Top 9 Fixes for YouTube Restricted Mode Won't Turn off on Mobile and PC

You will find all kinds of YouTube videos, and some may not be safe for your kids. That is why you should use the restricted mode to filter any kind of videos with adult themes or potential violence. When Restricted Mode is enabled, potentially mature content is excluded. But several YouTube users encounter an issue where they cannot turn off Restricted Mode. If you are having the same problem, this article will help you.

Whenever some users watch a video, they are bombarded with an error message saying, “This video is not available with Restricted Mode enabled. To view this video, you will need to turn off Restricted Mode. ‘Others see the message “Restricted mode of YouTube enabled by network administrator”.

Let’s check various solutions to fix the problem of not turning off YouTube Restricted Mode on Android, iPhone, iPad and Computer.

1. Restart the device

As always, the first solution is to restart the affected device. If you are unable to turn off Restricted Mode from a computer, restart it. The same goes for Android, iPhone or iPad.

2. Follow the correct steps to turn off restricted mode

On PC, open youtube.com and sign in with your account. Click on the account icon at the top. In the menu that appears, scroll down and you will find the Restricted Mode option. Click on it.

Turn off the switch next to Enable Restricted Mode.

In case the Activate Restricted mode is grayed out, click on “Unlock Restricted Mode on this browser option” present under the same setting. You will need to enter your Google account password. Enter the password. Reload your browser and the restricted mode should be deactivated. If that doesn’t happen, you’ll need to turn off the toggle next to Enable Restricted Mode.

On the YouTube Android app, tap the account icon. Go to Settings> General. Disable the toggle for restricted mode. On iPhone and iPad as well, tap the profile picture icon at the top of the YouTube app. Go to settings and turn off the switch next to restricted mode.

Note: Restricted mode is enabled only for a particular device. Disabling it on one device does not mean that it will also be disabled for your account on other devices. You will need to disable it separately for each device, app or browser.

3. Check the account restrictions

As noted on the Google support page, if you are using a computer at your school, college, university, or other public institution, they may have turned on Restricted Mode. You will need to contact them to deactivate it. Likewise, if you are using a school account, you may not be able to turn off Restricted Mode.

Additionally, if your Google account is connected to the Family Link app, your parents can turn on Restricted Mode for your account. You cannot turn it off yourself. Only a parent can turn off Restricted Mode using the Family Link app.

Point: Learn more about how Google Family Groups work.

4. Check third-party apps and services

Do you have parental control apps installed on your computer or phone? If so, these can also activate YouTube Restricted Mode. Talk to your parents.

Likewise, check internet security software like antivirus programs, firewalls, VPN, etc. Disable them and restart the affected device. See if you can turn off Restricted Mode.

If the issue occurs on a browser, check for active extensions, especially from video conferencing tools. These tips have helped many YouTube users.

5. Check the network restrictions

Sometimes various settings in your network activate YouTube restriction mode. Google offers a dedicated page to check if this is the case.

Open www.youtube.com/check_content_restrictions and you will be notified of the restrictions. You can see the Restricted Mode button at the bottom of the page. Click on it to unlock restricted mode.

A few more tips that seem to have worked:

• Disconnect the Ethernet cable if you are using it to connect to your modem. Instead, connect your computer using regular Wi-Fi.
• Change the DNS server for your Internet connection. Set your DNS servers to Google’s DNS servers, which are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. You can also choose automatic DNS servers. Find out how to assign the best DNS server in Windows. On mobile, change your Wi-Fi network settings and assign a new DNS.
• Reset your router and configure it from scratch.

6. Clear browser cache

Several YouTube users have been able to turn off Restricted Mode by clearing their browser’s cache and cookies. We have mentioned the steps for Chrome browser, but the steps would be almost similar for other browsers.

Open Chrome settings and go to Privacy & Security. Click Clear browsing data.

Select “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files”. Click the Clear data button. Before you do that, read what happens when you clear Chrome browsing data.

Point: If you want to clear cache and cookies for YouTube only, find out how to do it.

7. Clear Android app cache

If Restricted Mode does not turn off on YouTube’s Android app, you need to clear the app’s cache and data. Although clearing the cache does not delete any of your personal data, deleting the data will delete all videos uploaded to the YouTube app. It will also reset all YouTube settings to default values. Refer to our explanation for what happens when you delete data from the YouTube app.

Open your Android phone’s settings and go to Applications. Tap YouTube under All apps. Tap Storage and first tap the Clear Cache button. Restart the phone. Follow the steps mentioned above to turn off Restricted Mode. If you are still unable to do so, press the Clear Data / Storage button.

8. Uninstall applications

On mobiles and tablets, uninstalling the YouTube app also worked for many users. To uninstall the YouTube app on iPhone / iPad, long press the YouTube app icon. Select Remove app. On Android, open the Play Store and search for YouTube. Tap Uninstall. Restart the phone. Then reinstall the YouTube app.

9. Log out of the Google account

If you can’t turn off Restricted Mode on your computer, try signing out of your Google Account. To do this, open YouTube.com and click on the account icon at the top. When the menu appears, click Logout.

Otherwise, open google.com and click on the profile picture icon at the top. Click on Logout. Find out how to delete a Google account from Chrome. When you sign out of your Google Account, your bookmarks and passwords are deleted from the computer. But once you log in again, everything will be restored.

After signing out, close the browser and sign back in. You should now be able to turn off Restricted Mode on YouTube.

Point: You can also try signing out of your Google account on mobile. However, read our article on what happens when you delete your Google account from your phone before doing so. The post also mentions the steps for Android and iPhone.

Reduce data usage

We hope you can turn off YouTube Restricted Mode using one of the fixes above. If you are a child, we suggest you keep it. Once everything is working fine, check out 4 Tips to Reduce YouTube Data Usage on Mobile and PC.