These two phrases confuse a lot of learners of English. At first, they may seem absolutely similar, but in fact, they have different grammatical usage.
The main thing you need to remember is that
You and me = us
You and I = we
That means that the first phrase should be used as an object pronoun, while the second one as a subject pronoun. To simplify this grammar rule, just remember that subject pronouns introduce the action while object pronouns receive the action.
For example 👇
My mother bought some apples for you and me = My mother bought some apples for us
There is love between you and me = There is love between us
My parents promised to take you and me to the Zoo = My parents promised to take us to the Zoo
You and I saw a comet in the sky = We saw a comet in the sky
You and I were good friends at school = We were good friends at school
You and I made it together = We made it together
By the way, many of us heard two famous songs of Lady Gaga and One Direction. They both have phrases with “You and I” and both use them incorrectly. We don’t know the reason why authors made the mistakes, but the result is a lot of learners of English think that it’s correct to say “between you and I” and “something about you and I”. No, this is wrong. Look at the lyrics and remember how we should not use “You and Me” or “You and I” phrases:
Something, something about this place
Something, about lonely nights and my lipstick on your face
Something, something about my cool Nebraska guy
Yeah, something about, baby, you and I.
Lady Gaga
You and I.
We don’t wanna be like them.
We can make it ‘till the end.
Nothing can come between you and I.
One Direction
And by the way, Klaus Meine from Scorpions does it absolutely right:
You and I just have a dream
To find our love a place, where we can hide away
You and I were just made
To love each other now, forever and a day