YouTube videos can contain a lot of content, with some ranging up to 12 hours in length. If you need to slow the footage down to catch a specific frame or speed the video up to get through the content quicker, YouTube’s playback controls make it very easy to do so. Let’s go over how to use the playback speed setting to speed up or slow down YouTube videos.
READ MORE: How to loop videos on YouTube
THE SHORT ANSWER
To use the playback speed controller on YouTube, start playing a video. Either tap the video once if you're on a mobile device or hover your mouse over the video playback area on a computer; this will reveal the different video controls. Click Settings > Playback speed. Choose a new playback speed from the options shown.
KEY SECTIONS
How to change YouTube video speed (Android & iOS)
In the YouTube mobile app, begin playing the video you want to speed up or slow down. Tap the playback area once to reveal the various on-screen video controls; press the gear-shaped Settings button in the top right.
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From the subsequent menu drawer, tap Playback speed. This will open a new menu containing various playback rates.
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In the playback speed menu, seven alternate playback rates will appear. These indicate how many times slower or faster you want your video to play.
- Select 0.25x, 0.5x, or 0.75x to slow down your video by that many times.
- Select 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, or 2x to speed up your video by that many times.
How to change YouTube video speed (desktop)
Go to YouTube and start playing whichever video you want to speed up or slow down.
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Move your mouse over the video playback area to reveal the various video controls. Click the gear-shaped Settings button.
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A list of different playback rates will appear. Select 0.25, 0.5, or 0.75 to slow down your video by that many times.
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Several more playback rates will appear if you scroll down in that menu. Select 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, or 2 to speed up your video by that many times.
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How do you change the speed of a YouTube video on a TV?
If you’re using a Smart TV or have YouTube running on your television, start playing your video. Press the up button on your television remote to make the video controls appear. Navigate to the More (⋮) icon, then select it. From the More options, go to (and select) Speed. This will allow you to change the playback rate.
Do note that this feature is not available on all versions of the YouTube TV app. You may need to download an update, or the option might not appear for your version of the TV app.
The first way to slow down a clip for YouTube is by using video speed-changing tool, Clideo, which can turn just about any standard video into a slow motion masterpiece. It can also be done just in three simple steps.
Step 1: Upload a clip
To get going, open Clideo’s Video Speed Changer tool, which can be accessed easily from any web browser, and from any device (just as long as it has an internet connection!).
You’ll be welcomed by a home page where you can upload your file. Upload a video from your physical storage, or from cloud storage accounts Google Drive and Dropbox.
Step 2: Adjust the speed
Once your video has been uploaded and processed, you’ll be taken to the editing page, where you can easily slow it down (as well as speed it up, if you like).
Just play around with the controls on the right-hand side until you have a speed that you’re happy with. Anything below 1.0x speed will slow it down whereas anything above will speed it up. Preview and if you like it, tap "Speed", your clip will be prepared for saving.
Step 3: Download to your device
Once processed, your video is ready to be downloaded, either back to the device you’re working from via the green Download button, or - again - to Google Drive or Dropbox via the drop-down menu.
If you’re not 100% satisfied with what you have done, simply select the Back to edit option where you can alter the speed without starting from the beginning.
Right within YouTube
If you don’t want to save any videos to your device but are happy simply watching something in slow motion, YouTube has this functionality built into every video and is available on its platform. Here’s how to do it...
Step 1: Head over to YouTube
Visit the page of the video you want to see slowed down on YouTube and play the video as usual. Once it’s started playing, tap on the Setting cog on the bottom right of the video with your mouse cursor (or finger) until the playback control menu pops up.
This will work from any device - PC or mobile.
Step 2: Navigate to Speed settings
Next, tap on the Playback Speed option, this will bring up several options for playback speed.
Step 3: Slow it doowwwwnnnnn
To change playback speed on the YouTube video, simply opt for the speed of your choice. If you want to speed it up, choose 1.25x, 1.50x, or 2x, and if you want to slow it down, pick either 0.25x, 0.50x, or 0.75x, depending on how fast or slow you want the playback to be.
How do you change the speed of a YouTube video?
Go to a video..Hover over the player and click Settings ..Click Speed..Select the speed at which you'd like the video to play..How do you slow down YouTube videos on Iphone?
Go to a video..Tap the video once, then tap More ..Tap Playback Speed..Select the speed at which you'd like the video to play..