How to loop a YouTube video on iPhone and Android

Updated 19 September 2026

In the YouTube app on iPhone, iPad or Android, tap the video, tap the Settings gear, then Additional settings, then Loop video. The whole video now repeats until you turn it off. The app cannot loop part of a video: there is no start or end point. To repeat one section, such as a chorus, a riff or a single sentence, copy the video’s link into a looper such as ClipBack in your phone’s browser, and set the start and end there.

Key facts

• Whole video, in the app: Settings → Additional settings → Loop video. Same steps on iPhone, iPad and Android.
• Whole video, on a computer: right-click the player → Loop.
• Playlists: tap Loop in the playlist box once to repeat the playlist, twice to repeat the current video.
• One part of a video: not possible in the YouTube app. You need a looper that takes a start and an end point.
• With the screen locked: only with a paid YouTube Premium plan, in the YouTube app.

Loop a whole video in the YouTube app

1. Open the video in the YouTube app.
2. Tap the video once to show the controls, then tap the Settings gear.
3. Tap Additional settings. The loop option is one level down, which is why it is easy to miss.
4. Tap Loop video. The video repeats from the beginning each time it ends.

To stop, go back to the same menu and tap Loop video again.

Loop a playlist

1. Start playing the playlist.
2. In the playlist box under the video, tap Loop. The playlist starts again after its last video.
3. Tap Loop a second time and a small 1 appears: now only the current video repeats.

Loop just one part of a video on your phone

This is where the app stops. For a section rather than the whole thing, use a looper in your phone’s browser. With ClipBack there is nothing to install:

1. Copy the link. In the YouTube app, tap Share → Copy link.
2. Open clipback.tv in Safari or Chrome and paste the link into the box. Share links (youtu.be/…), mobile links (m.youtube.com) and Shorts links all work.
3. Set the start and end. Drag the two handles, then fine-tune them on the zoomed track below. Turn on Snapback to hear each point as you move it.
4. Play. Only that section repeats. Name it and create it to keep a link you can come back to, or send to someone.

Loops are free, can be any length and need no account. To get back quickly, add clipback.tv to your home screen from the browser’s share or menu button.

Keep it playing with the screen off?

This is the most common follow-up question, so here is the honest answer. Playing a YouTube video with the phone locked is background play, and YouTube only allows it in its own app with a paid Premium plan. Without Premium, locking the phone stops the video, whether you are in the YouTube app or on a website that loops YouTube videos.

What ClipBack has instead is pocket lock: it blacks out the screen and ignores every touch while the loop keeps playing, and it stops the screen from timing out. That is useful for listening with the phone in a pocket, or on a music stand. It is not background play: pressing the power button still locks the phone and stops the loop.

Which option to use

Looping a passage to learn it? The guide to looping and slowing down for music practice covers which speed to use and how to build back up to tempo.

Frequently asked questions