If YouTube captions keep turning on after every ad no matter how many times you switch them off, you’re not imagining it. This is a known quirk in the YouTube app and website: turning captions off mid-video only disables them for that session, and the next ad break resets the setting back to on. The fix isn’t in the video player at all – it’s a global caption preference buried in your account settings, and once you change it correctly on every device you use, captions stay off for good.
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Why YouTube Captions Keep Turning On After Ads
The caption toggle on the video player itself is temporary – it only applies to the video you’re currently watching. YouTube’s actual default caption behaviour is controlled separately in your account’s playback settings, and on some devices that default gets re-applied whenever an ad interrupts playback. That’s why toggling captions off manually never sticks: you’re fighting the symptom, not the setting causing it.
To stop it permanently, you need to disable captions in the dedicated settings menu on every device and app you use – phone, desktop browser, and the YouTube app – rather than the on-screen CC button.
Permanent Fix: Disable Captions on Every Device
Do this with no video playing on any device. Google’s own caption settings help page covers the basic toggle, but the steps below are what actually make it permanent when YouTube captions keep turning on after ads.
1. Turn Off Caption Settings on Phone
Settings > Captions > Caption preferences > Off
2. Turn Off CC Settings in YouTube Desktop
Settings > Playback and performance > Subtitles and Closed Captions > untick “Always show captions”
3. Sign Out of the YouTube App on Your Phone
Profile picture > Your account > Manage accounts > tap the account name > Remove from device
4. Sign Out of YouTube in Your Desktop Browser
Profile picture > Sign out
5. Open the YouTube App on Your Phone and Sign In Again
Signing out and back in forces the app to re-sync your caption preference from the account level, rather than whatever cached setting was stuck on your device. This is the step that actually breaks the loop where YouTube captions keep turning on after ads – skipping it is the most common reason the fix doesn’t stick.
If Captions Still Turn Back On
If you’ve done all five steps and captions still reappear, check whether you’re signed into more than one Google account on the same device – each account has its own separate caption preference, so switching accounts can silently re-enable them. It’s also worth updating the YouTube app itself, since caption preference syncing has been buggy in specific app versions in the past.
While you’re in your phone’s settings sorting this out, it’s also a good time to check on other device housekeeping – for example, if storage space has been tight, here’s how to free up storage space on your Android phone.
Once set up this way, YouTube captions keep turning on after ads a lot less often – for most people, this fully resolves it across every device signed into that account.
Does This Happen on Smart TVs and Game Consoles Too?
Yes – the same underlying issue affects the YouTube app on smart TVs, game consoles, and streaming boxes, since they all pull the caption preference from the same Google account rather than storing it locally. If YouTube captions keep turning on after ads on a TV specifically, the fix is the same: sign out of YouTube on the TV, complete the steps above on your phone or desktop first, then sign back in on the TV so it picks up the corrected preference.
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