Sleep Timer

Q: Does YouTube have a sleep timer?

Yes. In the YouTube player's Settings gear, choose Sleep timer and a duration, and the video pauses automatically when it runs out.

Q: Can I change the YouTube sleep timer after starting it?

Yes. Open Settings > Sleep timer again in the YouTube player and choose a new time.

Q: Where is the sleep timer on YouTube?

YouTube Help puts it in the player's Settings gear menu on a video; a 2026 Online Tech Tips short also found an auto-pause option under the app's Settings > General.

YouTube's sleep timer pauses a video automatically after a set time. Open the player's Settings gear and choose Sleep timer, then 10, 15, 20, 30 or 45 minutes, 1 hour or end of video. It is free for everyone since Oct 15, 2024.

To set a sleep timer on YouTube, open a video, tap or click the Settings gear in the player, choose Sleep timer and pick how long to play before the video pauses by itself. The choices at launch were 10, 15, 20, 30 and 45 minutes, 1 hour, or the end of the video. When time is up, the video pauses and YouTube sends a silent notification, so nothing wakes you. The timer began as a YouTube Premium test and has been free for everyone on YouTube since Oct 15, 2024.

Quick facts

Where	Player Settings > Sleep timer
Durations	10, 15, 20, 30, 45 minutes, 1 hour, end of video
Devices	Android, iPhone, iPad and computers
Cost	Free since Oct 15, 2024 (a Premium test before)
When it ends	The video pauses; a silent notification

Steps from Set a sleep timer, read Nov 6, 2026; durations from 9to5Google; rollout from YouTube's blog.

How do I set a sleep timer on YouTube?

Open the video or playlist you want to fall asleep to.
Tap the video once, then tap Settings (the gear) in the player; on a computer, click the gear.
Choose Sleep timer.
Pick a duration, or the end of video option to stop when the current video finishes.

The steps are the same on Android, iPhone, iPad and computers (Help). To change the time after it has started, follow the same steps and pick again. When the video pauses, a silent notification says so; if you are still awake, set the timer again (Help).

0:00 The app may have a second way in. A short from Online Tech Tips, posted around September 2026, pointed to an option to pause videos automatically after a set time, such as 30 minutes or an hour, under the profile icon, Settings > General, so that YouTube stops instead of autoplaying the next recommendation. Help describes only the player's menu.

Durations

Help itself does not list the durations; it says only to pick how long the timer should run. When YouTube rolled the timer out to everyone, 9to5Google listed the presets as 10, 15, 20, 30 and 45 minutes, 1 hour and end of video (9to5Google). There is no custom length, and no source describes one.

Who has it

YouTube tested the sleep timer with Premium members in its mobile app and on computers in 2024 (9to5Google), then said on Oct 15, 2024 that it was available to all users across mobile devices (YouTube blog). Today's Help page has steps for Android, computers, iPhone and iPad and mentions no Premium requirement. Help gives no steps for TVs.

Sleep timer or bedtime reminder?

They are different tools. The sleep timer pauses playback. A bedtime reminder, a separate setting, only shows a prompt at a chosen time that it is time to stop watching, and does not pause anything (Help).

Frequently asked questions

Does YouTube have a sleep timer? Yes. In the YouTube player's Settings gear, choose Sleep timer and a duration, and the video pauses automatically when it runs out.

Is the YouTube sleep timer free? Yes. It started as a YouTube Premium test in 2024 and has been available to all users since Oct 15, 2024.

What times does the YouTube sleep timer offer? At its rollout YouTube offered 10, 15, 20, 30 and 45 minutes, 1 hour, and end of video.

Can I change the YouTube sleep timer after starting it? Yes. Open Settings > Sleep timer again in the YouTube player and choose a new time.

Where is the sleep timer on YouTube? YouTube Help puts it in the player's Settings gear menu on a video; a 2026 Online Tech Tips short also found an auto-pause option under the app's Settings > General.