# YouTube in HD (720p, 1080p, 1440p, 2160p)

> Watch YouTube in the full-HD quality or the highest available one

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-hd-1](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-hd-1)

## Overview

- **ID:** `youtube-hd-1`
- **Platform:** Firefox
- **Type:** Firefox add-on
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** James Fray
- **Category:** photos-music-videos,social-communication,games-entertainment
- **Daily users:** 3,198
- **Weekly downloads:** 51
- **Rating:** 4.27 / 5 (167 ratings)
- **Version:** 0.5.3
- **Last updated:** 2026-08-31
- **First published:** 2014-11-21
- **Size:** 72 KB
- **Data as of:** 2026-09-13
- **Store listing:** [Firefox Add-ons Store](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/youtube-hd-1/)
- **Website:** [https://webextension.org/listing/youtube-hd.html](https://webextension.org/listing/youtube-hd.html)

## Description

**YouTube in HD** automatically sets YouTube videos to your preferred high-definition resolution, including 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 2160p, or the highest quality available. Keep YouTube from starting videos in low quality or unexpectedly switching resolutions and causing buffering.

Choose whether to preserve an existing HD setting, disable frame rates above 30 FPS for smoother playback, and adjust video quality in hidden tabs to help save bandwidth. This Firefox extension is useful for users who want consistent YouTube quality and better control over high-resolution or high-frame-rate playback.

## Rankings

- #1,633 — Overall
- #152 — Games & Entertainment
- #177 — Social & Communication
- #279 — Photos, Music & Videos
- #51 — quality
- #143 — resume

## Permissions and access

### Permissions

- `storage`
- `scripting`

### Host permissions

- `*://www.youtube.com/*`
- `*://www.youtube-nocookie.com/*`

## Safety

- **Risk impact:** Moderate risk impact
- **Risk likelihood:** Moderate risk likelihood

### Analysis details

- Request access to the following domains: youtube.com, youtube-nocookie.com
- This extension was recently updated in the past month. New updates may not be stable or safe.

> Some risk analysis details are omitted from this free response. [Upgrade to view the full analysis](https://chrome-stats.com/pricing).

## Review summary

Users repeatedly praise automatic quality adjustment and the addon’s light footprint, along with convenience when configured. However, multiple reviews note reliability and compatibility problems with certain encodings, UI access issues, occasional stability/performances impacts, and instances where no actual quality change occurs beyond a UI indicator.

### Pros

- Automatically selects an available quality so you don’t have to manually adjust (e.g., jumps to 360p when 240p isn’t available)
- Lightweight/add-on that runs smoothly and uses few resources
- Provides convenience by reducing manual quality tweaks and can improve viewing consistency when configured
- Works well when you customize its options to your liking

### Cons

- Unreliable on some videos and encodings (e.g., may not work with 1080p premium encode or downgrade to lower resolutions)
- UI/Options visibility problems (settings often not accessible; may require pinning the addon to the toolbar)
- Can cause performance issues or break YouTube pages (lag, placeholders, or page instability)
- In some cases it doesn’t change the video quality at all (only the gear icon changes or no effect)

## Similar extensions and apps

- [YouTube Auto HD + FPS](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-auto-hd-fps) — 6,878 users, 4.15 / 5
- [Auto HD|LQ for YouTube™](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-auto-hd-lq) — 177 users, 3.12 / 5
- [Auto HD/4k/8k for YouTube™](https://chrome-stats.com/d/auto-hd-4k-8k-for-youtube) — 3,639 users, 3.90 / 5
- [HD Quality Toggle for YouTube™](https://chrome-stats.com/d/hd-quality-toggle-for-youtube) — 327 users, 2.85 / 5
- [Video Quality Settings for YouTube (HD/4K)](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-video-quality) — 3,662 users, 4.19 / 5
- [YouTube HD](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-automatically-hd) — 589 users, 4.92 / 5
- [YouTube High Definition](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-high-definition) — 161,710 users, 3.76 / 5
- [YouTube HD Quality Settings](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-quality-settings-hd) — 91 users, 5.00 / 5
- [YouTube Force Max Quality](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-force-max-quality) — 252 users, 5.00 / 5
- [HD Youtube Downloader](https://chrome-stats.com/d/hd-youtube-downloader) — 3,331 users, 2.28 / 5
- [Persist YouTube Preferences](https://chrome-stats.com/d/persist-youtube-preferences) — 2 users
- [Leta Change YouTube Quality](https://chrome-stats.com/d/leta-change-youtube-quality) — 2 users

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Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/youtube-hd-1)