YouTube Full Screen Deletes Buffer on Maximizing – Annoying Problem

One common problem often shared between slow internet connections users is that YouTube deletes video buffer when player is switched to full screen or maximized.

When you start playing any YouTube video, the red bar starts filling beneath video player indicating the buffer status. This buffered video resides onto your computer hard-disk and you can even save it for viewing video offline. Now if you maximize, YouTube by default removes all buffers and starts to fetch it again in high resolution. This is particularly annoying because it interrupts the video playing experience as it starts loading again.

Why YouTube Deletes Buffer and Starts Loading Again?
YouTube developers do this on purpose. Because on switching, the video needs high-resolution stream for the same clarity as in normal screen. That’s why, the video which is normally played at 360p gets changed to 480p automatically so that video quality is maintained.

How to solve this problem?
There are two ways to solve this problem. Lets look at them one by one –

1) If you have a high-speed internet connection, then you should always start viewing it in higher resolution of 480p or more so that upon maximizing, it doesn’t stop and buffers again. Typically, YouTube will automatically recognize your bandwidth speed and will serve you with the best possible resolution. This solution is only applicable for high-speed internet users, for others let us see second solution.

2) For users with slow connection, you can login into YouTube account (either with YouTube credentials or Gmail credentials ) and change settings from http://www.youtube.com/account#playback/quality .

Select the option – I have a slow connection. Never play higher-quality video and click Save at the bottom of the page. Thats all, now even if you watch videos in full-screen mode, YouTube won’t change resolution and there will be no re-buffing or unexpected pause.

The only disadvantage of second solution is that you have to be logged in always for this setting to take effect. I suppose, it’s a small price for such a annoying problem.