Troubleshoot YouTube Mobile Site
Navigate YouTube on mobile browsers
To open YouTube for Mobile Web, go to m.youtube.com in your device’s browser, such as Chrome or Safari. YouTube is also available as native apps for Android and iOS. Download YouTube for iOS or download YouTube for Android in Google Play.
Sign In
To get the most out of YouTube, sign in to access your favorite videos, playlists, and more.
Here’s how to sign in:
- Touch in the upper-left hand corner of the screen.
- Touch Sign in.
- Enter your email address and password.
- Touch Sign in.
Your account information in the Guide
After you sign in, the features that are most important to you will be available in YouTube’s Guide, which is the navigation bar on the left side of the screen. Here are some of the features you’ll find in the Guide:
- Watch Later
- Watch History
- Playlists
- Uploads
- Settings
Watch and discover videos on mobile browsers
Watch videos on phones
To play a video on any YouTube screen, touch its thumbnail. Here are some viewing options on phones:
Full screen mode: Touch the full screen icon then hold your phone horizontally. If you don’t see this, touch anywhere on the video.
HQ video: Touch the HQ icon to view high quality video. When HQ is enabled, the icon will turn red.
Watch videos on tablets
To play a video on any YouTube screen, touch its thumbnail. Here are some viewing options on tablets:
Full screen mode: Touch the full screen icon then hold your tablet horizontally. If you don’t see this, touch anywhere on the video.
Adjust video quality: Touch the settings icon to adjust the video’s playback quality.
Discover and search for videos
Search for videos, channels, and playlists on your phone – it works just like it does on a desktop computer. You can also use search filters to help you narrow down your search results.
- Touch the search icon at the top of the screen.
- Type your search terms.
- Touch a search suggestion or touch Go on your keyboard.
Looking for a specific video or channel? Additional filtering options include searching by video, channel, playlist, or upload date.
Share, comment, and flag videos on mobile browsers
When you’re viewing a video, you can take actions such as sharing to social networks, flagging a video for inappropriate content, or replying to comments.
Share videos
Touch the share icon directly under a video. From here you can share to the following:
- Google+
- SMS
Comment on videos
Touch the Comments tab to display a video’s comments.
- Leave a new comment: Touch the text field and enter in a comment. Touch Post when finished.
Flag videos
To flag an inappropriate video, follow these steps:
- Press the down arrow below the video’s window to view additional video information.
- Touch the flag icon and select your reason for flagging.
- Touch Flag this video.
Upload videos
You can upload videos to YouTube in a few easy steps. Below you can find the necessary instructions to upload your videos from a computer or from a mobile device.
To get started uploading videos on YouTube from your desktop, follow the steps below:
- Sign into YouTube.
- Click the Upload btn at the top of the page.
- Before you start uploading the video you can chose the video privacy settings.
- Select the video you’d like to upload from your computer. You can also record a video from your webcam, create a video slideshow or import a video from Google+.
- As the video is uploading you can edit both the basic information and the advanced settings of the video, and decide if you want to notify subscribers (if you untick this option no communication will be shared with your subscribers). Partners will also be able to adjust their Monetization settings.
- Click Publish to finish uploading a public video to YouTube. If you set the video privacy setting to Private or Unlisted, just click Done to finish the upload or click Share to privately share your video.
- If you haven’t clicked Publish, your video won’t be viewable by other people. You can always publish your video at a later time in your Video Manager.
Once the upload is completed we will send you an email to notify you that your video is done uploading and processing. You can then forward that email to friends or family for easy sharing. If you prefer not to receive notification, you can opt out by visiting your email settings.
The easiest way to upload videos from an Android device is to use the YouTube app.
- Sign in to YouTube.
- Open the Guide in the upper left corner of the screen and navigate to Uploads.
- Touch the Upload icon at the top of the screen.
- Select the video you want to upload.
- Adjust the title, description, tags and privacy settings of your video.
- On supported devices, you’ll also see a video preview with trim handles below it. Drag the trim handles to edit your video’s length. A long press on the trim handle will allow you to zoom into a frame by frame view for exact trimming.
- Touch the Upload icon.
