020, when it overtook "Despacito."

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Frequently asked questions about the most-viewed YouTube videos

What is the most-viewed YouTube video of all time?

"Baby Shark Dance" by Pinkfong is the most-viewed YouTube video of all time, with about 16.87 billion views as of April 2026 — nearly double the second-place video. It has held the top spot since late 2020.

How many views does Baby Shark Dance have?

Around 16.87 billion as of April 19, 2026 (per Wikipedia, which tracks the live counter). The number rises every day, so the current figure is higher.

What is the most-viewed music video on YouTube?

"Despacito" by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee, with about 9.00 billion views (as of April 2026) — second overall behind "Baby Shark Dance," and the most-viewed video that is a conventional music video.

What was the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion views?

Psy's "Gangnam Style," in December 2012. Separately, in 2014 it became the first video to surpass roughly 2.15 billion views — the limit of YouTube's original 32-bit counter — which prompted Google to upgrade to a larger counter.

Why do children's videos get so many views?

Young children rewatch the same video repeatedly, often with autoplay looping it, and parents use it as reliable, familiar content. That high repeat-view behavior — multiplied across a global audience over several years — is why nursery-rhyme channels like Pinkfong, Cocomelon, and ChuChu TV occupy most of the top 20.

How often do these view counts change?

Constantly. YouTube updates view counts continuously (with periodic audits that remove invalid views), so a ranking is only a snapshot. The figures here are as of April 19, 2026; the live list is maintained on Wikipedia.

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Sources

• Wikipedia — List of most-viewed YouTube videos (view counts, channels, upload years, and milestone notes; as of April 19, 2026).

For the bigger picture on the platform, see our YouTube statistics for 2026 and how YouTube monetization and earnings actually work.