This Firefox extension is a must-have tool for YouTube super users

Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images

Enhancer for YouTube is a must-have extension for anyone who wants full control over how videos are played in their browser. 

Also: How to download YouTube videos for free, plus two other methods

I'll show you how to use Enhancer for YouTube in Firefox, but the program is available for most web browsers. With this extension, you can configure and control the following elements:

ThemeVideo player controls (such as loop, boost volume, info card options, cinema mode, popup player, playback speed, filters, and more)
Where to place controls
Playback quality
Volume
Autoplay
Video codecs
Mini player
Popup player size
Appearance
And more

Suppose you find yourself regularly having to change settings for YouTube videos. This extension allows you to configure defaults for those settings and gives you options to manage things you had no idea you could control.

Also: My 9 must-have gadgets for creating quality YouTube videos

Since using Enhancer for YouTube, my video-watching experience has been exponentially better.

Let me show you how to install and use this extension.

Installing Enhancer for YouTube

What you'll need: The only thing you'll need for this task is a running instance of Firefox. Of course, you can also install this extension in other browsers. Let's go with the Firefox installation. 

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Configuring Enhancer for YouTube

Click the Enhancer for YouTube icon in your toolbar to open the Settings page. From this page, you can configure every aspect of the extension. I recommend you select which controls to add/remove from the YouTube player control toolbar and the default playback quality for videos, playlists, and the popup player. You can select anything from 144p to 4320p 8K. I tend to set playback quality at 1440p HD or 2160p 4K (depending on the display used).

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

All changes are saved immediately, so there's no need to click Save. Once you've made all the necessary changes, you can close the Settings window.

Using Enhancer for YouTube

When you open a YouTube video, you'll see a new toolbar under the video that includes all the controls you added from within Settings. This toolbar gives you far more control over videos than YouTube usually offers. 

Also: How to create a playlist on the YouTube app

One handy feature is the Filters option. Once you've added that option to the default list of controls, click the button while viewing a video, and a small popup appears giving you control over Gaussian blur, brightness, contrast, grayscale, hue rotation, color inversion, saturation, and sepia. These options are useful when watching a video that doesn't look good. You can tweak the video to suit your display and eyes.

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

And that's the gist of Enhancer for YouTube. No matter which browser you use, you owe it to yourself to install and use this extension if you frequently watch YouTube videos.