How to turn off autoplay on YouTube for kids, on every device

The episode ends, and before your child looks up, YouTube autoplay has started the next video. It is one you did not pick, and it is usually busier than the one before. Ten minutes later you are in a fight about a video nobody chose.

To turn off YouTube autoplay you flip one switch, but that switch sits in a different place on every device, and on a normal account your child can flip it back. Only two routes let a parent set it so the child cannot undo it: Disable autoplay on a supervised account, set in Family Center, and the autoplay setting on a YouTube Kids profile, behind the parent gate. This guide walks through each device, then shows what autoplay still does around the video once it is off.

If you would rather have a player where nothing plays next at all, Pepelly shows a child only the channels you chose, and when a video ends, its own screen appears instead of the next video. More on that at the end.

What autoplay does, and why it matters more for children

Autoplay is YouTube's setting that starts the next video a few seconds after the current one ends. The next video comes from the "up next" list, which an algorithm fills based on what was just watched, what the account has watched before and what keeps similar viewers watching.

For an adult that is a convenience. For a six-year-old it removes the one moment where stopping is easy. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to choose content with a clear structure and an ending. An episode has one. A feed does not, and autoplay turns a list of episodes into a feed.

YouTube knows this too. In 2021 it announced that autoplay is off by default for signed-in viewers under 18, including supervised accounts. That default helps, but it only applies while the child is signed in to that account. A tablet that opens YouTube signed out, or in the parent's account, starts with autoplay on.

How to turn off YouTube autoplay in the app on a phone or tablet

In the YouTube app on iPhone, iPad and Android, the autoplay switch is in two places: on the player itself and in the settings. Google's help page on autoplay videos describes both, and the labels below follow it.

1. Open any video in the YouTube app.
2. Tap the video once so the controls appear. At the top of the player there is a small Autoplay toggle next to the cast icon. Tap it until it shows off.
3. For the settings route instead, tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Autoplay, and switch off Autoplay next video.
4. Check the switch again after the next app update. The setting usually stays, but it is quick to confirm.

This is the setting for the account that is signed in on that device. If your child uses a tablet signed in with your account, you have just turned it off for yourself too, which is fine. If the tablet has its own Google Account, repeat the steps there.

How to stop YouTube autoplay in a browser

On a computer, the switch is part of the player.

1. Open a video on youtube.com.
2. Look at the bottom of the player, to the right of the play button and the timeline. The Autoplay toggle is a small switch with a play symbol.
3. Click it so the symbol shows a pause sign. A short message confirms that autoplay is off.

The browser setting is saved to the signed-in account, or to that browser when nobody is signed in. A second browser on the same computer, or a private window, starts with autoplay on again. If your child has a laptop, set it in every browser installed, or better, remove the browsers you do not need and lock the rest with the computer's parental controls.

How to turn off autoplay on a smart TV

The TV is where autoplay does the most damage, because nobody is holding the remote when the episode ends.

1. Open the YouTube app on the TV, games console or streaming stick.
2. Scroll to the left menu and open Settings.
3. Find Autoplay and switch it off.

Some TV apps also show an autoplay toggle on the player while a video runs. Either place works, and the setting applies to the account that is active on the TV. If your TV app has several accounts, each keeps its own switch. The YouTube TV app also offers a Parent code under Settings, which asks for a code before signed-out viewing or a switch to another account. That does not control autoplay, but it stops a child from hopping to an account where it is still on.

How to turn off autoplay in YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids has its own autoplay setting, and it sits behind the parent gate, so a child cannot change it.

1. Open YouTube Kids and tap the lock icon in the bottom corner.
2. Pass the gate. Set a custom passcode here if you have not, because many six-year-olds can solve the multiplication question.
3. Tap Settings, then choose your child's profile.
4. Switch Autoplay off.

Parents who linked the profile to their own Google Account can also manage it from Family Center in their YouTube app, under the child's name. Google's help page on parental controls for YouTube Kids profiles lists the other settings in the same place: the timer, search on or off and Approve content yourself. What YouTube Kids filters and what still gets through is in our guide on whether YouTube Kids is safe.

Disable autoplay for a supervised account

For a child from about 9 who uses the main YouTube app with a supervised account, this is the one setting that holds.

1. Open the YouTube app on your own phone, signed in to the parent account.
2. Tap You, then Settings, then Family Center.
3. Choose your child.
4. Switch on Disable autoplay.

The setting applies wherever your child signs in to that account: phone, tablet, computer and TV. Your child sees it as a greyed-out switch. The same screen holds the Shorts feed limit, bedtime reminders and the option to block channels. How to set up the account in the first place, and the other controls around it, is in our complete guide to YouTube parental controls.

Signed out, the setting does not apply. If the child can open YouTube in a browser without signing in, lock the browser with Screen Time on iPhone and iPad or with Family Link on Android.

What autoplay still does around the video

Turning autoplay off stops the next video from starting. It does not stop YouTube from offering it. Five things keep running.

The end screen. When a video ends, the player fills with a grid of suggested videos and a large "up next" tile. One tap starts it. For a young child who cannot read the titles yet, the tile with the brightest thumbnail wins.

The sidebar and the home feed. On a computer the recommended list stays beside the player. In the app the home feed is still an algorithmic feed. Neither depends on autoplay.

Playlists. A playlist plays through from one video to the next whatever the autoplay switch says. Channels often group their uploads into playlists, and a "play all" button opens one.

Muted previews. In the app, videos in the feed start playing silently as your child scrolls past them. That is a separate setting, Playback in feeds under Settings and General, and it is worth switching off too.

Shorts. The Shorts feed has no autoplay switch because it has no end. A swipe brings the next one. How to limit that is a topic of its own, in our guide on how to block YouTube Shorts for kids.

None of these is a reason to skip the autoplay switch. They are the reason to treat it as one step in a plan, not as the plan. Our guide on how to reduce screen time for kids without a daily fight covers the rest of that plan, and in particular the moment the video ends.

Which setting fits which age

For a child of 3 to 5, use YouTube Kids with autoplay off and Approve content yourself on, or a player that has no next video. At this age the end screen alone is enough to keep a session going, so the calmer the stop, the better. Calm shows with slow cuts and a clear ending help too, and we have a list of low-stimulation shows for kids on YouTube.

For a child of 6 to 8, YouTube Kids with autoplay off still fits most families. If your child has grown out of it, a supervised account with Disable autoplay is the next step, together with a short list of channels.

For a child of 9 to 12, a supervised account with Disable autoplay and the Shorts feed limit at zero is the main tool YouTube offers. Say out loud what you are changing and why. "The next video will not start by itself any more, so you choose the next one" is a rule a ten-year-old can live with.

A player with nothing after the video

Pepelly is a video player for children from 3 to 12 that plays only the YouTube channels you approved. There is no autoplay to switch off, because there is no next video: when a video ends, Pepelly's own screen appears with two choices, watch again or back to my videos. There is no end screen grid, no sidebar, no recommendations, no Shorts and no comments.

You pick the channels by search, by pasting a link, from a starter pack for your child's age or from your own subscriptions. Your child sees the newest video from every one of those channels first and the ones they have already watched last, with the length shown on every tile. The free plan covers one child, ten channels and a daily limit that ends with a friendly screen. See how Pepelly works.

Pepelly works alongside the settings above, not instead of them. Block the regular YouTube app and the browser with Screen Time or Family Link, and the app walks you through it. Videos play in the official YouTube player, and Pepelly does not remove YouTube ads. Pepelly is not affiliated with YouTube or Google.