If you are using any web browser other than Google Chrome or Chrome-based and tried to visit YouTube, you will notice that the loading process takes longer compared to doing the same thing on Google Chrome. This issue emerged when YouTube introduced its new design about a year ago, and Chris Peterson – a Mozilla executive – recently discovered that. He explained through a tweet on Twitter that Google used the “Shadow DOM” interface in designing YouTube, and this interface works best on the Chrome kernel. As a result, YouTube can load up to five times slower in competing browsers.
Later on, Mozilla broke its silence and supported Chris Peterson’s stance as a sign of supporting personal experiments of its employees to make it easier for users to interact online. It confirmed that Firefox developers will work in the coming period to support the operation of the “Shadow DOM” interface so that YouTube and other Google services work faster without performance slowdown.
Until then, if you are using Microsoft Edge, Firefox, or Safari, the only solution to overcome this problem is to revert to the old design of YouTube. Let me explain to you how to do that on Microsoft Edge and then on other browsers.
To begin with, download the Tampermonkey extension for Microsoft Edge, an extension that modifies website code to add or disable features and enhance user experience while browsing; thus, we can use it to revert to the old code or design for the YouTube website. So, the first step is to download the extension by opening the Microsoft Store from the Start menu, then searching for “Tampermonkey” and clicking on the Get button to start the download process.
After the download is complete, open Microsoft Edge through the shortcut icon on the taskbar. Then you will see a notification or a pop-up window indicating the permissions that the Tampermonkey extension can access before agreeing to install it. If they are good, click on Turn it on, and the extension will start working, but it will not have any impact on the browser unless you download any script.
Now, all you have to do is open OpenUserJs page to download the old script for YouTube’s design. Click on the Install button, and then from the page you will be redirected to, press the Install button to install the script with the help of the Tampermonkey extension.
After completing the previous steps, close Microsoft Edge and then restart it. Go to YouTube.com, and you will notice that the site has been loaded faster and with the old design of YouTube. The speed is not limited to loading the web page only but also when playing video clips.
This was the solution for Microsoft Edge browser. If you are using Safari, you can easily use the Tampermonkey extension and use the same script to revert to the old look of YouTube as explained above. In case you are using Firefox, you can simply download YouTube Classic addon, which allows you to load YouTube faster using the old design as well.
