Since the launch of YouTube in 2005, it has radically transformed how we watch, share and even create video content online. And that content keeps getting more specialized – from ambient background noise to ASMR relaxation triggers, educational tutorials, music mixes, movie trailers, funny compilations and more.
Often times, viewers want to play these videos on repeat rather than watch them just once. Fortunately, YouTube makes looping both individual videos and full playlists incredibly straightforward.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore the ins and outs of YouTube‘s looping capabilities, from a brief history to step-by-step setup instructions across devices. Whether you‘re looking to focus with some background noise or just can‘t stop laughing at that viral cat video, let‘s dig into how to put your favorite YouTube content on repeat!
A Brief History of Looping YouTube Videos
Before walking through exactly how to loop videos, let‘s look back at when the capability first emerged. Understanding the history and context around looping gives helpful perspective on why the feature has become so popular.
YouTube first launched the ability to loop individual videos in November 2016 – over 10 years after the platform itself debuted. The feature arrived alongside other playback options like slow motion and fast forwarding.
Prior to official looping, viewers who wanted to replay videos manually had to either continually click replay, or rely on third party browser extensions and apps that simulated looping behavior.
So what drove YouTube‘s decision to finally incorporate native looping functionality for all users?
When they announced the new features, YouTube pointed to three main use cases:
Music – Listening to songs, concert footage, playlists, and music mixes on repeat
Ambient Noise – Playing background sounds like rain, nature, and ambient music on a continuous loop
ASMR – Deepening the tingling sensations triggered by whispering, tapping, and other sounds by replaying them
Essentially, native looping afforded a more seamless, integrated experience for those frequently using YouTube for music or background noise rather than solely watching videos from start to end.
And based on adoption rates since its launch, video looping has absolutely resonated with users. While specific stats are scarce, Chrome (one of the most popular web browsers) reported that requests to enable looping grew over 275% year-over-year in late 2018.
The next year, YouTube layered the ability to loop full playlists on top of individual videos – catering to music mixes and compilation videos. Users could now binge hours of uninterrupted content.
Cut back to present-day, and millions now routinely use YouTube‘s looping for everything from focusing with background noise to falling asleep to music to keeping the LOLs flowing with endless meme replays.
Now that we‘ve touched on the history leading up to present-day looping functionality, let‘s walk through exactly how to loop both videos and playlists based on the device you use.
Getting Started with YouTube Video Looping
Before jumping into platform-specific how-to‘s, let‘s briefly cover some best practices around looping YouTube content generally:
Log Into Your YouTube Account
While not always necessary, logging into YouTube provides the best experience around tracking watch history, playlists, selections, and more – especially relating to looping. Stay logged in as you follow the steps below.
Use Reliable Wi-Fi or High Speed Cellular
Since looping means extended video streaming, be sure you have the bandwidth to support endless playback. Lagging, buffering, and other slowdowns can disrupt a smooth loop.
Prepare Chargers and Take Breaks
Similarly, looping hours of video can drain device batteries faster. Keep chargers handy and periodically take screen breaks to ensure responsible device usage.
OK – now that best practices are covered, let‘s get hands-on with actual setup steps!
We‘ll progress through how to loop videos across four platforms:
- Desktop Web Browser
- Mobile Web Browser
- YouTube Mobile App – iOS
- YouTube Mobile App – Android
Let‘s start where YouTube got its start…on the desktop!
Looping Single YouTube Videos on Desktop
When YouTube first launched video looping back in 2016, it arrived on desktop web browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Safari first.
Here are the quick steps to loop any video using your open desktop browser of choice:
Open Video – Navigate to YouTube.com in your browser, search for any video, and click to open it. Allow any ads to finish first.
Right Click – Move mouse over the actual video playback window itself and right click to pull up the context menu.
Click Loop – In the right click menu you‘ll see "Loop" as an option toward the top – click this so a check-mark appears indicating it is now activated.
And that‘s it! The video will now continuously repeat until you manually stop it by right clicking again and clicking Loop to deselect it.
Below is an animated image illustrating the process:
Pretty straightforward right? Now let‘s look at looping videos directly on other mobile browsers.
