How to visit the YouTube desktop site in Chrome

You’ve probably realized that apps and desktop websites aren’t the same thing. You’d probably notice it immediately if you’d used any banking app on your phone compared to logging into your account on a computer. But something you probably use all the time, but don’t know that the mobile app and desktop website are completely different, is YouTube. YouTube has a much better desktop site than the mobile version. This is because there are more features available on the desktop site.

Just because you have a mobile app, you don’t have to use it. You can easily visit the YouTube desktop site using Chrome or any other browser from your desktop and mobile devices. If you’re wondering why you should use the desktop site for YouTube, we’ll show you how easy it is and what special features you’ll enjoy.

View the YouTube desktop site on Android devices

First, you’ll probably be sent to the app via a redirect most of the time when you’re trying to watch a video. But you can open a browser and watch it on the YouTube desktop site.

With Google Chrome

• Click on Google Chrome

Image credit: Toby Gray for BGR

• Type “YouTube.com” in the address bar.

Image credit: Toby Gray for BGR

• After entering the URL, click Enter. There are three vertical dots on the menu icon in the upper right corner. Click on it and select “Desktop Site” from the drop-down menu.

Note: The same steps can be used for Opera. You can also use Mozilla Firefox and follow the same steps to access the YouTube desktop site. The only difference is that the Menu icon is in the lower right corner instead of the upper right corner. You select this and the drop-down menu shows the desktop site.

View the YouTube desktop site on iOS devices

Visiting YouTube’s desktop site on an iPhone or iPad is a little different than on an Android device. Here’s how to do it with different browsers.

With Chrome

• Open the Chrome browser and type “YouTube.com” into the browser.

• In the upper right corner is the Share button. Click on it.

• A new menu will appear and as you scroll down it will say “Request Desktop Site”. Select this and your browser will switch to YouTube’s desktop site.

Note: This process is the same for Firefox, but the Share button is a three-dot menu button.

With Safari

If you use Safari, the Apple browser that came with your device

• Open the Safari browser and type “YouTube.com” into the address bar. If you have the app on your phone, it will ask you to open the mobile app. Ignore this and tap the “AA” icon in the upper left corner of the address bar.

• In the drop-down menu, “Request Desktop Website” will be one of the options. Click on it and it will appear.