How to Install YouTube on FireStick / Fire TV (2023)

Last Updated on February 6, 2023

In this tutorial, you are going to learn How to Install YouTube on Firestick. The instructions provided in this guide will work on Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, and Fire TV Cube.

YouTube is your ultimate destination for watching your favorite content creators, professional gamers, music videos, live streams, and additional user-generated content from across the globe. In fact, several major television networks and sports channels offer live TV streams, short clips, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content on YouTube for free.

In case you didn’t know, YouTube works on every smart device of this generation, including that Samsung Smart Fridge everyone talks about. Joking aside, it works the best on a dedicated streaming device, such as the Amazon Firestick.

However, the official YouTube app wasn’t available on the Fire TV platform for some quite some time, due to the long-running feud between Amazon and Google. Then again, the clouds seemed to clear up slowly, and Google made the YouTube app available in the Amazon Appstore for Fire TV devices last year.

In this guide, we will show you the way to watch YouTube on Firestick. It includes detailed instructions for the installation and first-time setup of the YouTube app, so proceed reading this guide to learn more.

Contents

Features of YouTube App on Firestick

The official YouTube app on Firestick lets you watch millions of entertainment, informational, news, sports, music, gaming, and user-generated videos for free.
Most of the content on YouTube is free and ad-supported. However, you can optionally pay for a YouTube Premium subscription, which unlocks access to original content produced by YouTube in partnership with well-known creators on the video platform.
Users can rent or buy select movies or series from YouTube’s on-demand library.
You can view and manage your watch history and subscriptions in the app.
YouTube on Firestick 4K offers streaming in up to 2160p Ultra HD (4K) resolution. On the base model of Firestick, streaming is limited to 1080p Full HD only.
YouTube’s auto-generated closed captioning can be toggled on/off in the official YouTube app.
You can cast videos to the YouTube app on Firestick from your smartphone.

How to Install YouTube on FireStick?

As previously mentioned, YouTube had officially returned on the Fire TV platform last year. The following steps will show you the easiest way to install YouTube on Firestick:

First, scroll up to the top of the Fire TV home screen, then scroll left to highlight the Search (magnifying glass icon) option.
Now press and hold the Voice Button on your Firestick remote and say “YouTube.” You can also type it manually in the search menu using the on-screen keyboard.
Select YouTube from the instant results on the search menu.

On the following page, scroll down and click the YouTube app logo under the Apps & Games.

Finally, click the Get option under the YouTube app description. It will take a minute or two for the installation to finish up.

When it is done installing, you can return to the Fire TV home screen and launch the YouTube app from Your Apps & Channels list.

In case you don’t see it under the list on the home screen, then click the See All option to open the expanded menu of all your installed apps. You will find the YouTube app at the bottom of the menu.

Steps to Sign in to the YouTube on Firestick

Assuming that you already have a Google account, signing in to the YouTube app on Firestick is a straightforward process. Still, you can follow the steps below to do it.

Launch the YouTube app on Firestick.
You will be given the option to either sign in or use YouTube signed out. Click SIGN IN to continue.

The YouTube app should generate an activation code for authentication.

Now go to youtube.com/activate from a web browser on your smartphone or computer, enter the activation code in the field, and click Next.

Complete signing into your Google account if you haven’t already, and click Allow to give the YouTube app required permissions to use your Google account.

Once the sign-in process is complete, the homepage of the YouTube app should appear in a few seconds. You can now stream videos from your favorite YouTube channels and creators!

How to Use YouTube on Firestick

After signing in to the YouTube app, the first thing you will notice is the Home page. From here, you can infinitely scroll through YouTube recommendations, which are based on your watch history. You will also get the option to browse by your favorite topics on the Home page.

Clicking the left directional key on the Firestick remote will open up the sidebar. It gives you access to other sections of the app, which are Search, Home (default), News, Music, Gaming, Subscriptions, Library, and Settings..

From the Search page, you can search for a video or a particular channel. You can also use the voice search option to find something on YouTube.

The News page is dedicated to news channels on YouTube, giving you the latest updates based on current interests. The Music page is home to thousands of music videos and soundtracks, with recommendations from your favorite artists or user-generated music playlists/mixes.

The Gaming page is also similar to the previous pages, which consists of video recommendations about your favorite video games from popular gaming channels on YouTube.

From the Subscriptions page, you can access your YouTube subscription feed and watch the latest videos from your favorite channels/creators. You can click on a video to start watching it instantly.

There are four different categories in the Library page, which are History, My Videos, Watch Later, and Purchases. Here’s more about the categories in detail:

History: It gives you access to your YouTube watch history. You can also choose to clear your history or pause it temporarily from the options at the top.
My videos: Videos that you have uploaded on YouTube will show up in this category.
Watch later: Videos that you have marked to watch later appear in this category.
Purchases: If you rent or buy paid content from YouTube, you can access them from this category.

The Library page also shows a list of video and music playlists you have chosen to add manually.

The Settings page offers a lot of options. You can toggle on/off autoplay, music previews, and enable/disable “Restricted Mode” to show or hide inappropriate content. You can also change your language or location, as well as clear watch and search history on YouTube.

In case you are experiencing playback issues on YouTube, click the Reset app option on the settings page. It will reset the YouTube app to default settings and log out of your Google account.

When playing a YouTube video, you can use the playback controls from the stream overlay or the physical playback control buttons on your Firestick remote.

To enable closed captioning, click the CC icon on the overlay and select your preferred language.

Clicking the three-dot icon brings up more options. From here, you can like or dislike the video you’re watching, subscribe or unsubscribe the channel, change video resolution, and save the video to your Watch Later list or playlists.

Watch YouTube on Fire TV Stick with Web Browsers

You can also watch YouTube on a web browser on Firestick if you want an alternative to the YouTube app. You can follow the installation steps for YouTube in this guide to download and install Amazon Silk Browser, Firefox for Fire TV, or Chrome as well.

In most cases, the Silk Browser comes preinstalled with Fire TV devices, so you won’t have to install any other web browser apps to watch YouTube.

Simply launch the Silk Browser from the Fire TV home screen, select the address bar, and enter youtube.com. Once the page loads up, you can move the cursor using the Firestick remote and navigate through the web version of YouTube.

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Wrapping Up

In this guide, we have discussed two different ways to watch YouTube on Firestick. While you can avoid installing the official YouTube app and stick with the web version to watch YouTube, we still recommend you to get the YouTube app for the best experience, as it natively supports the Firestick remote. Navigation is much more intuitive, and the log-in process is relatively simple.