YouTube is coherently adding on new & exciting functionalities to bring more pliability to the user experience. The search filter is worth mentioning so far, amongst all its features, if it comes right down to users’ feasibility.
YouTube search filter function
Generally, the YouTube application showcases plenty of videos in search results against a single query or keyword. Here the actual challenging stint would be to navigate & explore your requisite content as you might need to go through the entire displayed content one by one; that is undoubtedly an unacceptable option in terms of time & effort it would consume.
In such a state, the YouTube filter function proves to be quite productive. It precisely fetches & sorts the requested video content in the shortest period; it saves the users from the hassles associated with scrolling through the dozens of interrelated videos searching for the requested one.
How it works?
YouTube search filter function allows its users to customize their particular searches; each time a user searches any query on YouTube, he can access search filters by clicking on the customization icon located next to the search tab.
The users’ requirements may vary in certain situations, sometimes the required videos might be less than a duration of even 4 minutes, or you may need the latest content such as any particular show or news, so the filter functions offer extensive customization options that can speed up the video searching process considerably.
You can find the following 5 content filtering choices on the customization screen.
Sort by: It allows you to view the content either by relevance, upload date, view count, or ratings.
Type: You can opt for a specific type if you search for a particular playlist, film, or channel content.
Upload date: This option allows to access oldest to the latest uploaded content more straightforwardly.
Duration: If you require the content of a specific period, either it’s short (under 4 minutes), medium (4-20 minutes), or long (over 20 minutes) duration video, you can opt for this option for a more precise search.
Features: You can also pick the specific features from this section, such as live streaming, 4k, HD, subtitles/cc, 3D, HDR, etc.
Note: You can also set the specific quality of content in terms of pixels manually by accessing YouTube settings.
YouTube search filter not working?
We have come across various users reports stating that “YouTube filters not working.” This is because last time, the search filter function was deliberately taken down by the YouTube managers; even it was informed by YouTube authorities that it happened because the team was working on removing the inappropriate or violent videos from the YouTube database.
Though this “YouTube filter is not working,” problem was automatically resolved by the YouTube managing team. But it can occur again at any time due to the same reason or something else, and it is also true that general YouTube users cannot fix it manually.
Still here, we will discuss & elaborate on the few tactics you can opt for that serve as working alternatives to the YouTube search filter function.
Fixes to “YouTube search filter not working.”
The very few implementable tactics to bypass the problem “YouTube filters not working” are elaborated here!
Clear out the YouTube cache & cookies
This tactic has already been explained repeatedly in various briefs & guides. Clearing out the cache & cookies must be prioritized over other complex fixes as it is likely a quicker way to overcome the relative problem. So, you need to clear out the cookies & cache stored by YouTube sessions in your device storage.
If you are using the YouTube application on a mobile device, proceed with the following steps.
- Access your mobile phone settings.
- Navigate to “apps” settings and select YouTube from the list of apps.
- Click on the “storage” tab.
- Click on the option “clear cache.”
If you are using a web version instead of a YouTube mobile app, you need to follow the below-stated procedure.
- Launch your Chrome browser.
- Access its settings by clicking on the three-dotted icon located at the top right corner.
- Select the “privacy and security” tab in the browser’s settings.
- Click on the “clear browsing data” option.
- Checkmark all three options & proceed on by clicking on the button “clear data.”
- Relaunch your YouTube interface and check if the search filter error persists there or not.
Use Google’s advanced search tool.
If the aforementioned quicker tactic doesn’t work in your case, you must step up to a more reliable & effective way; this is to use Google’s advanced search tool. It is to be noted that this process can only be used in the web version of YouTube. To do so,
- Launch the Google search engine in desktop view.
- Search your particular query or video name followed by a successor site:youtube.com.
- Click on the “video” option.
- Navigate to the “tools” option located at the right top of the search bar.
- Here you will find the options like time, duration & quality that will surely assist you to filter out your requisite content instantly.
Though the google search tool offers quite limited options compared to the YouTube search filter function, it is still worth implementing if the YouTube filter is not working.
Clear YouTube data
Though the process of using Google’s advanced search tool is quite effective and capable of bypassing the problem readily, in case if you are unable to access YouTube in web view, then you’d need an alternate solution that can be implemented within the YouTube mobile app. So, few users have shared their experience that signing in to YouTube with a different account can resolve the error. For this, you will need to delete the YouTube data entirely. This process will also erase all the sign-in information, and then you can use another account to proceed on.
- Launch your phone’s settings.
- Select the app’s settings.
- Open the YouTube app’s settings and select its storage.
- Click on the option “clear data.”
- Now, relaunch your YouTube app and sign with another account.
Conclusion
Sometimes the YouTube search filter feature may stop functioning; likewise, a similar situation just occurred recently, and that happened because the YouTube authorities took down the filter option intentionally while working on deleting the violent content from the YouTube database.
I thought that problem was resolved automatically, but that problem may arise again, too; that’s why we have briefly explained the few alternative ways that can be implemented in such situations to bypass the content filtering restrictions.
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