4K
Big screen, fast connection
Lock 1080p, 1440p or 4K. No more videos that start blurry and stay that way while YouTube guesses.
Free extension for Chrome
Every YouTube video in 1080p
Pick a video quality once, from 144p to 8K. YouTube Auto Quality applies it to every video you open, so you stop fixing it in the gear menu.
Add to Chrome — free
4,000 users on the Chrome Web Store
Also works in Edge, Brave, Opera and other Chromium browsers.
Try it: pick a quality
YouTube Auto Quality 1080p Full HD
powered by PYROCTAL
1080p
At a glance
- What it does
- Sets the video quality you choose (Auto, or 144p to 8K) on every YouTube video, automatically.
- Who it is for
- Viewers who want HD or 4K every time, and viewers on slow or metered connections who want 360p or 480p.
- Price
- Free. No account, no paid version.
- Data
- Stores one setting, your quality, in Chrome sync. No analytics, no network requests.
- Works in
- Chrome and other Chromium browsers that install from the Chrome Web Store. Not Firefox, Safari or the YouTube mobile apps.
- Limits
- Works on youtube.com in the browser. When a video lacks your quality, it plays the closest one below it.
- Version
- 2.4.7, updated October 22, 2026
Three steps, then you forget about it
- 1
Add it to Chrome
One click on the Chrome Web Store. No account, nothing to configure.
- 2
Pick your quality
Open the popup and choose Auto or anything from 144p to 8K.
- 3
Watch
Every video you open starts in that quality, including the next one in a playlist or autoplay.
Two reasons people install it
480p
Slow or metered connection
Lock 360p or 480p. Less buffering on rural internet and a mobile hotspot, and less data spent on every video.
What it does
quality options
Auto, 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K and 8K.
Closest match
Picked 1080p and the video tops out at 720p? You get 720p, the best it has below your choice.
Every next video
YouTube swaps videos without reloading the page. The extension notices each switch and sets your quality again.
After the ad
If an ad is playing, it waits until the ad ends, then sets the quality for the video you came for.
Synced
Your choice is saved with Chrome sync, so it follows you to your other computers.
network requests
Everything runs inside your browser. The extension never talks to a server.
Why YouTube keeps lowering the quality
YouTube's Auto setting picks a resolution from your connection speed and the size of the player. It often starts low, waits for the connection to prove itself, and on a small or busy window it may never climb back to HD.
You can pick a resolution in the gear menu, but that choice usually doesn't carry over to the next video. YouTube Auto Quality makes the choice stick: it tells the YouTube player which quality you want each time a video starts.
Private by design
No account
Nothing to sign up for, nothing to log in to.
No tracking
No analytics, no telemetry. We don't know what you watch.
Two permissions
Storage, to remember your quality. YouTube pages, to talk to the player. Nothing else.
YouTube's own setting vs YouTube Auto Quality
| YouTube's own setting vs YouTube Auto Quality | YouTube's quality menu | YouTube Auto Quality |
|---|---|---|
| An exact resolution, like 1080p, for every video | No: a resolution picked under Quality → Advanced applies to the current video | Yes: set it once in the popup |
| Quality a video starts in | Auto, chosen from your connection speed and the player size | The quality you picked, or Auto if you prefer |
| Keep a low resolution to save data | Pick it again on each video | Lock 144p, 240p, 360p or 480p |
| Price | Built in | Free |
Questions
How do I force YouTube to always play in 1080p?
Add YouTube Auto Quality to Chrome, click its icon and pick 1080p. From then on every video starts in 1080p. If a video only goes up to 720p, you get 720p.
How do I stop YouTube from changing the quality on its own?
Pick a fixed resolution in the extension instead of Auto. It sets that resolution as each video starts, so YouTube's automatic choice doesn't decide for you.
Can I lock a low quality to save mobile data?
Yes. Pick 144p, 240p, 360p or 480p. Lower resolutions use far less data and buffer less on a slow connection.
What happens if a video doesn't have the quality I picked?
The extension chooses the highest quality the video has below your choice. If every option is higher, it takes the lowest one available.
Does it work in Edge, Brave or Opera?
Most Chromium browsers install extensions from the Chrome Web Store, including Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi. Firefox and Safari are not supported.
Is it free? Does it collect any data?
It's free. It has no account, no analytics and makes no network requests. Your quality choice is the only thing it stores.
How do I change the quality or turn it off?
Click the extension icon and pick another quality, or choose Auto to let YouTube decide again. You can remove it any time from the Extensions page in Chrome.