By Chantal Bechervaise
YouTube has become increasingly popular over the past couple of years. It is the number two search engine (owned by the number one search engine) and it is estimated that 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute.
Here are 5 tips and tricks to help you maximize your use of this popular site.
1. Watch It Later
If you have found a video that you don’t have time to watch right now, you can save it to watch it later. To do this, first you have to make sure that you are signed into your YouTube account (you need a Google account if you don’t already have one.) Once the video is up on the screen, click on the black bar just under the video. On the back bar, towards the right hand side you will see a clock icon. Click on the clock icon and it will change into a green check mark. Now the video has been saved to your ‘Watch Later’ list. To access this list, click on the menu button at the top left beside YouTube, then scroll down and click ‘Watch Later’ and you will find all your saved videos there. To remove a video from the Watch Later list, follow the same process but click on the green check mark to turn the icon back into a clock.
2. Change Playback Quality / Turn Off Autoplay
If you have a slow internet connection, you can change the playback quality of the video. To do this, click on YouTube settings (which is located on the black bar just under the video) and then toggle through the quality options. The higher the quality, the more bandwidth the video uses.
You can also use this same settings buttons to turn Autoplay off, so that the next related video does not automatically start playing after the one you are watching finishes. Turning off Autoplay is my recommended tip for parents, as you never know what video will start playing next for younger viewers. There is a toggle on the top right hand side above ‘Up Next’ videos which also allows you to turn off Autoplay.
3. Repeat the Same Video Over and Over and Over…
While this trick is not an official YouTube-owned trick, it can be useful if you feel like watching the same video over and over again. Let’s say you can’t get enough of the new Star Wars trailer. You find the trailer on YouTube and the URL looks like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnE
Go into the URL field and add the word ‘repeater’ after the word youtube, so that the URL now looks like this:
https://www.youtuberepeater.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnE
When you hit refresh, it will open the video in other site with a continuous playback loop so that you can watch the trailer over and over. Note that this will not work with Vevo music videos.
4. Keyboard Shortcuts
If you are tired of using the mouse, here are some handy keyboard shortcuts that you can use while watching YouTube videos.
Space bar: To pause, Un-pause a video
Side arrow keys: To fast-forward and rewind a video
Number keys: To send you to different parts of the video. i.e. 1 = 10% through the video; 2 = 20% through the video, etc.
0 (Zero) key: Sends you back to the beginning of a video
Home/End keys: Takes you to the beginning or end of a video
5. YouTube Newswire
A few months back, YouTube added their YouTube Newswire channel. This channel curates uploaded clips and videos that are relevant to current events. It can provide you with different points of view on current news stories. The Newswire channel features global and regional feeds based on your location. You can also subscribe to a daily newsletter, so that you get the latest videos sent to your inbox.
Do you have any other YouTube tricks or tips that you’d like to share? Then leave a comment below.
Chantal is located in Ottawa, Ontario. She is passionate about everything related to the World of Work: Leadership, HR, Social Media and Technology. You can read more from Chantal at her TakeItPersonelly blog or follow her on Twitter @CBechervaise.
