Restricted Mode is a YouTube feature that helps prevent people, especially children, from potentially inappropriate content. However, sometimes, it can be overly restrictive. Knowing how to turn off restricted mode on YouTube is crucial for adults seeking more freedom.
This article will show you how to turn off the restricted mode option on PC and mobile devices. This way, you can have more freedom when searching for videos on YouTube.
What is Restricted Mode on YouTube?
YouTube restricted mode is a YouTube option that filters out videos that may contain mature content. It is mainly designed for parents, tutors, or establishments, such as schools to provide a supervised experience for the children.
When on, this feature relies on factors including video title, description, tags, and rating to screen out the undesirable.
What can YouTube restricted mode block?
By enabling restricted mode, YouTube has the potential to filter large quantities of inappropriate material.
- Videos with adult content or visuals of violence
- Content that contains bad keywords or curse words
- Videos that contain contents related to drugs, alcohol or tobacco
- Sexual content or nudity
- These are topics that people have divided views on or are divisive about
- Content that has received concerns from the YouTube community
- Videos with age restrictions
- Certain music videos that contain lyrics or scenes that are indecent
Restricted Mode’s purpose is to eliminate material that is meant for adult viewers, although it isn’t always accurate. It may sometimes capture content that is not in reality offending or allow to slip through some content that is.
The benefit of YouTube Restrict Mode
The restricted mode of YouTube mainly works as a filter for the parents and has several distinct advantages for the user.
- Safer browsing – it is a safer environment for the younger audiences.
- Web filtering – It assists in blocking potentially and particularly explicit content for children. Through comment filtering, it can also prevent potentially undesirable comments.
- Convenience – Parents and guardians can feel relieved to let children to browse YouTube without supervision.
- Interactive control – It can be switched on or off at will; making it suitable for use in various circumstances.
- Institutional use – With this service, schools and libraries can create more specific internet rules.
How to turn off restricted mode on YouTube?
Disabling Restricted Mode on YouTube is not complicated. However, the procedure will be different for tablets and smartphones.
Let’s discuss how to turn off Restricted Mode on various devices.
How to disable Restricted Mode on YouTube on PC?
Here is how you will be able to turn off Restricted Mode for YouTube on a Windows PC.
Step 1. Launch your web browser and go to YouTube.
Step 2. If you are new to YouTube, then it is necessary to log into your YouTube account. Click on your profile icon and scroll down to the bottom, where a ‘Restricted Mode’ switch is.
Step 3. To turn the toggle switch from ON to OFF, click on the switch position icon.
Step 4. You will receive a prompt. Click “OK” to confirm.
Try reloading the page to see the change carried out on the page. If you’re using a managed Google Account, you would most likely require your administrator to help you turn off Restricted Mode.
How to take off Restricted Mode on YouTube on iPhone & Android?
For those wondering how to turn off restricted mode on YouTube on mobile, the process is similar for both iPhone and Android devices:
Step 1. Open the YouTube application on your smart mobile device.
Step 2. Click the top right the icon that looks like your profile picture.
Step 3. From the list, select the “Settings” option. Scroll down to tap on “General.”
Step 4. Now go to the option of “Restricted Mode” and click on it. Toggling the button off disables Restricted Mode.
Step 5. Restart the YouTube app to view the changes.
On some devices, there is no toggle switch right at the top. You will have to click on ‘Restricted Mode Filtering’ first before the switch will appear.
Why are you stuck in restricted mode on YouTube?
Here are a few scenarios that may cause you to end up in YouTube Restricted Mode unintentionally.
- Accidental activation: There are times when you or, even another party, may have tapped on the Restricted Mode button by mistake when operating YouTube.
- Browser or device settings: Your browser or device settings may be set to either turn Restricted Mode on by default or not allow it to be toggled off.
- YouTube algorithm: There are times when YouTube assumes that you are under eighteen years of age and blocks Restricted Mode automatically.
- Network restrictions: There are restrictions that your school, workplace or public Wi-Fi network set that put YouTube TV in Restricted Mode.
- Accounts with restrictions: This option is enabled in case you use Google Account that is controlled by an organization.
- Geographical restrictions: Some countries may place restrictions for content within the YouTube platform.
- Temporary bug: YouTube might have some technical problems that make Restricted Mode constant for a while.
What to do if you can’t remove restricted mode on YouTube?
If you are unable to disable Restricted Mode using the previous methods, then you should try the following solutions.
- Clear your browser cache and cookies – If YouTube isn’t working normally, it may be due to a corrupted cache and cookies. Clear your browser’s cache and cookies, and try again.
