How to Resolve the Unresponsive Back Button Issue on YouTube

Issues with the YouTube back button not working typically arise when using the browser version of YouTube. For instance, you might be watching one video and decide to open another in the same tab. When you attempt to return to the first video by clicking the browser’s back button in the top left, you might notice that only the URL changes while the page itself remains unchanged.

Although the URL in your browser reflects the previous page, the video you were just watching continues to play. This issue can be temporarily bypassed by copying the URL and pasting it back into the URL box. Users of Brave and Mozilla Firefox have predominantly reported this problem, but it can occur with other browsers too. Despite being frustrating, there are several solutions available.

Before proceeding to the main solutions, try reloading the website after clicking the back button. This action should refresh the previous video’s page, allowing you to access it.

1. Turn Off Browser’s Hardware Acceleration: The hardware acceleration feature is designed to speed up processes and enhance browser smoothness. But sometimes, it could be responsible for freezing or crashing, leading to the YouTube back button issue. Disabling this feature may resolve the problem.
2. Disable Browser Extensions: Extensions can sometimes cause interference with YouTube’s back button functionality, impacting the website’s performance. Use YouTube in incognito mode to see if the problem persists. If it does not, disable your extensions one at a time to identify the culprit.
3. Update Your Browser: Browsers that are not current may struggle with loading and running websites like YouTube. Make sure your browser is up to date to avoid such issues.
4. Clear the Browser’s Cookies and Cache: Accumulated cookies and cache can slow down your browser and affect functionalities, including YouTube’s back button. Clearing these may solve the issue.

Note: The steps provided for Brave browser also apply to any other chromium-based browsers.

1. Turn Off Browser’s Hardware Acceleration

For Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the menu button and open Settings.

2. Select the General panel.
3. Uncheck ‘Use recommended performance settings’ under the Performance section.
4. Also uncheck ‘Use hardware acceleration when available’.

5. Close the settings and restart Firefox for the changes to take effect.

For Brave Browser:

1. Open Settings from the menu button.

2. Navigate to the System tab on the left side.
3. Switch off the ‘Use hardware acceleration when available’ setting.

4. Relaunch the browser to apply the changes.

2. Disable Browser Extensions

Note: Re-enable the extensions one by one to pinpoint which one is responsible for the issue.

For Mozilla Firefox:

1. Access the menu button.
2. Select Add-ons and Themes.

3. Click on the Extensions tab.
4. Disable a few extensions to test if the back button on YouTube now functions correctly.

5. If the issue is not resolved, disable the remaining extensions and check again.
6. Continue this process until you find the problematic extension.

For Brave Browser:

1. From the menu button, go to Extensions.

3. Toggle off some extensions to see if it resolves the issue.

4. If the back button is still not working, continue to disable the remaining extensions.

3. Update Your Browser

For Mozilla Firefox:

1. Visit Help > About Firefox from the menu button.

3. Firefox will commence an automatic installation if an update is detected.

4. Reboot the browser following the update to finalize it.

For Brave Browser:

1. Click the menu button and select About Brave.

3. Brave will handle the update process automatically if available.

4. Restart Brave after the update.

4. Clear Browser’s Cookies and Cache

For Mozilla Firefox:

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security via the menu button.
2. Under Cookies and Site Data, click Clear Data.

4. Click Clear.

For Brave Browser:

1. Navigate to Settings > Privacy and Security from the menu button.
2. Choose Clear browsing data.

4. Select both cache and cookies, setting the time range to All time.
5. Click on Clear data.

If the back button on YouTube still doesn’t work after trying these steps, consider using a different browser and let us know in the comments below for further assistance.