Picture in picture not working on a Mac? How to get the video to pop out

The pop out button is missing, greyed out, or the video goes black. Where Safari and Chrome hide picture in picture, and which sites turn it off.

Guide · Updated 22 October 2026

Where is picture in picture in Safari?

  • Look for the picture in picture button in the video's own controls.
  • If there is none, play the video, then right click the sound icon in the address bar and choose Enter Picture in Picture.
  • On YouTube, right click the video twice. The second menu is Safari's, and it has Enter Picture in Picture.

Where is it in Chrome?

Right click the video twice for Chrome's menu, or use the media control button in the toolbar while a video plays, which has a picture in picture button.

Why is it greyed out or missing?

  • The site turns it off. Some streaming services disable it, and no setting overrides that.
  • The video has not started. Play it first, then look again.
  • An extension is in the way. Ad blockers and video extensions sometimes take over the player. Try a private window, where most extensions are off.
  • The browser is out of date. Update it.

Why does the pop out video go black?

Protected video on some services cannot be shown outside the page. Reload the page, or watch it in the service's own app if it has one.

How picture in picture works: picture in picture on a Mac. Other floating windows: keep a window on top.

Checked on 22 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) with Safari 27.0.1: Enter Picture in Picture was read from Safari's own labels.

Questions

Why is picture in picture not working on my Mac?

The site may disable it, the video may not be playing, or an extension may interfere.

How do I do picture in picture on YouTube in Safari?

Right click the video twice, then choose Enter Picture in Picture.

Why is picture in picture greyed out?

Usually the site has turned it off, or the video has not started yet.

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