How to Loop YouTube Videos

You can probably safely assume that the creator of many YouTube videos intend for their videos to be watched only once or twice by each individual viewer, though of course there are many videos actually worth watching over and over, including favorite music videos, kids’ shows (the parents out there will understand what I am saying), or ambient background videos like fireplaces or aquariums that serve as visual and audio white noise.

That said, sometimes there’s a reason to have a video replay in a loop because you think the video is funny in a loop or for some other reason. For example, you might be using YouTube videos to help prepare you for a technical certification exam and really need more than one run-through of some concepts in order to prepare.

Until recently, however, there was no native way to set a YouTube video on “repeat” on an infinite loop, playing the video over and over again indefinitely.

The YouTube developers and community addressed this problem in multiple ways, with creators looping videos on the editing side and uploading massive 12-hour compilations, and plug-in developers offering numerous browser-based solutions to automatically reload and replay a video when it ended.

The good news is that thanks to a YouTube update you no longer will need these compilations or plugins in order to loop YouTube videos.

How to Put a YouTube Video on Loop (Repeat) on a PC

Here’s how to to put YouTube videos on an infinite loop using YouTube itself rather than an external solution.

1. First, using a modern Web browser such as the latest versions of Chrome, Safari, or Firefox, find and start playing the YouTube video you want to loop or repeat.
2. Once the video that you want to loop is playing, just right-click on the video itself to reveal the familiar options menu as seen here on TechJunkie’s YouTube channel.
3. Now, click on Loop. Return to your video and, once it’s complete, the video will automatically start over at the beginning.

Of note, Google (the owner of YouTube) has implemented its own server-side loop technology, and the video will start playing again without even needing to reload the browser page. The video just starts up again with no need to refresh or click on anything.

The only drawback to this new YouTube loop feature is that if the video featured a pre-roll YouTube ad, you’ll probably see or hear it again once the video restarts (in some brief testing, we noticed that a pre-roll ad played again after looping in 4 out of 5 forced loops).

This of course also applies to any ads or introduction that the video creator themselves has inserted into the beginning of the video.

This feature is therefore not perfect, but at least users are finally able to access this relatively basic functionality without relying on third-party plugins. So now you can put YouTube videos on infinite loop any time you’d like!

How to Put a YouTube Video on Loop (Repeat) on an Android Device

For those of you wanting to loop YouTube videos an Android device, let’s get started.

1. Open up the YouTube app and play the video you want to loop.
2. Now, click on the Menu, the three dots icon.
3. Next, click on Loop.

If you desire to loop a playlist, then simply start playing the first video in the list and tap on the Loop checkbox underneath the video.

How to Put a YouTube Video on Loop (Repeat) on an iPhone

If you have an iPhone and want to loop videos or playlists, then follow the steps above. The YouTube app has been well designed to be similar across devices.

Does looping YouTube videos increase views?

YouTube doesn’t count what it considers “low-quality views” so you’re unlikely to get an engagement metrics boost from looping a video. Google and, by extension, YouTube (owned by Google), is getting more and more sophisticated in detecting real engagement vs. things like a video repeating multiple for the same viewer in the same session.

So it’s not worth the effort to try to boost view numbers by putting a video on loop. It’s best to loop videos if you feel it would be useful or fun in some other way.

YouTube Videos and Looping

Looping YouTube videos and playlists is as simple as clicking on a few buttons and menu options.

If you enjoyed this article, you might want to check out these other TechJunkie articles:

•  The Best YouTube Chrome Extensions [June 2019]
• How To Download and Convert YouTube Videos to MP4
• How to Play YouTube With Phone Locked

Have you used YouTube’s video looping feature? If so, what reason did you want to loop a video? Did the feature work well for you? Please tell us your experiences in the comments below!