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Did you know you can minimize your YouTube video and continue watching it? The picture-in-picture feature is available on your computer or in the mobile app. Keep in mind that if you live outside of the US, you must have a YouTube Premium subscription to use PiP. Here's how to minimize YouTube and use picture-in-picture mode on your Android, iPhone, iPad, or computer.
Getting Floating Videos on YouTube
To minimize YouTube and let it play in the background, enable picture-in-picture in your Android or iPhone's settings. Then, enable PiP on YouTube in Settings > Playback . Play a video, and then navigate to a different screen or app.
Steps
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1Enable picture-in-picture on your Android device. This feature allows you to continue playing videos on the YouTube app while it is minimized. [1] X Research source Do the following:
- Go to Settings .
- Select Apps & notifications .
- Select Advanced .
- Select Special app access .
- Select Picture-in-picture .
- Select YouTube .
- Select Allow picture-in-picture .
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2Enable picture-in-picture on your YouTube. This feature must also be turned on in the YouTube app itself. Do the following:
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap your profile picture.
- Tap the cog icon.
- Tap Playback .
- Toggle on Picture-in-picture .
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3Play a video in the YouTube app. You can use the search bar to find specific videos or playlists , or you can browse your feed.
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4Switch to another app. If you return to your home screen, or if you open another app, YouTube should be minimized in a mini player.
- To move the screen, tap and drag it elsewhere. To close the mini player, tap the X . You can also return to the YouTube app to stop the video.
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1Enable picture-in-picture on your iPhone or iPad. This feature allows you to continue playing videos on the YouTube app while it is minimized. Do the following:
- Open Settings .
- Tap General .
- Tap Picture in Picture .
- Toggle on Start PiP Automatically .
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2Enable picture-in-picture on your YouTube. This feature must also be turned on in the YouTube app itself. Do the following:
- Open the YouTube app.
- Tap your profile picture.
- Tap the cog icon.
- Tap Playback .
- Toggle on Picture-in-picture .
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3Play a video in the YouTube app. You can use the search bar to find specific videos or browse your feed.
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4Switch to another app. If you return to your home screen, or if you open another app, YouTube should be minimized in a mini player.
- To move the screen, tap and drag it elsewhere. To close the mini player, tap the X . You can also return to the YouTube app to stop the video.
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1Open a video on https://www.youtube.com/ . You can use any web browser. Use the search bar to find specific videos or browse your feed.
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2Hover your cursor over the video. An icon will appear in the video.
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3Click the picture-in-picture icon. This looks like a big square with an arrow pointing to a smaller square.
- The picture-in-picture window will open.
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4View the picture-in-picture window. The player controls are similar to the controls in normal mode.
- To resize the window, drag one corner of the window outwards to increase the size or inwards to decrease the size.
- To move the window, click and drag the video.
- To close picture-in-picture mode, hover over the window and click the X .
Expert Q&A
Tips
About This Article
1. Go to https://youtube.com
in the Firefox web browser.
2. Navigate to and tap on the video you want to play.
3. Tap the three-dot menu.
4. Tap Request desktop site
.
5. Tap the video to start it.
6. Tap the home button to minimize the YouTube video in the background.
