How to Fix YouTube Subscriptions Not Working Issue

Quick Tips

• Open YouTube and go to the relevant channel > click on Subscribe.
• Go to YouTube > Subscriptions from the side menu > switch between Grid and List view.
• Open YouTube channel > add ?sub_confirmation=1 after channel URL > press enter > Subscribe.

Basic Fixes:

• Check YouTube server status: If YouTube is experiencing downtime, certain app or website features might not work properly. This can also be why your subscriptions are not showing. You can go to Downdetector and check the same.
• Ensure you’re within the subscription limit: To reduce spam, you can only subscribe to 75 channels per day. If you exceed this limit, your new subscriptions might not be visible. And depending on your subscribers, you might be restricted to 2000 subscriptions in total.
• Update the YouTube app: Bugs from the previous app updates can sometimes cause your subscriptions to not work when subscribing via the mobile app. In this case, check and ensure the YouTube mobile app is up-to-date.
• Log out and log back into YouTube: If you have recently changed your account password, it can cause issues in your currently logged-in sessions. This can also result in subsections not working. So, log out of YouTube and log back in. Then, check again.

Fix 1: Subscribe to the Channel Again

If there was any error or issues the first time you subscribed to a channel, it might not register under your account’s subscriptions. In this case, you can subscribe to that channel again to see if this fixes the issue. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1: Open YouTube on any web browser and use the search bar to find the relevant channel.

Step 2: Click on Subscribe to subscribe to the channel again.

You can also subscribe to the relevant channel via the YouTube mobile app using the abovementioned steps.

Fix 2: Switch Between List and Grid View

If you have subscribed to multiple channels, certain subscriptions might not be visible the first time. When this happens, you can switch between List and Grid views on the YouTube desktop app and check if all the subscriptions are visible. Here’s how.

Step 1: Open YouTube on any web browser and click on Subscriptions from the side menu.

Step 2: Use the Grid and List view buttons to switch between them as required.

Fix 3: Modify YouTube Channel URL to Subscribe

If you’re having issues subscribing to any particular channel, it might not show up in your list of subscriptions on YouTube. To stop this, you can modify the relevant channel’s URL to trigger a subscriber request from YouTube. So, open the relevant channel on any web browser and follow the below steps.

Tip: You can also use the web browser on your Android or iOS device and follow the below steps.

Step 1: In the address bar, type ?sub_confirmation=1 after the channel URL and press enter.

Step 2: When prompted, click on Subscribe. This should subscribe you to the channel.

Fix 4: Clear the Cache for YouTube

Over time, our apps and browsers build up and use cache to improve our user experience. However, this cache can sometimes cause issues, like subscriptions not working on YouTube. When this happens, you can clear the cache for YouTube and try again. Here’s how to do it.

Tip: In the absence of native options to clear the cache, iPhone users can offload the YouTube app.

On Android

Step 1: Open Settings and tap on Apps. Tap on YouTube.

Step 2: Tap on Storage. Then, tap on Clear cache.

On Edge

Step 1: Open Edge and click the three-dot icon at the top-right corner. Click on Settings.

Step 2: Click on Cookies and site permissions → Manage and delete cookies and site data.

Step 3: Click on See all cookies and site data.

Step 4: Click on YouTube. Once visible, click on the bin icons.

On Firefox

Step 1: Open Firefox and go to YouTube. In the menu bar, click on the lock icon → Clear cookies and site data.

Step 2: Click on Remove when prompted.

This will help clear the cache only for YouTube on Firefox. Check out our other article to learn more about clearing the cache for a single site on Chrome.