YouTube Video Quality Manager

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 25, 2011
Updated • Mar 7, 2015
Firefox, Firefox add-ons
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7

Is it possible to set a different default YouTube video quality for all videos hosted on the video hosting site? YouTube plays videos in 360p by default. [Update: the video quality may be different depending on your browser and operating system. Some users get 480p as the default now for instance]

Users who want a different video quality need to click on the video quality icon on the video page to switch to another quality setting. And that needs to be done manually for every video. Lots of unnecessary clicking if you ask me.

If you look at the preferences you won't find a switch or setting to change to a different default video quality. The only available option becomes available if you are currently logged in. You can click on your profile picture and then on the settings icon to open the Account Settings. Click the Playback Setup link on the left sidebar.

There you see a Video Playback Quality parameter that you can set to "I have a slow connection. Never play higher-quality video" or "Always choose the best option for me based on my player size". It is furthermore possible to enable HD when switching to fullscreen videos.

youtube account playback setup

But there is no control to select your preferred quality setting in the options. As always, we have to look for extensions to fill the gap.

Update: The Firefox add-on is no longer working. We suggest you use YouTube High Definition instead which allows you to set a preferred video quality up to 4k as well.

YouTube Video Quality Manager is a Firefox add-on that has been specifically designed for setting a different default YouTube video quality.

The extension adds an icon to the status bar of the Firefox browser. A left-click on the icon displays the various video quality settings available on YouTube. From 240p over 720hd to 1080p and high definition. A click on one of the video qualities makes it the new default option

youtube default video quality

This quality setting is then automatically set on YouTube video pages provided that the desired video quality is available. The next best quality is used if it is not. The quality change happens on page load and has non impact on the viewing experience or loading time. It works both for logged in users and guests.

Firefox users who are looking for a simple extension to set their preferred video quality on YouTube should take a closer look at the YouTube Video Quality Manager add-on. The add-on can be directly installed at the Firefox add-on repository. Users on Beta, Aurora or Nightly channels may need to force quality to install the add-on.

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YouTube Video Quality Manager
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Comments

  1. fucker said on August 18, 2014 at 6:28 pm
    Reply

    LoL i installed it and there is no FUCKING Q button at the lower right, this is shit i say

  2. Nileshrbari said on April 6, 2012 at 9:26 am
    Reply

    Video is no work

    1. Faith said on June 26, 2012 at 7:18 pm
      Reply

      click firefox tab options add-on toolbar and look for the Q on the corner

  3. angel ayala said on February 25, 2012 at 3:41 pm
    Reply

    No matter what quality setting I choose (I prefer 360px) it keeps selecting higher quality settings.

  4. يوتيوب said on July 26, 2011 at 9:38 pm
    Reply

    I think it is very usefull thing to be control the quality of video

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