ytbud Add to Chrome

How to make YouTube always play in HD

Updated · tested in Chrome

Short answer

YouTube’s Auto quality often picks less than the best, especially in a small player. ytbud’s “Always HD” tool picks the highest available quality on every video automatically. “Data saver” does the opposite and caps it at 480p.

Add to Chrome — it’s free
Always HD, recorded on YouTube with ytbud.

YouTube’s quality menu

  1. Gear → Quality.
  2. Choose Higher picture quality, or Advanced and a resolution.
  3. Auto decides by connection and player size, so a small player often gets a lower resolution.

With ytbud, step by step

  1. Add ytbud to Chrome. Always HD is on by default.
  2. Open any video and check gear → Quality: the top resolution is picked.
  3. On a metered connection, turn on Data saver instead. The two tools turn each other off.

Good to know

Your manual choice wins
Pick a quality by hand and it stays until the next video.

Questions

Does Always HD use more data?

Yes, the best quality uses the most data. Use Data saver on mobile hotspots.