To “restart YouTube,” you might mean a few different things: restarting the app, fixing it when it’s stuck, or “resetting” your whole YouTube experience. Below is a friendly, practical guide that covers all of those angles.

How to Restart YouTube

Quick Scoop

If YouTube is glitching, crashing, or you just want a clean slate, you can:

  • Fully close and reopen the app on your phone or TV (a basic restart).
  • Force stop the app and clear cache/storage for a deeper reset.
  • Refresh your recommendations, history, and settings to “restart” your viewing experience.

1. Simple Restart: Close and Reopen the App

This is the quickest way to “restart YouTube” if it’s just a bit laggy.

On Android phones/tablets

  1. Open the Recent Apps view (square button, swipe up-and-hold, or gesture, depending on your phone).
  1. Find YouTube and swipe it off the screen to close it completely.
  1. Tap the YouTube icon again to reopen it.

On iPhone/iPad

  1. Swipe up from the bottom and pause (or double‑press Home on older models) to open the app switcher.
  1. Swipe YouTube up to close it fully.
  1. Tap the YouTube icon to open it again.

On Smart TV (general idea)

  • Use your TV’s Home or Back buttons until you exit the YouTube app.
  • Wait a few seconds, then reopen YouTube from the apps list.

If that doesn’t fix freezes or errors, move to the “force stop” steps.

2. Deep Restart: Force Stop + Clear Cache

When YouTube keeps crashing, not loading, or videos freeze, a deeper restart usually helps.

Android: Force stop and clear cache

  1. Open Settings → Apps (or App management / Applications).
  1. Scroll to YouTube and tap it.
  1. Tap Force stop , then confirm. This completely kills the app in the background.
  1. Tap Storage & cache (or similar).
 * Tap **Clear cache** to remove temporary files.

 * Optionally tap **Clear storage/data** for a full reset of the app (will sign you out and reset local settings).
  1. Open YouTube again from your app drawer.

iPhone/iPad: Reinstall to simulate a full restart

iOS doesn’t let you clear cache directly, so the “restart + reset” is basically reinstalling.

  1. Long‑press the YouTube app icon.
  1. Choose Remove App → Delete App.
  1. Go to the App Store, search YouTube , reinstall it, and sign in.

Smart TV: Reset the YouTube app

On most smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Sony, Google TV, etc.), you can restart or reset the app via settings.

  • Open YouTube → go to the app’s Settings menu and look for an option like Reset app or Clear data/cache.
  • Or open your TV’s system Settings → Apps → YouTube , then choose Force stop , Clear cache , or Clear data.

If YouTube is still broken, restarting the whole device (phone, tablet, TV) often works wonders.

3. “Restarting” Your YouTube Experience (Recommendations & Feed)

Sometimes “how to restart YouTube” means: “I want a fresh recommendation feed, less clutter, and new content suggestions.” In that case, you’re resetting how YouTube knows you.

Clean up history and recommendations

  • Pause or clear watch/search history to stop old habits from driving recommendations.
  • On the YouTube homepage, you can remove specific videos from “Not interested” or “Don’t recommend channel” to reshape your feed.

Refresh subscriptions and homepage

  • Unsubscribe from channels you don’t watch anymore, and subscribe to channels that match what you want to see now.
  • Use sections like Recommended channels or Trending to discover new creators and topics, then subscribe to the ones you like.

Tweak language and location

  • In Settings , set your preferred language and location so recommendations match your region and language better.

This feels like hitting “reset” on what YouTube shows you without deleting your whole account.

4. Extra Fixes if YouTube Still Misbehaves

If even a deep restart doesn’t fix things, a few more steps can help stabilize YouTube.

  • Restart your device (phone, tablet, PC, or TV) completely and then reopen YouTube.
  • Update YouTube in the Play Store/App Store so you’re not stuck on a buggy version.
  • Free up storage on your phone or TV if space is low, because a full device can make apps unstable.
  • On Android, ensure Android System WebView and Google Play services are up‑to‑date, as they can affect YouTube’s performance.

5. Mini Story: When a “Restart” Changes Everything

Imagine someone who has watched nothing but gaming and prank videos for years. Their homepage is chaos, full of old channels and random clips they no longer enjoy. They “restart” YouTube by clearing watch history, trimming subscriptions, and subscribing to educational tech channels and calm music playlists. Within a week, their homepage fills with deep‑dive explainers, productivity tips, and ambient music, and YouTube suddenly feels like a completely different platform—without creating a new account.

Quick TL;DR

  • To restart the app : fully close and reopen it; if needed, force stop it and clear cache (Android/TV) or reinstall (iOS).
  • To restart your experience : clean up history, subscriptions, and settings so your recommendations feel fresh and relevant.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.