Trying to compete with TikTok “you to you”, Google has significantly improved the Shorts section (short videos) in recent times, having become one of the most visited sections by users (far exceeding the plays that long videos get).
But not everything is “rose”and that’s it YouTube Shorts has accumulated more and more errors on mobile devices, especially Android. One of the most annoying mistakes and one that has begun to say “gift” more and more, it is the disappearance of the Like, Comments, Dislike, Remix and Share buttonsas well as access to the creator’s channel.
In short, the video plays, you can scroll… but you can’t interact. If this is happening to you, you’re not the only one Google Help Forum There are users who describe exactly the same error.
The good news is this It’s not a problem with your cell phonebut a fairly widespread failure. And, fortunately, there is a solution. In this article we will show you a complete and clearly explained guide bring those buttons back to YouTube Shorts.
Why do YouTube Shorts buttons disappear?
Although YouTube has not given an official explanation, Reports agree on the same thing.:
- It is a temporary failureespecially on Android.
- Sometimes some buttons disappearnot all.
- This is usually due to errors in the appsystem errors or interface loading problems.
This is worth clarifying It has nothing to do with age limits.regional blockades or account sanctions (which many believe). Simply, the interface does not finish loading.
How to recover Like, Comment and Share buttons in YouTube Shorts?
Next, we show you the most effective solutionsor at least the ones that worked for us when we encountered this problem. You can apply them without any risk, because They do not affect your data, accounts or downloads.
Close the application completely
Even if it seems elementary, this is the most effective solution for most. The error usually appears when the Shorts interface becomes “hooked” in the background:
- Open the recent apps view.
- Close all applications.
- Reopen the app and check if the problem is resolved.
In many cases, the buttons appear immediately because the Shorts player was rebuilt from scratch.
Force quit and temporarily disable YouTube
Since then, this method is even more powerful than closing the app manually forces the system to restart all components:
- Enter the “Settings” of your mobile device.
- Access the section named “Apps”.
- And a “YouTube”.
- Touch “Forced arrest”.
- Click “Disable” and confirm the action.
- Wait 10 seconds and tap “Enable”.
By disabling the app, Android eliminates internal processes that may be causing the error. It’s like doing a deep reset without uninstalling anything.
Clear YouTube cache
As with other applications, Corrupted cache is one of the most common causes why the interface appears incomplete. You can clear YouTube cache in seconds by following these steps:
- Go to “Settings” of the cell phone.
- Enter “Applications”.
- Click “YouTube”.
- Enter “Storage and caching”.
- Click “Empty cache”.
Keep this in mind this does not delete your account, history or downloadsonly temporary files. If the problem persists, you can try “Clear Storage”.
Restart your phone
There are times when The problem is not generated by the YouTube app itself but by the operating system, Android in this case. A reboot clears temporary processes, saturated memory, and system errors.
From here we recommend turn off your phone completelywait 10 to 15 seconds and turn it back on. After doing this, you need to open YouTube, play a short film and check if the buttons are back.
Update the YouTube app from Google Play
If you have not enabled automatic updates, Your version of YouTube may be causing the buttons to disappear.s in the shorts. There are several users who reported that the problem disappeared immediately after updating the app:
- Open Google Play.
- Research “YouTube” in the search engine.
- Credit “Update” if it is available.
Google usually fixes these types of interface errors in updates, which come out weekly.
Verify that an experimental feature is not enabled
If you counter YouTube Premium, you could have enabled an experimental feature by mistake. Google is constantly testing new interfaces and sometimes disables some buttons if the user has allowed access to this type of testing.
You can check it by following these steps:
- Open the application YouTube.
- Click on your account.
- Hit the cogwheel (appears at the top right).
- Enter “Try new experimental features”.
- Disable experimental features (if they are active).
Temporarily change accounts
Another extremely effective trick is to switch accounts within YouTube. The Shorts interface is rendered based on each account’s data. If something goes wrong in the current session (internal cookies, corrupted data), Changing accounts forces YouTube to regenerate the player.
Of course, to follow the tutorial you need to have another Google or YouTube account (you can create one from scratch):
- Tap your profile photo.
- Select “Change account”.
- Sign in with another account.
- Check if the problem persists.
If the buttons appear with another account, go back to yours, usually the error disappears by doing so.
What to do if the problem is not solved with any of these methods?
If nothing we showed you worked, You’ll have to wait for Google to fix the problemor you can factory reset your phone (you need to make a backup copy to avoid losing data).
Last but not the least, update your mobile’s Android to the latest version (if there is one available), this may also resolve the issue in question.
