How to Watch YouTube Videos While Using Other Tabs

Learn how to pop out YouTube videos so you can watch them while you're in another tab

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: March 14, 2025 Fact Checked

This wikiHow teaches you how to keep a YouTube video playing on the screen as you browse other websites. Fortunately, most web browsers now support Picture-in-Picture, a feature that allows you to "pop" out a smaller version of the video that remains playing no matter which app or browser tab you have open. You can even adjust the size and position of the video on the screen so it looks exactly how you want.

Watching YouTube While In Another Tab

You can watch a YouTube video while you're in another tab by enabling Picture-in-Picture mode. This feature is available on Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. Simply open a video and right-click it twice, then select the Picture-in-Picture option.^{[1]
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Steps

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Go to https://www.youtube.com in a web browser on your computer. Many web browsers come with a built-in Picture-in-Picture option. This allows you to easily create a pop-out window for your YouTube video that remains open while you browse on other tabs. Picture-in-Picture mode works on Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and nearly all other mainstream web browsers.
- Picture-in-Picture mode will work for other HTML 5 video playback sites in addition to YouTube, including Vimeo and Crackle.^{[2]
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This opens the video on its own page.

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This brings up the video's playback controls. Don't click anything just yet!^{[3]
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The second right-click will bring up your browser's built-in menu, which now displays the Picture-in-Picture option.^{[4]
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Click Picture-in-Picture. This opens a smaller version of the video at the bottom-right corner of the screen. The larger version of the video will remain black while the smaller version is playing.^{[5]
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- Hover the mouse cursor over the video to bring up its controls, including options to pause and close it.
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Click to a different tab. You'll see that no matter where you go on your computer, the smaller version of the YouTube player remains on the screen, playing your video. Even if you open another app or minimize your web browser, the video will continue to play. Enjoy!
- You can move the video anywhere on the screen by clicking and dragging.
- To adjust the size of the video, hover the mouse cursor over any of its corners until the cursor turns to arrows or a crosshair, and then click and drag the edge or corner until the video reaches the right size.

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Tips

If you want to keep watching the video but no longer need it to be in a separate window, you can pop it back into the YouTube tab. To do so, hover the mouse cursor over the video, and then click the square with an arrow pointing up. The video won't pause—it'll just keep playing on the browser tab rather than in a pop-out window.

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If you close the actual browser tab you used to launch Picture-in-Picture, the smaller video player will close. Keep the YouTube browser tab open as you browse other websites to avoid accidentally closing the video.

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The Opera browser has a setting you can toggle on or off that will automatically pop out videos into Picture-in-Picture mode.

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