Why Is There a Number on My YouTube Tab? (Complete Explanation)

Have you ever asked yourself, "why is there a number on my YouTube tab?" If so, you'll find this article to be of interest.

YouTube and Google update things all the time. Since this is the case, new alerts and features are added to their platforms often. Sometimes, some alerts can be more noticeable than others, such as having a number show up in your browser tab while on YouTube.

In this article, you will learn:

What Does the Number in Parentheses Mean on YouTube?
Why Does YouTube Have a Number in the Tab?

Read on and learn what a number next to a YouTube tab means and how you can get rid of the number from your tab whenever it appears.

What Does the Number in Parentheses Mean on YouTube?

So, what does the number in parentheses mean on YouTube? Does the number mean that there is something wrong? Or, is this just a feature to help improve your experience while watching videos?

The number in parentheses on YouTube means that you have notifications that you have not read/checked. Most often, notifications are related to comments, comment replies, or new uploads from channels you turned on post notifications for.

Something to keep in mind is that notifications are updated with every page load on YouTube. So, if you view your notifications (which will cause the number to go away) but you get more notifications after reloading the page, a new number will appear.

Why Does YouTube Have a Number in the Tab?

Have you ever been using YouTube and wondered- why does YouTube have a number in the tab? If so, you aren't alone. YouTube makes many unannounced updates to their platform that receive little coverage, which often leads to confusion for users.

The number present on the YouTube tab displays the number of unread YouTube notifications that you currently have. Notifications on YouTube are displayed next to the bell icon in the top right corner of the screen.

Upon clicking the bell icon, your notifications will be marked as read, which will cause them (and the number in your tab) to disappear. Then, if you get more notifications and load a new page, a new number will appear.

Conclusion

You now know why there is a number in your YouTube tab. While it can be annoying to have a number appear constantly, getting rid of the number is as easy as reading your notifications on YouTube.