Systems and techniques for intra-block copy (IBC) prediction in processing video data include the use of one or more virtual search areas (VSAs) which can be generated to include one or more references to one or more pixels stored in a physical memory. The one or more VSAs can provide references to additional reconstructed sample values that are derived from previously decoded blocks without incurring physical memory use for storage of the additional reconstructed samples. A search area for performing the IBC prediction for a current block of the video data can be extended to include the one or more VSAs. Extending the search area to include the one or more VSAs provides the IBC prediction with additional search area for finding one or more prediction blocks or prediction samples without having to utilize physical memory to store the additional reconstructed samples from previously decoded blocks.