(How to) Restore YouTube's Classic Look in Firefox and Chrome

[Karlston]

YouTube Classic is an extension for Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome that changes the design and layout of YouTube to the classic version.

 

Firefox users can install the browser extension from the official Mozilla Add-ons store; Chrome users cannot, as Google removed it from the Chrome Web Store. It is necessary to load it as an unpacked extension in Developer Mode as explained on the project's GitHub page.

 

YouTube Classic requests access to youtube.com; that's the only permission request and one that make sense, obviously.

YouTube Classic

 

Once installed, you will notice that YouTube's layout and design changed to a classic version. The extension replaces the current layout with a classic layout that differs in some regards significantly from the current version.

 

Firefox users may notice a performance boost after installing the add-on when they visit the YouTube website. Some reviewers noted on Mozilla's Add-ons repository site that YouTube loaded significantly faster for them and that the performance was better as well.

 

Core visual differences between the current YouTube layout and Classic YouTube include:

• Menu is hidden by YouTube Classic.
• A Load More button is provided in regular and full screen mode to load additional content.
• Home and Trending links displayed right at the top for easy switching.
• Fewer links in the header.
• More video thumbnails are displayed next to each other.

YouTube Classic offers one option that is attached to the extension's icon. A click on the extension icon in the browser's toolbar displays an option to turn it off. Just toggle the mode and reload the webpage to go back to the regular version of YouTube. The extension does not reload the page automatically.

 

 

The "method" option appears inactive at the time. I tried to change it but the selection menu is not active regardless of selected mode.

Closing Words

YouTube Classic for Firefox and Chrome may appeal to users who prefer the classic design of YouTube over the current design iteration. Firefox users may find it useful besides that as it may improve the performance of YouTube for them.

 

While designed for Firefox and Chrome, YouTube Classic should work in browsers based on Firefox and Chromium code.

 

Source: Restore YouTube's Classic Look in Firefox and Chrome (gHacks - Martin Brinkmann)