How to turn off YouTube auto-dubbing

What is YouTube auto-dubbing?

Auto-dubbing is a YouTube feature that uses artificial intelligence to create a version of a video’s audio in other languages. YouTube detects the language the video was recorded in and generates the dubbed tracks on its own, and videos with that audio show an Auto-dubbed label.

The feature opened in December 2024 to channels focused on informational content, such as videos that teach cooking or sewing, and it runs on Gemini, Google’s AI, according to TechCrunch. At the time, YouTube said it planned to bring dubbing to other kinds of content.

The dub does not come alone: per YouTube Help, the language preference applies to audio, titles and descriptions. That is why a video recorded in English can reach your home page with a title in your language and an AI voice speaking it.

Why does auto-dubbing get in the way of learning English?

Because it replaces exactly what you need to hear. A video in English is free listening practice: real accents, real rhythm and the expressions people actually use. With the dub, you hear a synthetic voice in your own language and lose all of that, often without noticing, because the title arrives translated too.

And the translation can be wrong. YouTube Help warns that dubs may contain errors because of pronunciation, accents, dialects or background noise. At launch, YouTube itself acknowledged that the translation is sometimes not quite right, or the dubbed voice does not represent the speaker well.

How do I get the original audio back on a computer?

It takes three clicks, right in the video player:

1. Open the video and click the Settings gear in the corner of the player.
2. Click Audio track.
3. Choose the track with original in its name, for example English (original).

This only applies to that video. If the next one is dubbed too, you have to switch again, which is why the preferred-languages setting below matters.

How do I turn off auto-dubbing on my phone and TV?

In the YouTube app for Android and iPhone, the path is the same as on a computer: tap the video, tap the Settings gear and choose Audio track. On Shorts, the option sits in the three-dot menu.

On a TV, bring up the player controls with the remote, go to the gear and look for Audio track or Audio. The name varies a little between Android TV, Google TV, Samsung, LG and Roku, but the path is similar.

Can I turn off YouTube auto-dubbing for good?

There is no switch for it, but one setting solves most of it: preferred languages. YouTube Help says that content whose original audio is in one of your preferred languages is not translated and plays in its original audio. Add English, and videos recorded in English stop arriving dubbed.

On a computer:

1. Click your profile picture, then Settings.
2. Open Playback & performance.
3. Under Language, click Add or edit languages.
4. Select English (and any other language you understand) and click Confirm.

On a phone: profile picture → Settings → Languages → Preferred languages.

One important limit: according to YouTube, this setting is separate from the app language and your location, and it does not change search results or recommendations. Your home page stays full of videos in your own language.

How do I remove dubbed videos from the YouTube home page?

YouTube’s settings cannot do it. This is where Active Immersion comes in: an extension for Chrome and Firefox made for learning English from the internet you already use.

With immersion on, Active Immersion removes videos with the auto-dubbed label from the list: on the home page, in Up next, in search and on the Shorts shelf. What remains are videos with their original voice.

The extension also handles the rest of the screen: titles, results and posts in your native language are blurred, translated into English or removed, depending on the level you choose (Partial or Total). And the messages you write in English on ChatGPT, Gmail or WhatsApp Web get corrected, with explanations.

What it does not do: Active Immersion works in the computer browser (Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox 140 or newer), not in the phone or TV app, and it does not switch the audio of a video you open directly from a link. For those cases, use the steps above.

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