This Is Why Your YouTube Music Keeps Pausing + How to Fix It [7 Verified Fixes]

More than any other streaming service, the issue of YouTube Music pausing randomly (or seemingly randomly) seems to be popping up among users in all regions.

And today, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this one. If your question is, “Why is my YouTube Music pausing?”, this one’s for you.

Why Does My YouTube Music Keep Pausing: Fastest Answer

The fastest fix for YouTube Music pausing is to press and hold your Android YouTube Music app, tap the “i” symbol, go to “Battery” and select “Unrestricted“. This seems to be the most common solution but it’s for Android users only.

For iPhone users, open your “Settings” app, scroll down to “YouTube Music”, tap it and make sure the “Background App Refresh” is turned on. If it didn’t do the trick, keep it cool and keep reading.

Common Question First: Why Does YouTube Music Keep Pausing When I Leave the App?

We’ve seen a lot of people complaining that their YouTube Music pauses after they leave the app, with questions like, “Why does YouTube Music keep pausing when I lock my phone?”.

Well, the answer is that background play is a YouTube Music Premium feature. If you are on the Free plan, you will not be able to listen to YouTube or YouTube Music in the background.

So unless you’re willing to switch to the Premium plan (note that a classic YouTube Premium plan will also unlock a YouTube Music Premium subscription), the only answer to this question is to avoid leaving the app when you’re listening. And yes, this applies both to iOS and Android users.

YouTube Music Pausing Solution 1: Turn Off Battery Optimization (Android Only)

This one seems to be a very common cause of the issue. People on Google’s support forum have been pointing it out, a lot of people on Reddit also said this was what was causing the problem on their phones.

As noted, this is for Android users only, you just need to give your YouTube Music app “Unrestricted” battery access and it will stop pausing randomly. Here are the steps.

1. 1. Press and hold the YouTube Music app on your phone’s homepage until a control box pops up.
2. 2. Tap the little circled “i” symbol in the top-right corner of the control box to open the “App info” menu.

1. 3. Tap “Battery“.

1. 4. Select “Unrestricted” and launch your YouTube Music App.

Now if you’re an iPhone users, these are the steps to stop YouTube Music from pausing randomly.

1. 1. Open your “Settings” app (the cogwheel icon).
2. 2. Scroll down until you found “YouTube Music“. Tap the icon.

1. 3. Make sure that the “Background App Refresh” toggle is turned on (that it’s green).

Read more: Learn Everything You Need About YouTube Music’s AI Playlist Assistant

YouTube Music Pausing Solution 2: Turn Off Data Saving Features Within the App

The YouTube Music app has multiple restrictions for saving your data. They can all be switched off, of course. Many folks wondering, “Why does YouTube music keep pausing after every song?” found their answer this way.

1. 1. Open your YouTube Music app and tap your profile image in the top-right corner.

1. 2. Select “Settings”.

1. 3. Go to “Playback & restrictions”.

1. 4. Check that “Stream via Wi-Fi only”, “Don’t play music videos”, and “Don’t play podcast videos” toggles are turned off. Each of them might be causing your YouTube Music to pause.

YouTube Music Randomly Pausing Solution 3: Turn Off the Low Power Mode or Battery Saver

Both iOS and Android phones have a battery-saving feature. It’s very handy to save your battery power, but that can mean restricting background use for apps like YouTube Music. This is how to switch it off.

1. 1. Open your Settings app (the cogwheel icon, both on iOS and Android).
2. 2. Go to “Battery” (both iOS and Android).

1. 3. For Apple: switch off the “Low Power Mode” toggle if it’s on; for Android: Go to “Use Battery Saver” or “Power Saving Mode” and switch it off.

YouTube Music Pausing Solution 4: Clear Your Downloads and Re-Download Them If Needed

This is the solution is your YouTube Music keeps pausing when playing local files or downloads. It indicates that the files are likely corrupted. It’s no biggie, you just have to clear your downloaded files and re-download them.

1. 1. Open your YouTube Music app and tap your profile image in the upper-right corner.

