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7 hacks to make your YouTube-watching experience easier and more efficient
7 hacks to make your YouTube-watching experience easier and more efficient
Steven JohnAug 8, 2019, 01:47 IST
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YouTube is a massive platform. Fortunately, there are many "hacks" to know that make using YouTube easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable.
Your YouTube experience on both mobile and desktop can be enhanced with these hacks, with some working on both systems, and others tailored for a single type of device.
Knowing the best ways to search for videos on YouTube, for example, can help expedite the process of finding the content you want from among the millions of videos on the platform.
YouTube offers everything from live sports to network TV shows to original programming to a staggering amount of material produced by influencers with every interest imaginable.
YouTube has grown so large that it can be intimidating to navigate the site or the mobile app. Searching for your favorite videos and engaging with the platform can be tricky. But once you've learned a few handy YouTube hacks, you'll be able to engage with the site much more easily.
We worked with YouTube to assemble a list of seven hacks that will help you make the most of your time using YouTube, both on the iPhone and Android mobile app, and on a computer.
While watching a YouTube video in the mobile app, you can easily jump to the last video you watched or the next video in your queue. Just swipe your finger from right-to-left or left-to-right, respectively, across the video that is currently playing.
10 second fast forward or rewind on mobile
If you're watching on mobile and want your YouTube video to rewind 10 seconds so you can see something again, double-tap on the left side of the video window.
To hop forward 10 seconds, tap twice on the right side of the screen.
Turn on captions and change speed settings on mobile
You can alter your mobile YouTube viewing experience in numerous ways by tapping the three vertical dots at the top right corner of the video window.
The pop-up menu will allow you to turn on (or off) captions, choose a faster or slower playback speed, and set different video quality settings for most clips.
Use keyboard shortcuts to save time on a computer
There are many keyboard shortcuts you can use to speed up your interaction with content on YouTube's desktop site.
Pressing number keys will move you to a different point in the video: 3 advances you to the 30% mark, 6 to the 60% mark, and so forth.
K pauses a video. J and L fast forward and rewind 10 seconds, respectively.
And maybe most notable, press M to mute a YouTube video.
Watch later with one click
If you don't want to forget to watch a particular video on your computer but don't have time, hover over its thumbnail and click on the clock icon that appears. It will be moved into a "Watch later" playlist you can access from your desktop or on mobile.
Use "Dark Theme" for best video viewing experience
On both mobile and a computer, you can use a setting called "Dark Theme" that sets the background of the page to black. This lets the color of the video that's playing show more clearly.
Tap your icon at the top right corner, then click "Settings" and toggle on "Dark theme."
Make your YouTube searches extra efficient
There's a lot of content to comb through on YouTube. Save time and search better by using the right keywords and punctuation, examples of which are:
Add quotation marks to search for exact keywords in a specific order.
Use plus (+) or minus (-) signs to include or omit results.
Add the term "allintitle" in the search box before the keywords to make sure you only get results including all the keywords you searched for in the title.
Add HD to your search query to get high-definition results; you can also add 3D for three-dimensional content.
