Free tool from Channel Wise. No sign-up needed.
How to read a YouTube audience retention graph
The retention graph shows what share of viewers is still watching at each moment of your video. Drag the red handle to where most viewers leave. Move it left or right to change when they leave, and up or down to change how many leave. The panel on the right tells you what that shape usually means.
The basics
X axis: time in the video, from 0:00 to the end.
Y axis: percent of the people who started the video who are still watching at that moment.
Every curve falls. A drop is normal. What matters is how steep it is, where it happens, and how it compares with your other videos.
Average percentage viewed is the area under the curve. Flattening the curve anywhere raises it.
Other shapes you will see
Illustrative model, not real channel data. The thresholds are rules of thumb, so compare against your own videos first.
Check the retention of your own videos
Channel Wise connects to your YouTube channel with read-only access and looks at each video's retention, traffic sources, impressions and click-through rate. It points to the video that needs attention, suggests a change to try, and later shows you whether the change helped. It is free during early access.