To give you the best viewing experience, YouTube changes the quality of your video stream based on your viewing conditions. These conditions are why you may notice that the quality of your video changes as you watch videos.
Here are some factors that decide video quality:
- The speed of your internet connection.
- Video player/screen size: Higher-quality videos generally play better on larger screens.
- Quality of the original uploaded video: If the video was recorded in standard definition, it won’t be available in high definition.
- Your browser: Some browsers don’t support newer video formats or quality options.
Note: With YouTube Premium, you can watch videos in 1080p Premium on Apple phones and tablets. Become a YouTube Premium member or learn more about YouTube Premium benefits.
Change video quality
You can manually change the video quality of any video you're watching on a computer, TV, or mobile device.
How to change the quality of a video you’re watching
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Change video quality on your TV:
- In the video player, select Settings
.
- Select Quality.
- Select your preferred video quality.
Note: Some high-quality formats (for example, 1080p, 4K) may not be available for all devices, as they may not support the latest video compression technology (VP9).
To change the video quality of the video you're watching:
- In the video player, select Settings
- Tap Quality
.
- Select your preferred video quality:
- Auto (recommended): Changes to give you the best experience for your conditions.
- Higher picture quality: Uses more data so videos may take longer to start or may buffer more often.
- Data saver: Lower picture quality, but videos may start faster.
- Advanced: Manually select high-quality resolution formats.
- If prompted, select the resolution quality for your current video.
To change the video quality for all videos:
You can change the default quality for all the videos that you watch.- Tap your profile picture
.
- Tap Settings
- Tap Video quality preferences.
- Select your preferred video quality for mobile networks and on Wi-Fi:
- Auto: Changes to give you the best experience for your conditions.
- Higher picture quality: Uses more data so videos may take longer to start or may buffer more often.
- Data saver: Lower picture quality, but videos may start faster.
- Advanced: Manually select high-quality resolution formats.
- If prompted, select the desired resolution quality for all videos.
Note: Choosing the Advanced option may not be available for all videos.