1. 2. Tap “Downloads”.

1. 3. Hit the cogwheel icon in the top menu.

1. 4. Tap “Clear downloads”.

1. 5. Download all the tracks again and you should be set.

YouTube Music Keeps Pausing Solution 5: Clear Your YouTube Music Cache

This one is a less common reason for YouTube Music pausing but it happens nonetheless. Basically, corrupted cache files might be messing with your YT Music app. You just need to clear your cache if that’s the case.

If you’re an iPhone user, you can’t clear cache for individual apps but you can offload and reinstall them for the same effect.

1. 1. Open your iPhone’s “Settings” app (the cogwheel icon).
2. 2. Go to “General”.

1. 3. Select “iPhone Storage” and find YouTube Music.

1. 4. Hit “Offload App”.

1. 5. Once the app is offloaded, tap the “Reinstall App” button on the same page.

If you’re an Android user, the steps are more straightforward but just as simple.

1. 1. Open your Settings app.
2. 2. Go to “Apps”.
3. 3. Find YouTube Music and tap it.
4. 4. Open “Storage & Cache”.
5. 5. Tap “Clear Cache”.

YouTube Music Pausing Solution 6: Disconnect All Your Bluetooth Accessories

OK, we’re now diving into those more generic solutions, the solutions that cover a wide range of potential issues, and YouTube Music pausing is one of them.

Anyway, one of your Bluetooth devices might be connected to your phone and causing issues. You can solve this by checking which devices are connected to your phone and disconnecting them, or by turning the Bluetooth off altogether if that’s OK with you.

1. 1. Open your Settings app.
2. 2. Find “Bluetooth” and tap it.
3. 3. Disconnect individual devices or turn the Bluetooth off altogether.

Solution 7: Your YouTube Music Account Is Open on Other Devices, Causing Issues

Another blanket solution here but it might help. If you are logged in to yout YouTube Music profile on other devices, it might be causing an issue.

So just log out of YT Music on other devices you own and try again.

Make Sure Your App Is Up-to-Date

OK, this point – and the next one – are super generic, but they are also something that you should maybe do before you dive into our other solutions.

So, open your Apple App Store or your Google Play Store, find YouTube Music, and see if it’s up to date. If it’s not, there will be an “Update” button for you to click to get the latest version. Then try again and see if the issue persists.

Your Internet Connection Might Be Weak or Spotty, Check It

This one is scrapping the bottom of the barrel but your YouTube might be pausing simply because your internet connection is not strong enough.

Open your phone Settings and check the strength of the WiFi connection. Or, simply look if the WiFi symbol in the top-right corner (next to the clock) is showing a full signal. If it’s not full, move closer to the source of the internet and try again.

Read more: YouTube Music vs Spotify

How to Transfer Playlist From YouTube to Spotify or Other Streaming Service

If errors are making you cancel YouTube Music, it’s important to take your playlists with you. Sure, you can manually recreate them on your new streaming service but that can take hours. Here’s how it’s done with Tune My Music for free as long as your YouTube Music playlist is up to 500 tracks.

1. 1. Fo to Tune My Music Transfer page.
2. 2. Set YouTube Music as the source.

1. 3. Load the playlist viaYouTube Music or playlist URL. Grant permission to Tune My Music if prompted.

1. 4. Select the playlist to transfer. andhit the the purple transfer button.

1. 5. Set the destination streaming service.

1. 6. Confirm your selection and initiate the transfer.

Summary: So, Why Is YouTube Music Pausing?

OK, that would be it for today! We gave you seven possible fixes explaining why your TouTube music keeps pausing and again, the battery optimization and background app permissions are the most common culprits.

To fix the issue on Android, long press your YouTube Music icon, tap the “i” button, select “Battery” and go “Unrestricted”.

On iOS mobile devices, go to your Settings app, scroll down to YouTube Music and tap it, and make sure that “Background App Refresh” is turned on.

Don’t hesitate to contact official support if the issue persists. Check out more of our How To Articles for additional tips and tricks. Stay safe and enjoy the music!