Navigate YouTube

Navigate YouTube on mobile

Signed in? How you navigate YouTube depends if you are signed in. You can determine if you’re signed in by touching the  menu. If you’re signed in you’ll see your name or username, if you’re not, you’ll see the prompt to Sign in. This article covers navigation while signed in.

When you open the YouTube app, you’ll land on What to Watch. What to Watch highlights recent uploads and activity from your subscriptions and videos recommended for you. You will also see popular content and YouTube Mixes if you’ve previously watched music videos. You can navigate back to this feed at any time from the Guide.

Guide

You can access the Guide at any time, by touching the  menu at the top of the screen. The Guide lets you switch between What to Watch and My Subscriptions, your watch history and watch later lists, all of the playlists you’ve created or saved, and the channels you’ve subscribed to.

In the Guide you can also click your name or email address to switch accounts. This is useful if you’re switching between two different Google accounts or if you’re managing the YouTube channel for your Google+ page.

Settings

You can access your settings in the menu,   or . From Settings you can update the settings for your particular device. This includes connecting to TVs, search filtering, and accessing Help.

Search

The other icon you’ll see is the search icon . Enter what you’re searching for and then filter the results by videos, channels, or playlists.

Navigate YouTube on desktop

If you’re new to YouTube or haven’t signed in, the homepage will display the most popular videos and highlights from categories like Music, Sports, and Gaming.
Once you’ve signed in, the navigation bar at the top of every YouTube page allows you to easily find the stuff you care about. To sign out or change account settings, click on your channel icon in the top corner of YouTube.

Guide

Open the Guide to access your channel, playlists, subscriptions, history, videos you’ve saved to watch later, and purchases (if applicable). Learn more about the features accessible within the Guide.

What to watch / My Subscriptions

If you’re on the YouTube homepage, the center navigation items allow you to switch views of your homepage. What to Watch highlights videos recommended for you from your subscriptions and watch history while My Subscriptions allows you to view recent uploads and activity from your subscriptions.

Channel icon

To access the Creator Studio or switch between channels, select your channel icon in the top corner of the page. The Creator Studio includes your Dashboard, Video Manager, Analytics, and more.

The Guide

The Guide is your companion around YouTube to easily access your favorite content. Open and close the Guide by selecting the Guide icon  in the upper left corner of the screen.

If you’re not signed in to YouTube, the Guide will show a “Best of YouTube” section with links to popular YouTube video categories like Music, Sports and Gaming. It may also show a “Channels for You” section with suggestions on channels you may be interested in.

Once you’re signed in to YouTube, the Guide becomes much more customized. Here’s more information on the components you’ll find:

Account links

• What to Watch highlights recent uploads and activity from your subscriptions and videos recommended from your watch history
• My Channel will take you to your channel page
• History shows you your watch history list
• Watch Later displays videos you saved to watch later
• Purchases takes you to a page with your paid channel subscriptions, movie purchases or rentals, and live event purchases. Learn more about paid content on YouTube.

Playlists

This section of the guide includes your playlists, playlists you’ve liked, and liked videos. Hover over More to see additional playlists and View All to view and manage all your playlists.

Channels

Here you’ll find a list of channels that you’ve subscribed to. Clicking on any specific channel will take you to that channel’s page. You can also click Browse channels to see top channels or find more channels to subscribe to.

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Music on YouTube

We’ve created a series of new features to help you enjoy the huge collection of music on YouTube. These features make it easy to find high quality music from your favorite musicians and to discover new music on YouTube.

Your Music homepage

Your Music homepage is designed to be your destination for all things music. On your personalized page, you can easily replay music you’ve already listened to and find recommendations based on the music you like. You can find your Music page on your phone, tablet, or computer.

Music cards in search

Music cards are a collection of tracks by artist, album, or genre. Music cards are a great way to listen to full albums or find the official videos from your favorite artists.

You’ll find music cards in the results for your music related searches across platforms.

YouTube Mix

A YouTube Mix is a nonstop playlist inspired by a song or video you like. You can find YouTube Mixes:

• In search results
• On Music cards
• In the Suggested section on certain watch pages

Enjoying the YouTube Mix you’re listening to? Click the  icon and we’ll save the playlist in your Guide so you can easily listen to it again later.