YouTube is undoubtedly the most popular video-sharing platform on the web. We use YouTube on desktops, mobiles, and also tablets. If you open YouTube on the browser or on the mobile app, you will be able to see a preview of the videos which are listed in the app or browser. This feature is called the thumbnail preview on YouTube. But if you do not want YouTube to show these thumbnails, you can turn this off, here is how to turn off thumbnail previews on YouTube. We will show you how to do it in web browsers, Android, and iOS devices.
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How to Turn off Thumbnail Previews on YouTube:
YouTube Thumbnail previews give you an idea about the video when you hover around them, this helps you understand if you want to play the video in full or not. But if you do not want this feature, you can turn it off. Here is how to turn off thumbnail previews on YouTube.
Android App:
Step 1: Open the YouTube app on your Android smartphone. In the top right corner, you will be able to see your profile picture, click on the icon.
Step 2: In this menu, click on the Settings option below.
Step 3: In the settings menu, you will be able to see an option “Data Saving”, click on it.
Step 4: In the data saving option, you need to enable the option “Muted Playback in feeds over Wi-Fi only”. While this won’t entirely disable the previews, it will show previews only when connected to Wi-Fi and not when you are on a mobile data plan.
iOS (iPhone/iPad):
Step 1: Open the YouTube app on your iPhone and click on the profile icon.
Step 2: In the next step, select Settings from the options.
Step 3: In the settings menu, click on General settings.
Step 4: Under the general settings, there is an option “Playback in feeds”, select this.
Step 5: Here you need to select off from the options to turn off thumbnail previews on the YouTube app.
Web Browser:
If you are using YouTube in the browser, click on the profile icon and select Settings.
Under the settings menu, select the Playback and performance option. Here you will be able to see the option “Inline Playback”. You need to disable this option to disable thumbnail previews in the browser.