YouTube is arguably the best video-sharing website out there, but sometimes you may come across content that is blocked due to the social platform’s age regulations.
To access those kinds of videos, we tell you how to turn off the age restriction on YouTube regardless of your platform of choice.
Let’s dive in!
Why Does a Video Get Age Restricted on YouTube?
As one of the most popular social media sites in Australia, YouTube has strict guidelines on what constitutes appropriate content. However, even if certain video content may not violate YouTube’s policies, it may still be flagged as inappropriate for viewers younger than 18 and flagged and locked behind age restrictions.
Age-restricted content typically includes child safety endangerment, substance misuse, dangerous actions, sexual activity, nudity, violence, vulgar language, and similar themes.
These limitations are applied due to rule-violating videos, video descriptions, custom thumbnails, and live streams. Moreover, the restrictions prevent minors, those that haven’t signed in, and users viewing via third-party sites from watching the video.
Note: YouTube content creators who avoid nudity and improper language when creating a custom thumbnail will not have their videos age-restricted.
How to Turn Off Restricted Mode on YouTube on Desktop
To manually screen out video content flagged as mature and inappropriate, you can turn on Restricted Mode on YouTube via your profile menu in a few simple steps:
- Visit YouTube and click on your profile picture (top-right corner);
- Scroll to the bottom and click on ‘Restricted Mode’;
- Toggle ‘Activate Restricted Mode’.
Note: You must complete the above procedure for every profile, browser, and device you use.
While the user-imposed Restricted Mode is different from the age limitations applied by YouTube, it still filters out mature videos flagged as age-restricted. Also, once activated, Restricted Mode hides the video’s comments.
How to Turn Off the Age Restriction on YouTube on Mobile
To turn off Restricted Mode on YouTube from your mobile device the steps to do so are very similar between Android and iOS:
- Tap on your account photo (top-right corner);
- Click on Settings;
- Select ‘General’ (applies to Android only);
- Toggle ‘Restricted Mode’ on.
Note: If you are a YouTube creator, you can check whether or not your content is viewable in Restricted Mode by manually searching for the video or visiting its URL.
How to Remove the Age Restriction on YouTube on TVs
If you are wondering how to watch age-restricted YouTube videos on your TV, you can turn off the Restricted Mode feature by completing very similar steps as those detailed above:
Did you know: 59% of Aussies watch videos on their smartphones?
Now that you know how to use the YouTube age-restriction bypass across devices, you can continue enjoying the platform’s full experience without interruptions.
- Sign in to your Gmail account;
- Use your remote control to access the left-hand side menu;
- Scroll to the bottom and select ‘Settings’;
- Scroll to ‘Restricted Mode’ and select ‘Off’.
Alternative Method to Bypass the YouTube Age Restriction
If you log in and still cannot access certain YouTube videos, you may not be old enough to watch them. In such cases, you can simply change your age to appear older:
1.Log in via the profile image in the top-right corner of Google’s or YouTube’s home page;
- Navigate to your Google Account management page;
Via your home page simply click on ‘Manage Your Google Account’;
Via YouTube, click on ‘Settings”, then ‘View or change your Google Account settings’.
Click on the ‘Personal info’ tab found on the left-hand side;
Scroll to the ‘Basic info’ section and click on ‘Birthday’;
Input new birth date details to appear older than 18 years of age.
Note: To change your age via the ‘Google’ app for Android or iOS, simply click on your profile image and navigate to the ‘Basic info’ section by following the same steps as above.
How to Turn off the Restrictions on Your YouTube Videos
Knowingly or not, you may publish videos that violate YouTube’s age-restriction policies. In such cases, you can submit an appeal for the restrictions to be lifted:
Note: You may only submit one request to lift these restrictions per video.
- Log in to YouTube and access YouTube Studio;
- Navigate to the ‘Content’ tab;
- Hover over the restricted video and click on ‘Appeal’;
- Write out a detailed reason for your appeal.
When reviewing your request, the YouTube support team will recheck the video’s content against the platform’s community guidelines to see whether or not it violates them. Then, wait for the appeal decision to arrive in your Gmail inbox within several hours.
Bottom Line
When you encounter age-restricted YouTube videos, you can easily access them on any device using the above methods. Moreover, creators who want to benefit from the platform’s monetisation opportunities must carefully read YouTube’s policies to avoid these limitations.
1. What happens if content is age-restricted?
Videos tagged as age-restricted by YouTube cannot be played by logged-out users, those under 18, or via embedded players on third-party websites. Also, they may be ads ineligible.
2. How to make YouTube safe?
To make YouTube a safer platform to use for yourself or your children, you can access and turn on ‘Restricted Mode’ (as explained above), thus restricting access to mature content. If you are on mobile, you can even prevent full access to the YouTube app with a third-party locker.
3. Why is there an age restriction on YouTube?
YouTube implements specific age restriction policies that limit access to videos deemed inappropriate for underage viewers covering topics such as nudity, vulgar language, violence, substance use, etc. Read above to learn how to turn off the age restriction on YouTube.