Enabling YouTube Video Looping on Mobile Web browsers
Maybe your preferred device for watching YouTube isn‘t a traditional computer but rather a smartphone, iPad, or other mobile device with an integrated browser like Safari or Chrome.
Luckily, these mobile browsers now largely support the same looping capability, though implementation details can vary slightly.
Here is the step-by-step process for enabling looping videos in a mobile web browser:
Open YouTube Mobile Site – Open your mobile browser and navigate to YouTube.com. Ensure you‘re visiting the actual mobile optimized site rather than desktop site.
Search for Video – Use the search bar to find whatever video you want to loop. Open the video and tap to play, waiting for ads first.
Tap Context Menu – In the upper right corner of the video playback window, tap the three vertical dots to open video options.
Select Loop – From the context menu, choose the option to enable looping so the toggle switches on.
The selected YouTube video will now repeat continuously! When ready to disable, follow same steps but tap toggle off.
Here is a screenshot illustrating what enabling mobile web browser looping looks like on an iPad:
So as you can see, looping videos directly through mobile web browsers closely mirrors the desktop process covered earlier.
Now let‘s explore looping functionality within the official YouTube mobile apps next.
Initiating YouTube Video Loops via Mobile Apps
Beyond web browsers, millions of viewers access YouTube primarily through the dedicated iOS and Android mobile apps.
The apps integrate robust media playing functionality, offline downloads, suggested video discovery, subscriptions, and more – including easy video looping controls!
Here are the step-by-step directions for enabling looping within both the iOS and Android YouTube apps:
YouTube App for iOS
Open Video – Launch YouTube app and use search bar to find desired video. Tap to open it.
Tap Screen – Once video begins playback after any ads, tap directly on video window to bring up controls.
Open Settings – In lower right corner of video window, tap the Setting icon (a gear).
Enable Looping – Within Video Settings you‘ll see option for "Loop." Tap to toggle switch on.
The video will now repeat until you revisit settings and toggle looping back off!
YouTube App for Android
Open Video – Open YouTube app on device, search for desired video, tap to open
Tap Screen – Once video beings playback after ads, tap directly on video itself to bring up menu
Tap Repeat Icon – Small popup will appear with playlist and repeat icons – tap repeat (curved arrow)
Select Loop Video – This opens repeat options where you can choose to loop just video
Selected Android YouTube video now repeats! Retrace steps and select disabled loop to stop.
As you can see, steps are virtually identical across both YouTube‘s iOS and Android apps. With either installed, seamlessly looping videos is just a few taps away!
Now that we‘ve covered looping single videos across varying platforms and devices, let‘s explore putting entire YouTube playlists on repeat next!
Looping Full YouTube Playlists
Beyond singular videos, YouTube also lets you create and manage custom playlists – ordered groups of videos lined up to play in sequence.
Playlists are perfect for when you want hours of continuous similar content, like:
- Ambient chill music
- Compilations of funny pet videos
- Yoga flows and exercise routines
- Episodes of a serialized podcast
- Installments of a documentary series
- And more!
Luckily, YouTube makes it just as easy to endlessly loop full playlists as it does individual videos. This means you can have playlists comprising dozens, hundreds or even thousands of videos play on a continuous uninterrupted loop!
Here is how to enable YouTube playlist looping across desktop browsers and mobile apps:
Playlist Looping on Desktop Browser
Open Playlist – Use YouTube‘s left sidebar navigation menu to select Library, then choose whichever playlist you want to loop
Click Play – On the playlist page, click the Play All button to being sequential playback
Enable Looping – Below the large video viewer, you‘ll see the playlist title box followed by a Loop icon – click this so arrows circle repeatedly
That‘s all there is to it! Sit back and relax as your full playlist runs on an endless loop.
To disable looping, simply click the playlist‘s Loop icon again so the arrows revert to gray.
Enabling playlist looping only takes an extra click on desktop browsers!
Playlist Looping on Mobile Apps
Similarly, putting a YouTube playlist on repeat loop via mobile just takes tapping a couple icons:
Open Library – Open YouTube app menu and select Library to display playlists
Tap Playlist – Browse all available playlists and tap whichever one you want to loop
Tap Loop Icon – While first video plays tap Loop icon in upper left corner of video thumbnail list
That‘s all it takes! Tap looping icon again to disable repeat playlist playback.
