Cast YouTube from your phone to your PC.
The Cast button in the YouTube app does not list a computer, because a browser is not a device it can find. Open venfy.app/tv on the computer, link the app once with the code on the screen, and from then on the computer is in the Cast list like a smart TV. It works from iPhone and Android, to Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, with nothing to install.
Free · Nothing to install ·
How to cast YouTube to a computer
About a minute the first time. After that it is one tap.
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Open venfy.app/tv on the computer
In any modern browser: Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox or Safari. Press Start. A twelve-digit TV code appears on the screen.
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Link the YouTube app with that code
On your phone, open the YouTube app and tap the Cast icon. Choose Link with TV code, which some versions of the app call Add a device, and type the code. You do this once.
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Tap Cast and choose Venfy.app
Open any video, tap Cast and pick Venfy.app from the list. The video plays on the computer, and the app becomes its remote.
Casting is not screen mirroring
Most answers to this question send you to a screen mirroring app. Mirroring copies your phone's whole screen onto the computer: the phone plays the video and sends it across as a picture. The phone has to stay unlocked and on that video, its notifications show up on the big screen, and the picture is only as good as the copy.
Casting is different. The phone only says what to play. The computer gets the video straight from YouTube, in YouTube's own player, and the phone is free: lock it, answer a message, or look for the next video while this one plays.
Other ways to get YouTube from a phone onto a computer
Each of these is good for something. None of them is the Cast button.
- Screen mirroring apps
- An app on the phone and a program on the computer, as a rule on the same Wi-Fi. They mirror everything, which is right for a game or a slideshow and more than a video needs.
- Miracast, on Windows
- Windows can receive an Android phone's screen once its wireless display feature is added. It is mirroring too, and an iPhone cannot use it.
- AirPlay, to a Mac
- A recent Mac can receive AirPlay from an iPhone. It works for YouTube, between Apple devices only, and with no queue other people can add to.
- An extension that opens YouTube's TV interface
- It opens the interface smart TVs run, and the app links to it with a TV code. Venfy has one as an optional extra, Venfy Cast, for the videos that will not play in a web page.
- The address old guides give, youtube.com/tv
- It no longer opens on a computer. YouTube sends an ordinary browser back to its normal site.
Questions
Can I cast YouTube to a PC without a Chromecast?
Yes. A Chromecast is a device the Cast button can find. Venfy makes the computer itself one of the screens on that list, so there is nothing to buy and nothing to plug in.
Do the phone and the computer have to be on the same Wi-Fi?
No. The link is made with a TV code, through YouTube, and not across your network. The computer can be on a cable and the phone on mobile data.
Does it work from an iPhone to a Windows PC, or from Android to a Mac?
Yes. Any phone with the YouTube app can cast to any computer with a modern browser. The two do not have to be the same make.
Why does my computer not show up when I tap Cast?
On its own it never does: the Cast button looks for smart TVs and streaming devices. Once you have linked with the TV code, it shows up as Venfy.app whenever venfy.app/tv is open on the computer. If it is missing, check that the page is open and that Start was pressed.
Can I cast to a laptop that is plugged into a TV or a projector?
Yes. Whatever the laptop is showing is the screen. Use the full screen button on the Venfy page and the video fills it.