You're stuck in a loop. Or, more accurately, you want to be. Maybe it’s a lo-fi hip-hop track for studying, a "10 hours of rain sounds" video that somehow isn't long enough, or a specific 15-second guitar lick you're trying to transcribe. Whatever the reason, knowing how to make video repeat on youtube is one of those tiny digital life skills that feels like a superpower once you stop hunting through menus. Honestly, Google doesn't make it as obvious as it should be, especially when they're busy testing new UI layouts that shuffle the buttons around every few months.
It's weird. You’d think a "repeat" button would be front and center next to the play icon. It isn't.
Depending on whether you're leaning back with a laptop or squinting at a phone screen in bed, the process changes. It’s a bit of a moving target. Let's break down the actual mechanics of forcing YouTube to play your favorite clips until your speakers give up.
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The Desktop Secret: It’s All in the Right-Click
If you’re on a PC or Mac using a browser like Chrome, Firefox, or Safari, the solution is hidden in plain sight. Most people go looking in the settings gear icon. They find playback speed and quality toggles, but no loop. That's because the loop function is baked into the player's context menu, not the visual overlay.
Here’s the trick. Hover your mouse over the video itself. Right-click. A menu appears—but wait, if you’re on certain videos, a black YouTube menu might appear first. Right-click again in the same spot. This second right-click usually triggers the browser's native interaction with the video element. You'll see an option simply titled Loop. Click it. A small checkmark appears next to it, and you're golden. The video will now restart the millisecond it hits the end, bypassing the "Up Next" countdown that usually tries to suck you into a different corner of the algorithm.
I’ve seen people get frustrated because they right-click on the progress bar or the subtitles. Don't do that. Aim for the dead center of the moving image. It’s the most reliable way to get that specific menu to pop.
How to Make Video Repeat on YouTube Using a Mobile Device
Phones are trickier. The mobile app UI is crowded. Since there’s no "right-click" on a touchscreen, Google had to tuck the loop feature inside the sub-menus.
Open your video. Tap the screen once to bring up the overlay. See that little gear icon in the top right corner? Tap that. A menu slides up from the bottom of your screen. You’re looking for Additional settings. Once you tap that, you’ll see the Loop video toggle. Switch it to "On."
It stays on for that specific video session. However, be warned: if you navigate away to a different video and then come back, YouTube sometimes "forgets" your preference. It’s annoying. You have to re-enable it. Also, if you’re using an iPhone and have the "Picture in Picture" mode active, sometimes the loop setting gets wonky. It’s best to set the loop while the app is in full-screen mode before you swipe away to check your emails.
The Playlist Workaround for "Infinite" Playback
Sometimes the single-video loop just... breaks. Or maybe you want to loop three specific videos in a row. This is where the Playlist method beats the standard loop button.
Create a new playlist. Name it "Loop" or whatever. Add your video (or videos) to it. Open the playlist and hit play. Now, look for the playlist controls—usually located just above the video list on desktop or below the player on mobile. There’s an icon that looks like two arrows chasing each other in a square. That’s the Playlist Loop button.
- Tap it once: The whole playlist repeats.
- Tap it until a little "1" appears in the middle: That specific video in the playlist repeats forever.
This is actually the most stable way to ensure a video keeps playing overnight. The standard "Loop" toggle in the settings menu is known to occasionally glitch out if your internet connection blips or if YouTube pushes a background update to the app while you're watching. Playlists are harder for the system to ignore.
Why Won’t My Video Repeat? (Troubleshooting the Glitches)
You followed the steps. You clicked the button. The video ended, and then... silence. Or worse, a random ad started playing for a product you don't want.
Why does this happen? Usually, it's one of three things:
The YouTube Kids Restriction.
If a video is marked as "Made for Kids," Google disables several features to comply with COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). Often, this includes the ability to save to playlists or use certain playback features. While the loop button should still work, the mini-player and other functions are often stripped away, making the UI behave strangely.
The "Up Next" Conflict.
Sometimes the Autoplay toggle (the little slider at the top of the video player that looks like a play/pause switch) fights with the Loop setting. If your app is outdated, Autoplay can occasionally override a Loop command. Ensure your app is updated to the latest version from the App Store or Play Store.
The Infamous Ad Break.
If you aren't a YouTube Premium subscriber, an ad might trigger right at the moment the video is supposed to restart. Sometimes the "loop" logic gets hung up on the ad server request. If your video stops at 0:00 and just circles, try refreshing the page or clearing your app cache.
Using Third-Party Tools and Browser Extensions
For the power users who find the native YouTube loop a bit lacking, there are extensions. "Looper for YouTube" is a classic Chrome extension that has been around for years. It adds a dedicated "Loop" button directly under the video player, right next to the "Share" button.
The cool part about these extensions is the granularity. You can tell it to loop only a specific portion of the video. If you're a musician trying to learn a solo that starts at 2:12 and ends at 2:45, you can set the looper to strictly play that 33-second window. It saves you from having to manually drag the slider back a hundred times. Just be careful with extensions; stick to those with high ratings and thousands of reviews to avoid the ones that inject weird trackers into your browser.
URL Hacks: The Old School Way
Did you know you can edit the URL to force a loop? This is a "vintage" internet trick, but it still works in 2026.
Take a standard URL like youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ. If you change the "youtube" part to "youtuberepeat," it will redirect you to a third-party site (like ListenOnRepeat) that automatically loops the video for you. It’s a quick way to bypass the UI if you’re on a public computer and don't want to dig through settings.
Actionable Steps for Seamless Looping
Stop fighting the interface. If you want a consistent experience, do this:
- On Desktop: Right-click twice on the video and hit Loop. Simple.
- On Mobile: Hit the gear icon > Additional Settings > Loop Video.
- For Study/Sleep: Put the video in a private playlist and hit the "Loop 1" button. This is the most "failsafe" method against app crashes.
- For Learning Skills: Download a browser extension like Looper so you can repeat specific timestamps rather than the whole 20-minute video.
The tech changes, but the need to hear that one song on repeat for four hours remains a constant of the human condition. Stick to the playlist method for the best results; it’s the most robust way to keep the stream running without manual intervention.