It’s funny how easy it is to drift from something you once did daily. I never stopped using YouTube (because it’s too woven into everything from tutorials to background noise), but somewhere along the line, I stopped enjoying it. I’d open a tab, scroll through thumbnails I’d already seen, and close it again without watching anything. It wasn’t burnout or any of the usual gripes about how YouTube has changed. It was just too noisy (for lack of a better word). There were too many interruptions, too many things screaming for attention, and too few moments where the platform lets the video speak for itself.
It wasn’t until I started poking around and making a few subtle changes that I realized how much friction I’d been tolerating. What followed were a handful of small, specific adjustments that made YouTube feel good again.
Because your time deserves better than another VPN ad
If you usually watch YouTube on your computer, the single best improvement you can make is adding SponsorBlock. It’s one of those extensions I can’t imagine using YouTube without. It automatically skips sponsored plugs, drawn-out intros, and other bits that waste time—and it does it quite well. The instant a video reaches a sponsored moment, it jumps straight to the good part, like that ad never happened.
What makes SponsorBlock interesting is that it doesn’t rely on AI guesswork. Real people submit the exact timestamps for sponsored sections, and everyone else benefits. It’s like a crowdsourced cleanup crew quietly polishing the internet one video at a time.
Setup is quick, and once you’ve got it running, you can fine-tune how strict it should be. Want to skip self-promotion, too? Go for it. Would you prefer to keep those “thanks to my patrons” moments? That’s an option, too.
Download: SponsorBlock extension for Chrome | Firefox
Master keyboard shortcuts and a couple of pro moves
Why click when you can command?
Once the clutter’s gone, speed is next. YouTube has more shortcuts than you might realize, and mastering a few makes desktop watching feel almost cinematic. Press K to pause or play. Tap J or L to skip 10 seconds back or forward. Numbers 1 through 9 jump to specific portions of the video, and Shift + > or nudges playback speed up or down.
Those are the obvious ones, but two underrated tricks make all the difference. First, “.” and “,” step through a video frame by frame, which is perfect for tutorials or tech teardowns. Second, pressing C toggles captions instantly, which matters when you’re trying to follow a complex sentence.
You can also add a browser extension like Enhancer for YouTube, which lets you set your own playback speed defaults, volume steps, and scrolling behaviors. This quiet control makes watching videos on a desktop feel like using your own local media player again, not just a website with ads attached.
Download: Enhancer for YouTube extension for Chrome
Download: YouTube Enhancer extension for Firefox
Take control of notifications
Stop YouTube from shouting your name
There’s a fine line between staying updated and feeling hunted by alerts. YouTube loves to nudge you with new uploads, community posts, comments, and “Someone liked your comment.” Turning that chaos into something manageable makes the app breathe again.
Head into Settings > Notifications on the mobile app and pare things down to the essentials. Keep upload alerts from your favorite creators, disable Recommended videos, and silence community posts unless you actively engage in them.
If you want extra peace of mind, consider toggling on the Scheduled digest. That way, YouTube gathers everything into a single daily summary instead of buzzing every few minutes.
Tame Autoplay
Because YouTube thinks you never sleep
Autoplay is one of those features that seems cool until you realize it’s quietly stealing your attention. You finish a video, and before your brain even decides what’s next, another one begins. Turning it off gives you that sense of control back. You decide when to stop watching, not YouTube.
On the web, it’s an easy fix. Hover over any playing video and hit the autoplay toggle in the lower-right corner. When it turns gray, you’re free from the endless scroll of back-to-back videos. If you’re on mobile, head to Settings, then open Playback under Video and audio preferences. The Autoplay next video toggle sits right at the top, and you should flip it off. Alternatively, while watching any video, tap the screen to reveal player controls, and you’ll find the autoplay toggle at the top of the video.
Once disabled, every viewing session again has a natural endpoint. You finish, reflect, and move on.
Keep the volume steady across videos
Watching YouTube shouldn’t feel like watching a horror movie
Few things ruin a good YouTube session faster than wild volume swings. One video whispers, the next practically yells. That’s where YouTube’s Stable Volume feature comes in. It automatically smooths out those audio spikes so you’re not constantly reaching for the volume button.
On the web, play a video and click the little gear icon in the player. If that video supports it, you’ll see a Stable volume toggle in the settings menu. On mobile, tap the video to display the controls, then tap the gear icon in the top-right corner. Choose More at the bottom of the list, then tap Stable volume to toggleit on.
It’s especially useful if you watch a mix of content—say, a softly spoken tutorial followed by an over-edited reaction video. Everything lands in the same comfortable range without blowing out your ears or forcing you to rewind.
Make every video look right from the start
360p should be a crime
Ever get tired of YouTube starting every video in fuzzy 480p, then slowly sharpening it? It’s annoying, especially when you know your connection can handle it better. The default Auto setting plays it safe, but it often makes even HD videos look like they were filmed through a fogged-up window for the first few seconds.
If you’re on mobile, head to Settings, then tap Quality under Video and audio preferences. Set both Video quality on mobile networks and Video quality on Wi-Fi to Higher picture quality. That’ll make videos start at 720p HD by default. Sadly, there’s still no built-in way to automatically lock in 1080p or higher.
On the desktop, YouTube doesn’t make things any easier, as videos still adjust based on your connection. However, a browser extension like Auto HD/4K/8K for YouTube can handle it, forcing every video to play at your preferred quality from the start.
Download: Auto HD/4K/8K for YouTube extension for Chrome | Firefox
The quiet joy of fixing small things
None of these changes is revolutionary on its own. You won’t suddenly watch twice as much or discover hidden corners of YouTube no one’s seen before. But taken together, I’ve been able to make YouTube less distracting and more enjoyable.