Following our previous update, we’ve begun discontinuing older desktop versions of YouTube. You’ll need to switch to the new YouTube (and possibly update your browser) to continue to enjoy the best of YouTube.
If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below!
Back in August 2017 we launched a new look for YouTube on desktop that introduced material design and new features like dark theme (check out the blog from 2017 here!). Note – up until now, people still had the option to opt-out of the new experience and continue using the older version of YouTube on desktop.
Enter 2020 and the older versions are missing many of the new features and design improvements we’ve introduced over the past 3 years, including top requests based on your feedback (see most recent update here). That's why the older version will be going away in March and you'll only be able to access newer desktop versions to enjoy the best of YouTube.
If you’re using an older version, you will see a notification telling you to ‘Switch to the new YouTube’. You may also need to update your browser if it’s not compatible with the new version (We’ll let you know in the notification message if this is the case!)
Thanks for the notice, but it would be really helpful if the post addressed how Google is responding to criticism of the earlier versions. I tried the "New YouTube" over the summer and found it to be unusable with a desktop monitor (27" widescreen) because I could only three video suggestions on the homepage at a time and made it basically impossible to watch without searching for specific videos or creators. While I think some of the changes are useful, I'm a bit reluctant to switch again because it literally broke the functionality last time I tried. How is YouTube addressing concerns of desktop users particularly related to the scaling/functionality of the homepage? Thanks!
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I still absolutely despise the new desktop layout and wish you would still let users keep the old layout instead of completely getting rid of it. I believe your team could easily implement the new features on the older layout but just don't want to bother with it.
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The notice just came up a minute ago that the version I am using is "going away". I am in an absolute panic about this! I had no idea there were "versions" of YouTube at all. But now is everything going to be different, and in what way? Are there no tutorials on this, or are we simply going to be dumped in to see if we can swim? Will it be hard to use, as everyone here is saying? Will it affect my channel? Will I still be able to upload? Will my playlists be gone? I've been on YT since 2008 and have nearly 2000 videos, and that's a lot to lose. I no sooner weathered the COPPA disaster than now I have to face this, and no one is explaining any of it to me. Lack of information causes more anxiety than anything else on earth. I am deathly afraid to "switch to new YouTube" as I guess I am supposed to, because I don't know what I will find myself in and whether I can even get back. I also fear, and this may be absolutely right, that from now on YouTube will only be available on your phone and not on desktops, which are now considered dinosaurs and almost obsolete. How much different will it be, in what way, will I be able to navigate, will there be any direction or guidance or tutorials or ANYTHING to follow, or what? Somebody help me pleeeeeeeeease!!!!!
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I understand your intentions, but I'm unsure if I'm ready to switch since I'm not a fan of the new desktop layout. What happens if I don't switch to the new YouTube by March?
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I just wonder why nothing is ever explained in advance. I don't know what I'll be getting myself into or whether I'll even be able to use it. It's true that after the COPPA debacle, a lot of us are already pretty traumatized. Now these "improvements" don't look like they are improvements at all, just a way of forcing change.
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"Enter 2020 and the older versions are missing many of the new features and design improvements we’ve introduced over the past 3 years" Then these 'improvements' really didn't improve much/anything at all since so many of us can still go by without them
"You may also need to update your browser if it’s not compatible" Is that one of the 'improvements' that were made, the website flat out not working?
This is about that subpar, unwanted, unnecessary Youtube Red that most people pay for just to get rid of the 6+ ads you put on every video isn't it? Isn't it so much easier to shove down everyone's throat in the new design? I 100% positive that most people that are 'paying for youtube red' would spend twice the money on an adblocking app
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Many people like myself have older computers that do not support the latest browser versions, and cannot afford to buy new computers just to keep pace with these changes. Please allow us to continue using the older version of YouTube, which does you no harm to let it remain in place, while those who can afford to upgrade their systems are welcome to switch to your newer version.
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