So with either a desktop browser or the mobile app, continuous looping playback is just as accessible for full playlists as it is individual videos.
And pro users can take things yet another level by nesting video loops within playlist loops…
Looping Single Videos Within Playlist
What if want to loop just one single video within a larger looping playlist? Essentially creating a "playlist within a playlist"?
YouTube has you covered there too with nested loop capability:
Enable Playlist Loop – First, get full playlist endlessly looping using above steps
Single Video Loop – With playlist looping, hover over whichever individual video you want repeating and click its Loop icon
Check Icon – Once you see a "1" numeral inside that specific video‘s Loop icon, you‘ve nested a loop!
Now that selected video will repeat indefinitely while the greater playlist continually shuffles around it. Pretty powerful!
So in summary – YouTube provides robust, flexible video looping functionality across browsers and apps to turn just about any video or playlist into an endless stream of entertainment or relaxation.
Now that you know how to loop videos based on platform, let‘s briefly explore popular looping use cases. Understanding common scenarios will help inspire your own looping ideas!
Creative Ways to Use YouTube Video Looping
While the most straightforward looping application is just replaying a funny or entertaining video, there are tons of creative ways to leverage endless YouTube playback:
Ambient Noise
Live in a noisy area? Struggle to focus when it‘s too quiet? Find videos that capture various ambient sounds and loop them in the background:
- Rain
- Thunderstorms
- Coffee shops
- Trains
- Campfires
Sleep Sounds
In the same vein as ambient noise, use looping to help drown out distractions when trying to sleep:
- White noise machines
- Nature sounds
- Rain storms
- ASMR videos
Learning
Looping an educational or instructive video allows for repeated information absorption without constant restarts:
- Recipe demos
- DIY project tutorials
- Step-by-step product reviews
- Complex concepts explained through animated videos
Entertainment
When you just can‘t get enough of something captivating or funny, keep it on repeat!
- Music videos
- Stand up comedy sets
- Viral cat reactions
- Impressions/spoof reels
Get creative and find the best YouTube videos to amplify through looping. The options are virtually endless thanks to the platform‘s wealth of media!
Now let‘s wrap up with some handy troubleshooting tips in case looping doesn‘t go according to plan…
Troubleshooting YouTube Video Looping
Hopefully at this point you feel empowered to start looping YouTube videos with ease. But technology doesn‘t always cooperate flawlessly.
If you follow the steps outlined above but still have issues getting videos to properly repeat, here is a quick troubleshooting checklist:
Try a Different Browser – Certain niche browsers don‘t fully support YouTube features. Switch to a mainstream option like Chrome, Safari or Firefox.
Update Browser/App – Similarly, ensure you browser or YouTube app itself is updated to the latest version for maximum compatibility.
Check Internet Connection – With looping requiring continual uninterrupted streaming, verify your device has a strong, preferably high-speed data connection.
Use YouTube Site Not App – Some ad blockers function better on the YouTube website directly versus going through the native mobile app, so try looping there.
Adjust Display Settings – Ensure your computer or device display/power settings are configured for continual use, not intermittent auto screen shut-off.
Contact YouTube Support – Reach out to YouTube Help directly if you continue struggling with video looping functionality for personalized troubleshooting.
So in summary, first double check that your browser, app, display and internet connection are all optimized – then reach out for one-on-one YouTube Support if looping difficulties continue.
And with that helpful checklist, we‘ve just about covered everything you need to know around successfully looping your favorite YouTube videos and playlists for uninterrupted viewing enjoyment!
We explored the history of video looping capability within YouTube, stepped through hands-on setup guides across varying platforms, investigated creative looping use cases for inspiration, and closed with troubleshooting tips in case your repeats don‘t go as planned.
So what are you waiting for? Open up YouTube on your device of choice and start curating playlists of content to amplify through endless looping!
I‘d love to hear what types of videos you end up putting on repeat – let me know over on my Twitter @YouTubeGuru. Happy looping!
