YouTube Will Finally Let You Hide The Recommendations At The End Of Videos - Here's How To Do It

Some YouTube creators are using end screens to promote additional content from the channel. It's a practice many YouTube users are familiar with, as those end screen recommendations show up at the end of many clips on the streaming service. Sometimes, they cover most of the screen, as creators can place up to four recommendations on the screen. But since those end screens can appear anywhere in the last 20 seconds of the clip, they can sometimes cover key details you may want to see. Until now, there was no way to remove the recommendation screens, but YouTube is finally allowing users to hide those end screens when they get in the way.

The end screen recommendations will not disappear, as creators can still promote their content at the end of videos. YouTube isn't giving users a setting that will permanently remove those end screens. You can only hide the recommendations on the video you're watching. You'll have to repeat the process for every clip that has recommendations blocking relevant content.

Not all YouTube changes are beneficial. A few weeks ago, users and creators noticed YouTube using AI to enhance videos without the permission of creators. Previously, YouTube also hid the Skip button so users would watch more (and sometimes even longer) ads. But this time YouTube appears to be doing the right thing.

YouTube announced the new "Hide" button via a support document on Wednesday. The Hide button will appear in the top right corner of the video player. Click the button, and the end screens will disappear. If you want to see the recommendations again, you'll have to tap the "Show" button that appears once the end screens are hidden. YouTube says it's implementing the change following feedback from its users. YouTube will also remove the "Subscribe" button that appears when you hover the cursor over a video's watermark.

YouTube explained that the updates to the playback experience followed internal tests that measured the impact on these proposed changes. YouTube found that giving users the option to hide end screens caused a drop in views of less than 1.5%. Similarly, fewer than 0.05% of channel subscriptions come from the hover-to-subscribe functionality associated with the watermark. While YouTube is making these changes to the video player user interface, creators will still be able to use end screen recommendations and watermarks.

The support document doesn't explain when the changes will be available to users, but it's probably only a matter of time until you start seeing the Hide button on videos that have recommendations at the end. YouTube tested the button globally between March and July, a detail that suggests the software changes are ready for a wider rollout.