- Check browser extensions – Some browser extensions are problematic for YouTube. Disable any newly installed extensions to check whether the problem persists.
- Use another browser – Use browsers other than the one you usually use to access the YouTube page. You could try Mozilla Firefox or Chrome.
- Check other Settings – Ensure no restrictions or privacy settings prevent you from turning off Restricted Mode.
- Remove all VPN Protocols – Users should temporarily disable all the VPN protocols in the hope that the VPN service is blocking the content.
- Contact YouTube support – In the rare case that none of these work, attempt to get in touch with YouTube customer service.
If you implement all these tips then you should be able to solve this problem and enjoy YouTube as before.
What if your kids turn off restricted mode on YouTube?
In case your children are able to tamper with YouTube restricted mode, then the following problems may occur.
- Inappropriate material – Children come across videos with elements of violence, swearing, and sex and thus are not suitable for their age. They may also access mature content that may be hard to process. This could invoke unpleasant emotions in the long term.
- Uncontrolled comments – A free-for-all discussion often results in addition of wrongdoers making threats, use of obscene language, or stalking children.
- False data and leaks – Unfiltered, children could encounter a video that is full of bad or misleading knowledge, preposterous conspiracies included.
To reduce these risks, parents ought to get involved in managing their children’s viewing discretionarily. Below are measures to take.
Tip 1: Turn to the YouTube Kids app
There are parents worried about the type of programs their children are watching on YouTube. However, they have developed YouTube Kids to solve that problem. This app is aimed at the younger generation because a majority of them use smart phones to watch movies/programs.
With whichever mode is enabled with Restricted Mode disabled, YouTube Kids is a vastly safer environment than the regular YouTube app. It is useful in making children below a certain age group learn about online videos. The extent to which they can see them is controlled.
Below are some of the important things you should know about YouTube Kids.
- Kids can only access videos that match their age group as YouTube Kids uses filters to keep off inappropriate content. Parents must create a profile for their kids to get YouTube Kids.
- This app prevents ads and has restrictions on the ads appearing that are inappropriate for children.
- It is very simple for a user to report a certain video as ‘Not Suitable for Some Audiences.’
- The app is about learning content fusion with entertainment.
- Forums are available for parents to download videos for their children during trips or where the Internet connection is poor.
With YouTube Kids, parents can sleep knowing that their children are watching content that is probably filtered much more rigorously.
Tip 2: Use a parental control app
Third-party apps contain parental control features that can add one more layer of protection to your children’s utilization of YouTube. These apps have extra features as compared to default control features and help parents to have more control.
A parental control app that can help you monitor and regulate your kid’s YouTube usage is the FlashGet Kids app.
Some of the features in this app have been tailored to enable parents to manage the time their children spend on YouTube. With FlashGet Kids, you can:
- Schedule blocking of particular words, applications, or content types.
- Regulate screen time for specific apps.
- To keep tracking your child’s location and be notified when he/she enters or leaves particular zones.
- Monitor which applications your child has opened and get alerts about new installations.
- Get a detailed report on your child’s internet usage.
Through FlashGet Kids, parents will also be able to control and monitor what their children are watching from YouTube.
The app provides a significant number of features for controlling access to YouTube. In turn, it develops correct behavior in children when using smart devices.
Conclusion
Knowing how to turn off restricted mode on YouTube enables you to view more content that would not be possible with filters on. You also get more control over viewing preferences compared to when the restricted mode is on.
All said, the YouTube Kids app has numerous benefits for you as a parent. Using the YouTube Kids app, you can control your or your child’s presence on YouTube and ensure they only have filtered access to the website.
Furthermore, if you seek additional tools to control the options for your child online, you will find FlashGet Kids to be just the right solution.
FAQs
How to fix Restricted Mode turned on by network administrator?
If a network administrator has enabled Restricted Mode, unfortunately, you can’t disable it yourself. It might help if you switched to another network or talked with the administrator of the game. For personal device use a VPN to break restrictions of a network.
Why is YouTube suddenly blocked?
YouTube can be unavailable due to particular changes in a network policy, geoblocking, or restrictions imposed on the specified account. Make sure that you have a proper connection, and check that your account is not limited.
How do I turn off Restricted Mode on YouTube comments on my phone?
If you want to turn off Restricted Mode for YouTube comments, tap on profile picture, then Settings then General. Search for Restricted Mode and turn the slider to the right for off. You will be able to monitor all the comments as long as they don’t violate YouTube community guidelines.