Tip: Go to Settings > Uploads to modify the type of connection used to upload videos. Use this setting to restrict uploads to Wi-Fi only.
You can upload videos from your iOS device directly from the YouTube app. Make sure you have the latest version of the YouTube iOS app installed. Follow the steps below:
- Sign in to YouTube.
- Open the Guide in the upper left corner of the screen and navigate to My Channel (or directly touch theUpload icon on the guide.)
- Touch the Upload icon at the top of the screen
- Select the video you want to upload from your Camera roll and touch the confirmation btn.
- Adjust the title, description, tags and privacy settings of your video.
- Touch the Upload icon .
Tip: Go to Settings > Uploads to modify the type of connection used to upload videos. Use this setting to restrict uploads to Wi-Fi only.
You can also upload videos to YouTube from the YouTube Capture app or directly from the iOS Photos app. For more information about using YouTube Capture, visit the YouTube Capture help topic.
If you’re having trouble signing in, make sure you’re using the email address associated with your YouTube account.
If you recently connected your channel with a Google+ page, learn how to upload videos to your channel.
Here’s how to send the video from your device to a special email address that’s provided with your YouTube account.
Part 1: Find your unique email address for uploading videos
- On a desktop computer, visit your YouTube Settings.
- Under the “Account Information” section, find “Mobile uploads”. You’ll see an email address that looks something like 111111111111@m.youtube.com.
Don’t see an email address? Click the Create Mobile Profile btn and enter the information required. Click the Create Profile btn to create an email address.
Part 2: Upload the video
To upload the video, email the video to the address you found in Part 1. You’ll receive a confirmation email letting you know the video was successfully uploaded.You can edit the video and its settings by visiting YouTube on a desktop computer.
Ads based on my interests
While logged in to the YouTube mobile app, anonymous YouTube account information, such as age range, gender and YouTube video interactions, may be used to serve you relevant ads on YouTube. You can manage your logged in YouTube ads settings by logging in to Google Ads Settings.
Whether you are logged in or not, the ads you see may be based on the content of the videos you’ve viewed. Depending on settings you’ve chosen in the Google Ads Settings for Apps, these additional factors may determine which ads you see:
- Types of videos you’ve viewed
- The apps on your device
- The websites you visit and your use of apps
- Anonymous identifiers associated with your mobile device
- Previous interactions with Google’s ads or advertising services
- Your geographic location
Off the YouTube mobile app, Google may also use your anonymous account information, such as age range, gender and YouTube video interactions to tailor content and ads. You can manage settings for Ads by Google in the YouTube app and in these other mobile apps with the Google Ads Settings for Apps.
Control YouTube on TV with your phone, tablet, or computer
Connect over Wi-Fi
If you’re using a supported TV or game console, your phone, tablet, or computer will connect to your TV automatically when both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. Touch or click the icon to select the display on which your video will play.
Manual pairing
If you’re unable to connect over Wi-Fi, you can manually pair your TV with your second device.
Step 1: Find the pairing code
- Launch YouTube on your TV or game console.
- Navigate to Settings.
- Scroll to the Pair device screen.
Step 2: Enter the pairing code
- Launch the YouTube Android app.
- Go to Settings.
- Select Connected TVs then select Add a TV.
- Enter the pairing code shown on your TV or game console.
Touch or click the icon to select the display on which your video will play.
Remove or edit a connected TV
Remove or edit a Connected TV by returning to the pairing screen on your mobile device or computer.
- On your computer, go to youtube.com and click Settings > Connected TVs to remove or edit a TV.
- On iOS, touch Settings > Connected TVs and touch Connected TVs again to remove or edit a TV.
- On Android, touch Menu > Settings > Connected TVs > Edit TVs to remove or edit a TV.
- On the mobile site, touch Settings > Connect to TV > My TVs to remove or edit a TV.
To remove all paired devices from your connected TV, go to Settings > Delete > OK.
Send to TV
After connecting your phone, tablet, or computer to your YouTube TV or game console app, click or touch the icon to select the display on which your video will play. Use the video controls on your paired device to play, pause, stop or seek within the video.
*If you’re looking for information about casting from YouTube with Chromecast, visit the Chromecast help center.
