To stop YouTube videos from auto playing on iPhone, open a video in the YouTube app and tap the Autoplay switch at the top of the player to set it to Off. You can also tap your profile picture, then Settings > Autoplay, and turn it off. To stop videos from playing as you scroll your Home feed, go to Settings > General > Playback in feeds and choose Off.
This guide covers the YouTube app on iPhone and iPad. It explains the two kinds of auto playing on YouTube, how to turn each one off, and a few other settings people change at the same time: Dark theme, Restricted Mode and watch history. The steps come from YouTube Help, checked in October 2026.
Two Kinds of Auto Playing on YouTube
- Autoplay: when a video ends, YouTube starts a related video automatically.
- Playback in feeds: videos start playing on mute, with captions, as you scroll through your Home feed and search results. YouTube calls this the inline player.
If videos start on their own after one finishes, turn off Autoplay. If they start while you’re just scrolling, turn off Playback in feeds. Many people turn off both.
How to Turn Off Autoplay From a Video
- Open the YouTube app and start any video. Result: the watch screen opens.
- Tap the video if you don’t see the controls. Result: the player controls appear.
- Tap the Autoplay switch at the top of the video player so it shows Off. Result: the next video won’t start on its own.
How to Turn Off Autoplay in Settings
- Tap your profile picture. Result: your account page opens.
- Tap Settings at the top right. Result: the settings list appears.
- Tap Autoplay. Result: the Autoplay setting opens.
- Turn autoplay off. Result: Autoplay is off in the app on this device.
YouTube Help adds a quick option: if Autoplay is on but you don’t want the next video this time, tap Cancel at the end of the video.
Things to Know About Autoplay
- It’s set per device. You can have Autoplay on in the iPhone app and off on your computer, so change it everywhere you watch. X has a similar per-device setting, covered in how to turn off video autoplay in the X (Twitter) iPhone app.
- It stops by itself eventually. On a mobile network, Autoplay stops after 30 minutes of inactivity. On Wi-Fi, it stops after 4 hours. To keep the app off mobile data completely, see how to turn off cellular data for YouTube on an iPhone.
- Scrolling or typing pauses it. If you scroll past the player or type a comment or search, the next video won’t play automatically.
- Teen and supervised accounts. YouTube says Autoplay is off by default for users aged 13 to 17. On a supervised account, a parent may have turned it off, and you may not be able to change it.
How to Stop Videos Playing in Your Home Feed
YouTube’s inline player article explains that Playback in feeds may be on by default on Wi-Fi and mobile data. To change it:
- Tap your profile picture. Result: your account page opens.
- Tap Settings > General. Result: the general settings appear.
- Tap Playback in feeds. Result: three options appear.
- Choose Off to stop it completely, or Wi-Fi only to keep it off on mobile data. Always on uses it on both. Result: videos in your feed stop playing as you scroll.
YouTube notes that if you watch a feed video for a certain amount of time while browsing, it may show up in your watch history. If that happens, you can delete your YouTube history on an iPad or iPhone from the same Settings menu.
Other YouTube Settings Worth Changing
Turn On Dark Theme
Tap your profile picture, then Settings > General > Appearance. Choose Dark theme, or Use device theme to match your iPhone’s Dark Mode. See YouTube’s Dark theme help and our guide to turning on Dark Mode on iPhone.
Turn On Restricted Mode
Tap your profile picture, then Settings > General, and turn on Restricted Mode. It helps screen out mature videos. If you can’t turn it off, a school, library or network administrator may have turned it on. See YouTube’s Restricted Mode help. To block the app entirely, see how to block YouTube on an iPhone.
Clear Your Watch History
Tap your profile picture, then Settings > Manage all history. Tap the X next to a video to remove it, or tap Delete to remove a time range. Deleting a range also clears your search history for that period. See YouTube’s watch history help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does YouTube keep autoplaying after I turned it off?
Autoplay is set per device, so it may still be on in another app or browser. If videos play while you scroll, that’s Playback in feeds, a separate setting.
Does turning off Autoplay save data?
It stops extra videos from loading after one ends. Setting Playback in feeds to Wi-Fi only or Off also stops feed videos from using mobile data.
Can I turn Autoplay off for my child?
YouTube says Autoplay is off by default for users aged 13 to 17, and parents can control it on supervised accounts. For the basics of installing the app and playing a video, see our guide on how to watch YouTube videos on the iPhone.
Looking for gaming videos? See how to find gaming videos in the iPhone YouTube app.
Want to watch on a bigger screen? See how to watch YouTube on your TV from the iPhone app. If you post your own videos, see how to enable full quality uploads in the iPhone YouTube app.
Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read hundreds of millions of times.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.
His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.