Make YouTube Stop Buffering

Videos buffer, or load ahead of the moment you are watching, so you can watch the video smoothly and without interruptions. However, YouTube videos will only buffer a small portion of the video at a time, which makes it difficult to watch them over a slower internet connection. If you open a YouTube video to watch later, buffering can also hog your bandwidth and make your other websites slower to load. To fix either of these problems, you'll need the YouTube Center add-on to your browser, since you cannot change these settings on the default site.

Update September 2015: The YouTube Center add-on no longer works on some of the latest browser versions. If the instructions here do not work, you can try downloading the developer version. Users report that this usually solves the problem, but this version has not been tested thoroughly and could cause problems in some browsers. Use at your own risk.

Steps

Installing YouTube Center

  1. Download this add-on for additional YouTube settings. YouTube Center is a user-created add-on for your browser. Once you download it, you will have access to many more YouTube options, including the ability to stop automatic buffering, and to force videos to load completely instead of in small sections at a time.
    • User-created add-ons are not created by the company who makes the browser. YouTube Center should be safe, but add-ons do carry the risk of software bugs or malware.
  2. Download YouTube Center for your browser. Click one of the following links to download YouTube Center for your browser. After you open the file, the add-on should automatically install.
  3. Update your browser if the add-on is not working. Visit YouTube and follow the instructions in the next section. If you do not see the new settings, try updating your browser. Usually, you can check for a browser update using the top menu, clicking the name of your browser (such as Firefox), then selecting Update or About (your browser name).
  4. Search for the latest news if you use Chrome or Internet Explorer. As of September 2014, YouTube Center was not officially available for Chrome or Internet Explorer. However, it has been available in the past, and may become available again if those browsers approve the add-on. Search online for "YouTube Center" and the name of your browser. If it is still not available, you may need to use a different browser to access these settings.
    • Unofficial YouTube Center user scripts are sometimes available for these browsers if you also have an augmented browsing add-on such as Greasemonkey or Tampermonkey. However, these are not vetted by the browser store or the original YouTube Center creators, and may contain viruses or other malware.

Changing Buffer Settings with YouTube Center

  1. Visit YouTube. To access your new settings, navigate to the YouTube homepage. The settings are available while watching YouTube videos as well, but changed settings may not take effect until you reload the page.
  2. Open YouTube Center settings. While on YouTube, click on the image of a cog wheel in the top right corner of the web page. This will open the YouTube Center settings.
  3. Click Player on the left menu. Find the left-hand column of menu items and click Player. This will take you to the buffer settings and related options.
  4. Make YouTube videos load without pausing. If your YouTube videos frequently pause and start buffering in the middle of watching them, try disabling "DASH Playback" by unchecking the box next to that name. DASH Playback divides the video into sections and loads them one at a time as you watch the video, which can result in interruptions if you do not have fast internet. With DASH Playback disabled, YouTube will buffer the entire video in advance, whether it is playing or paused.
    • YouTube does not allow 1080p or 480p while DASH playback is disabled.[1]
    • DASH stands for Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP.[2]
  5. Stop automatic buffering or playing. If you often open YouTube videos but do not watch them immediately, you might want to stop them buffering (loading) or playing until you are ready, so you can use your bandwidth for other activities. Check that the Player option is selected on the left-hand list, then click Auto-Play in the top row. Check any or all of the checkboxes to disable automatic buffering or automatic playing in various situations.
    • Checking "Prevent auto-play" will cause all YouTube videos to start out paused, and not play until you click them.
    • Checking "Prevent auto-buffering" will cause all YouTube videos to start out paused, and they will not start loading until you click play.
    • The remaining options apply the same effect, but only to certain videos. The "playlist" options prevent automatic playing of the next video in a playlist. The "tab" options prevent this for videos in a tab or window you are not looking at.

Tips

  • With DASH Playback disabled, you can leave a video paused until it loads most or all of the video. This allows you to watch videos without interruption even with a slow internet connection.
  • YouTube Options is another add-on that may have some of the same functionality as YouTube Center, but it requires a monthly payment to use.

Warnings

  • Disabling DASH Playback may not function correctly if you are using YouTube's HTML5 Player.[3] To check whether you are using HTML5, visit this page.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/wiki/Features#DASH_Playback
  2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Adaptive_Streaming_over_HTTP
  3. ↑ https://github.com/YePpHa/YouTubeCenter/issues/70
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