Add videos to TV queue
While a video is playing on your TV or game console, you can add additional videos the the TV queue without interrupting playback.
- On iOS, touch a video and select +TV Queue.
- On Android, touch a video and select +TV Queue.
- On the mobile site, touch +Add to TV Queue.
- On youtube.com, select a video and then click +TV Queue
View your TV queue
- On iOS, maximize the video player and touch TV queue.
- On Android, maximize the video player and touch TV queue.
- On the mobile site, the TV queue will appear in the guide.
- On youtube.com, the TV queue will appear on the right side of your screen while casting.
Remove videos TV queue
- On iOS, open the TV queue and touch Remove from TV Queue.
- On Android, open the TV queue and touch Remove from TV Queue.
- On the mobile site, touch TV queue in the guide. Touch X in the video’s thumbnail.
- On youtube.com, hover over the video in the TV queue and click the X in the upper right. To clear your entire TV queue, click and then select Remove all.
Learn how to manage your connected TVs.
YouTube app & YouTube.com
Chromecast requires YouTube app version 4.5.17 or higher on Android or version 1.4 or higher on iOS. To update to the latest version, please visit Google Play or the Apple App Store.
To cast from www.youtube.com, you must have the cast extension installed on your Chrome Browser.
Watching your favorite YouTube videos on your TV has never been easier. To cast from YouTube to your TV:
- Find a video you want to watch and press the the Cast btn. On the YouTube app, the Cast btn will be in the top right-hand corner. From youtube.com on your laptop, it is in the bottom right of the player.
- Select your Chromecast from the dropdown menu and wait for your video to start playing on your TV.
Note: The Cast btn in the youtube.com player on your laptop functions differently than the Google Cast extension on your Chrome Browser. See Google Cast-enabled vs. Casting a Tab to learn more.
You may continue to use your phone or tablet to perform other tasks while your video is playing. To play, pause, or navigate with the scrollbar, use your device as you normally would to control playback. If you want to ‘cast’ the video back to your phone and tablet, simply press the ‘Cast’ btn once more, and select your phone or tablet from the list of available devices.
Playing multiple videos back-to-back
While watching a video, you can add more videos to your TV queue by selecting Add to TV queue on your mobile device or desktop. To see your TV queue, click YouTube logo which functions as a back btn until you see TV queue. Any device that is connected to your Wi-Fi network can cast videos and add to the TV queue. You can read more about this featurehere.
- Some videos may not play using Chromecast. Live content and videos not approved for mobile playback will not work with Chromecast.
- Because YouTube uses adaptive bitrate streaming, videos may appear lower quality at first, then will switch to the highest possible quality after a few seconds. If the video does not buffer at playback speed, the video will be downgraded to a lower quality setting, allowing for smoother playback.
- Casting from YouTube is supported from the YouTube app, YouTube.com, and most embedded YouTube videos.
If you’re having trouble, please try our Chromecast Troubleshooting tips here.
YouTube Mobile Site Basics
Watch the world’s videos and keep up with your favorite YouTube channels with the YouTube Mobile Site. Sign in to access your subscriptions, playlists, uploads, purchases, history and more.
Navigate to the YouTube Mobile Site
On your mobile device, open your web browser of choice. In the address bar, enter m.youtube.com.
Sign into the YouTube Mobile Site
To sign in, go to Menu > Sign in. Select an existing account on your device, or go to Add Account to add a new account to your device.
Switch channels in the YouTube Mobile Site
If you have multiple channels associated with the same account, you can switch channels by tapping the drop-down arrow icon next to your account name in the Guide. In the channel switcher menu, you can switch accounts, create a new channel, add another account, or sign out. For information about different YouTube identities, visit YouTube Accounts help.
Watch videos on YouTube Mobile Site
Touch a video thumbnail to begin playing a video.
On phones and tablets
- To play the video in full screen, rotate your device horizontally. On the iPad, touch the full screen icon .
- Enable high quality playback on a video by selecting the HQ icon in the video thumbail. On the iPad, touch the gear icon to change video quality.
- If your device supports captions and a video has captions enabled, touch the CC icon to enable captions.
Playback issues on the YouTube Mobile Site
If you’re having a playback issue, see these troubleshooting tips.