How to Watch Youtube Video Simultaneously While Working In Another Tab

Today, everyone using internet is involved in multi-tasking, opening multiple tabs and doing several things together. Something similar happens when you watch Youtube videos. If you are watching Youtube videos while handling other tasks in separate tabs, then chances are that you will miss some part of the video, and keep coming back to the Youtube tab. Or you may open multiple windows and adjust their size such that you can see enough of both windows.

Well, if you are looking for an easy solution to this problem, then Firefox’s add-on Side Watch is definitely worth trying. It allows you to play your video in Firefox’s sidebar. In this way, you can continue your current work while glancing at the video simultaneously.

Once you have installed the add-on, press Ctrl+/ (keyboard shortcut) to enable a thin add-on bar on the bottom of the Firefox window. Next, go to Youtube and play the video you want. Now click on the tiny Youtube icon on the add-on bar and the video will start playing in Firefox’s sidebar. Here’s a sample screenshot.

One drawback here is that the video plays in a short space, and although the size of the sidebar can be increased, it’s height cannot be changed. However, you can switch to the full screen mode as in a normal video. But that more or less would be the conventional way of watching the video and would not be called “multitasking”. Also, if you don’t close the regular Youtube window, the original video will keep on playing, so just make sure you close the main tab else you’ll end up playing the video twice.

A big advantage is that this add-on does not play Youtube ads, which are normally very irritating to deal with. So, if you want to directly jump to the video, Side Watch is for you.