You're stuck on that one song. Or maybe it's a 10-hour ambient rainfall track that helps you actually focus on your spreadsheets without losing your mind. We’ve all been there. You finish the video, the silence hits, and you have to manually click replay like it’s 2005. It’s annoying. Most people don’t realize that knowing how to put video on YouTube on repeat is basically a built-in feature now, but the way you do it changes depending on if you're holding an iPhone, staring at a MacBook, or squinting at a smart TV across the room.
Honestly, YouTube used to make this way harder than it needed to be. You used to have to rely on third-party websites or sketchy browser extensions that probably tracked your data just to loop a Lo-Fi hip-hop beat. Not anymore.
The Right-Click Magic on Desktop
If you are on a computer, it is almost too easy. You don't need to dig through settings or open a hidden menu. Just hover your mouse anywhere over the video player itself. Give it a right-click. A gray menu pops up. Right there, usually at the very top, is the "Loop" option. Click it. A tiny checkmark appears next to it.
That’s it. You’re done.
The video will now restart the second it hits the final frame. One thing to watch out for, though: if you have an ad-blocker that’s acting glitchy, sometimes the loop will hang for a second on a black screen. But generally, this is the most foolproof method. If you right-click and see a different menu—the one that looks like a standard browser menu with "Save Image As"—you probably missed the video player. Try right-clicking directly on the moving image.
What About the "Loop" Not Showing Up?
Sometimes technology just wants to be difficult. If that "Loop" option isn't appearing, it’s usually because you’re interacting with a specialized player or an embedded video on a different website. If you’re watching a YouTube video embedded in a news article or a blog, the right-click menu might be disabled by the site owner. The fix? Click the YouTube logo in the corner of the player to jump over to the actual YouTube site. Once you’re in the "home" environment, the loop feature returns.
Getting It Done on Mobile (iPhone and Android)
Mobile is a different beast. For the longest time, the mobile app didn't have a loop button. You had to create a playlist with one single video and then hit the "repeat playlist" button. It was a total headache. Thankfully, Google finally got the hint a couple of years back.
To learn how to put video on YouTube on repeat on your phone, you need to tap the video while it’s playing to bring up the overlay. See that gear icon in the top right corner? Tap that. It opens the "Settings" menu for that specific video. Look for "Additional settings" or sometimes it’s just listed directly as "Loop video." Toggle that to "On."
Now, here is the catch.
If you close the app or switch to a different video, that setting usually resets. It isn’t a global setting for your whole account. It’s a per-video choice. Also, if you’re using YouTube Kids, this feature is often restricted because, well, YouTube doesn’t want toddlers accidentally watching the same "Baby Shark" remix for 72 hours straight without some kind of manual intervention.
The Secret Playlist Workaround
Sometimes the standard loop toggle fails you. Maybe the app updated and things moved. Or maybe you want to loop a specific sequence of videos, not just one. This is where the single-video playlist trick comes in handy. It’s the old-school way, but it works every single time.
- Find the video you want.
- Tap "Save" and put it into a new playlist. Call it "Loop" or "My Jam" or whatever.
- Go to your Library (now called "You" in the new interface).
- Open that playlist and hit play.
- Tap the "Loop" icon—the two arrows forming a square—under the video.
If you tap that loop icon once, it turns bold. That means the playlist will repeat. If there is only one video in that playlist? Boom. You’ve created a manual loop. This is actually my preferred method for sleep sounds because it seems more stable over long periods than the standard "Loop" toggle, which can occasionally break if your internet hiccups and the app refreshes.
Loops on Smart TVs and Consoles
Watching on a Roku, Apple TV, or PlayStation? This is where things get annoying. The YouTube TV app interface is notoriously inconsistent. Generally, you have to press "Up" on your remote to bring up the video info, then navigate to the "More" (three dots) menu.
Inside that menu, you'll usually find the loop icon. But let's be real—navigating those menus with a TV remote is a pain. If you can't find it, the best strategy is "casting" from your phone. Open the video on your phone, hit the cast icon to send it to the TV, and then use the phone's "Loop" toggle as described earlier. Your phone acts as the brain, and the TV just follows orders.
Why Does YouTube Make This Hidden?
You might wonder why such a basic feature is buried under menus. It’s mostly about "Watch Time" and engagement metrics. YouTube’s algorithm is designed to keep you moving from one piece of content to the next. If you stay on one video forever, you aren't seeing new ads or discovering new creators. By tucking the loop feature away, they nudge you toward the "Autoplay" feature instead, which is basically the opposite of a loop.
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Advanced Users: The URL Hack
If you’re on a laptop and want to feel like a hacker—or if you want to share a link with someone that automatically repeats—there is a URL trick.
Look at the address bar. It says something like youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXX. If you change the word "youtube" to "youtuberepeat" and hit enter (making it youtuberepeat.com/watch?v=XXXXX), it will take you to a third-party site called ListenOnRepeat. It’s a classic tool. It’s been around for years. It’s great because it gives you "start" and "end" markers, allowing you to loop just a specific segment of a video.
Maybe you only want to hear the guitar solo from a 10-minute song. Or maybe you're practicing a specific 30-second dance move. The native YouTube app doesn't let you "A-B Loop" (looping a specific section), but sites like ListenOnRepeat or browser extensions like "Enhancer for YouTube" make it a breeze.
A Note on Quality and Data
Looping high-definition video kills data. If you’re looping a song on repeat while using your mobile hotspot, be careful. Every time the video restarts, it’s basically reloading that data unless it’s fully cached. If you are just listening to the audio, drop the quality to 144p. It won’t change the sound quality much, but it’ll save your data cap from certain death.
Common Glitches to Avoid
Sometimes you set the loop, but it just stops. Why?
Usually, it’s one of three things. First, check your "Remind me to take a break" setting in your account profile. If that's set to 60 minutes, YouTube will pause your loop to ask if you're still alive. Second, check your internet stability. If the connection drops at the exact moment the video is supposed to restart, the loop logic often breaks.
Third—and this is the weird one—check if the video is "Made for Kids." YouTube has very strict rules about what features work on kids' content due to COPPA regulations. Sometimes, certain interactive features or playback modes are restricted on those videos to prevent "passive" consumption patterns that regulators don't like.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Session
Ready to get that video on an infinite cycle? Here is your quick-start checklist:
- On Desktop: Right-click the video and hit "Loop." Verify the checkmark is there.
- On iPhone/Android: Hit the gear icon -> Additional Settings -> Loop Video.
- For Specific Sections: Use a URL modifier like "youtuberepeat" or an "A-B Loop" browser extension.
- For Long-Term Stability: Create a single-video playlist and toggle the playlist loop icon.
- Save Data: If the visuals don't matter, manually set the resolution to the lowest possible setting (144p) to avoid burning through your data plan while the loop runs.
There isn't a "global" switch in your account settings to make every video loop by default. You have to do it every time. But once you get the muscle memory for that right-click or that gear icon, it takes less than two seconds to set up.
Next Steps for Better YouTube Control
If you've mastered the loop, you might want to look into how to manage your "Watch History" so your looping habits don't ruin your recommendations. When you watch one video 50 times in a row, YouTube's algorithm starts thinking that’s the only thing you want to see. You can go into your History settings and "Pause Watch History" before you start your loop to keep your feed clean. Or, just open the video in an Incognito/Private window. That way, you get your infinite music or white noise without turning your entire homepage into a shrine for that one single video. It keeps your recommendations fresh while letting you enjoy your favorite content as many times as you want.