Disabling Dash Playback on YouTube for Faster Viewing

The Dash Playback feature is a method for storing video while watching it. So, when you play the video, pause it, wait for it to load and store, and then start watching. However, with this feature, if you fast forward the video, it starts storing and loading again. Let me clarify this for you, even though I know that everyone has been experiencing this issue lately. You watch a video on YouTube, pause it, wait for it to load, and then start watching without interruptions. But there’s a boring part in the video that you want to skip, so you fast forward, and here you’ll find that everything that was loaded and stored starts loading again. This may be normal for users with fast internet speeds, but for slower speeds, it’s frustrating and a real problem! So, in this article, we will review a solution to this problem and how to stop and start the Dash Playback feature as you please.

When the Dash Playback feature is enabled, which is currently enabled by default on YouTube, you’ll notice that the stored or loaded video does not move forward at the required speed. Also, when the storage indicator moves forward, if you skip part of the video, the storage starts again from the beginning! If you disable this feature, YouTube goes back to its previous viewing, loading, and storing system, allowing you to wait for the video to load and navigate through video parts without re-storing. However, this doesn’t mean that the Dash Playback feature doesn’t have its advantages; it is indeed faster in playback, but as mentioned, it’s suitable only for good internet speeds.

Unfortunately, there is no option on YouTube to disable this feature. Thankfully, it can be turned off through browser extensions and scripts. One of the extensions that allows you to enable/disable the Dash Playback feature is the YouTube Center extension, which can be installed for your browser through the links below.

• YouTube Center extension for Firefox
• YouTube Center extension for Maxthon browser
• YouTube Center extension for Opera browser

For Google Chrome, the extension is not available yet, but you can easily download the script through this link and install it using the green Install icon. After downloading the file, open Google Chrome, go to Tools, then Extensions, drag the script file into that page, press OK, and you’ll see the extension installed and appearing on the page. Another way is to install the Tampermonkey extension for Google Chrome, then access the script and press Install. This time, the script will be installed directly to the browser through this extension. Tampermonkey is a script reader, so it installs the YouTube Center extension for you.

Now, after installing the extension on your browser, whether Firefox, Google Chrome, or Opera, you’ll notice a new icon at the top next to the username. Click on it, go to the Player window, uncheck the Dash Playback option, and the storage system will return to its previous state, improving your viewing experience.

This extension has many features and options that you can easily control. The most important thing now, after disabling the feature, is that you can wait for the video to load, start watching without interruptions, and navigate through video parts without re-storing. This improves your viewing experience. I hope the article and the extension are helpful. Thank you. You can also refer to the following video that explains the extension and its usage in more detail.