YouTube randomly unsubscribing you from channels? Here are the possible reasons why

Being unexpectedly unsubscribed from your favorite YouTube channels is an annoying issue that has plagued the platform’s users for years. While not a new phenomenon, reports of YouTube’s unsubscribe glitch have been making the rounds again recently across social media. So what exactly causes this maddening problem?

Just in the past week, numerous YouTube viewers have taken to Reddit, X, and other online forums to vent about getting randomly unsubscribed from channels they follow. Some claim to have been unsubbed from channels they’ve been loyal to for years.

I’m looking up as many YouTubers I’m subscribed to as I can remember, and I’m seeing so many of them unsubscribed from! WTF is going on. (Source)

#Youtube keeps unsubscribe channels I have subscribed to. (Source)

But this time around, what’s even more frustrating is that users are unable to resubscribe to the channels. I have seen many reports from users claiming that when they tap the ‘Subscribe’ button, they get a pop-up error saying “Sorry, something went wrong. Error subscribing, try again.” Here’s a video shared on X highlighting the problem:

Luckily, YouTube’s support team has confirmed that the issue is being looked into. However, they haven’t provided any ETA for a fix. Furthermore, it’s unclear if the channels that were automatically unsubscribed from accounts would get resubscribed after the fix.

While frustrating, these unsubscription issues are nothing new for YouTube. Similar reports of the glitch disrupting users’ subscription feeds have been popping up every few months for years, with some dating back as far as 2016.

Matter of fact, I found a survey that YouTube was running asking users for feedback about why they believed they were automatically unsubscribed from any channel(s). I discovered this survey on a now-archived Reddit post from 8 years ago. That said, YouTube still doesn’t have any official documentation on the problem. So we’re left with speculation from users about what might be causing the issue.

So what could be behind YouTube’s inability to maintain consistent subscription lists for many users? While the platform hasn’t provided much transparency, there are several potential culprits. A Quora user listed a bunch of possibilities that are likely to be the cause in some cases for the problem. However, you must keep in mind that none of the potential reasons have actually been confirmed by YouTube. So in all honesty, your guess is as good as mine, when it comes to the potential causes for the glitch.

Like any software, YouTube can experience temporary bugs and coding glitches that inadvertently affect user subscriptions until patched. If there’s a platform issue, you will likely see widespread reports about the problem on platforms like Reddit and X. This is the most likely scenario in most cases where users are affected by the glitch. You can keep an eye on YouTube’s support account on X to check if the company acknowledges any glitch with their service that might be causing the problem.

If you use multiple devices or have session issues, your account might not sync properly across devices. This can make it appear as though subscriptions are disappearing, when in reality it’s a sync problem.

YouTube periodically removes inactive accounts and channels that violate its community guidelines or terms of service. If you were subscribed to such a channel, it would no longer appear in your subscription list.

User error, especially on mobile devices where it’s easy to fat-finger the unsubscribe button, likely accounts for some unsubscribes.

YouTube has algorithms designed to detect and disable spam/bot accounts that might inadvertently flag legitimate subscriptions as violating.

Major updates to YouTube’s recommendation algorithms could potentially trigger unsubscribes as old user patterns are reprocessed.

Using third-party YouTube subscription management tools that aren’t properly integrated could lead to sync issues.

Some speculate YouTube may be too quick to cull “dead” subscriptions from accounts after periods of YouTube inactivity.

While certainly disruptive to dedicated viewers trying to keep up with their favorite creators, these unsubscribe glitches seem to be an unavoidable inconvenience that comes with the territory of YouTube’s massive scale. With over 2.5 billion monthly active users and countless channels, some technical hiccups are inevitable when managing such an immense platform.

So what can users do to safeguard against or quickly rectify undesired unsubscribes? Here are some tips:

• Periodically review and maintain your subscription list.
• Use the notification bell on essential channels to reinforce interest.
• Screenshot or export your subscription list to have a backup record. I’ve added a useful video that guides you through this process below:

  Alternatively, you can do a quick Google Search as well to help you find a tutorial.

• Reach out to YouTube’s support team if the issue becomes a recurring problem.
• On mobile, be cautious about inadvertent unsub button taps.
• Consider third-party subscription management tools.
• Check connections when using YouTube across multiple devices.

Ultimately, while aggravating, these unsubscribe glitches seem to be par for the course on a platform as monolithic as YouTube. Maintaining consistent subscription feeds for billions of users is clearly an immense technical challenge. But with some persistence from users and prioritization by YouTube’s engineers, the disruptions from this issue can hopefully be minimized over time. With that, I hope this article helped you understand the potential reasons behind the annoying glitch.