Google Home smart speakers can play selections from the YouTube Music service, but since they don’t have a screen you can’t watch the video or directly play audio from YouTube videos.
However, there is a workaround. Using Bluetooth, you can watch a YouTube video on your phone or PC and listen to the audio portion on a Google Home smart speaker. You can also use this trick to listen to YouTube audio on a Google Home Hub/Nest or compatible smart display if want to watch the video portion on your phone or PC.
Playing YouTube Audio on Google Home From a Smartphone
Here is how to play audio from YouTube videos on a Google Home from your smartphone.
Open the Google Home app and tap on the icon that represents your Google Home Speaker. On the next screens, tap Settings > Paired Bluetooth Devices > Enable Pairing Mode. Open Bluetooth on your phone (in the phone’s settings, not the Google Home app), the tap Available Devices and choose your Google Home device. Once the phone and Google Home device are paired, open YouTube on your smartphone to play something. You can watch YouTube videos on your smartphone while the music or other companion audio plays on your Google Home.
Playing YouTube Audio From a PC on a Google Home
You can also play YouTube audio from a PC or laptop on a Google Home device in a similar fashion as from a smartphone.
In your computer’s Settings enable Bluetooth and then select Add Bluetooth or Other Device. Select Bluetooth from the Add a Device dialog box. On your smartphone, open the Google Home app and tap your Google Home device. In the Google Home app tap Device settings > Paired Bluetooth devices > Enable Pairing Mode. When Bluetooth pairing mode is activated in the Google Home app, the Google Home Device should appear on the Add a Device list on your PC. When you click on the device Icon, the pairing/connection process between the PC and Google Home will start. When pairing is confirmed, a prompt will appear saying “Connection completed” or “Your Device is ready to go!” Under your paired Google Home, you might see a caption that says “Connected Music”. However, any audio, including YouTube audio will play on the Bluetooth-paired Google Home device from the PC. Your PC is added to your Google Home’s Bluetooth devices list. If there are multiple paired devices on the list, highlight the Bluetooth icon for your PC, to enable audio playback. You can now watch the video portion of YouTube on your PC and listen to the audio on your Google Home device. If you want to listen to YouTube audio back on your PC, just use Google Assistant to say “Google, turn off Bluetooth”.
Using YouTube with Google Home/Nest Hub and Smart Displays
If you have a Google Home/Nest Hub or other Google-enabled smart display YouTube is one of the apps you can view directly on the screen (no smartphone, PC, or TV) and listen to YouTube audio on the device’s built-in speakers.
You may also be able to use Google Home with a Bluetooth-enabled speaker to listen to YouTube audio instead.
To use a Google Home/Nest Hub with a Bluetooth Speaker, do the following:
Turn on your Bluetooth speaker and activate pairing mode according its instructions (usually a button push). Open the Google Home app and tap your Hub or compatible display. Select Device Settings > Default music speaker. The default speaker shown in this step is your current Google Home device, you will change this to your desired Bluetooth speaker in the next step. Change your current Google Home device to Pair Bluetooth Speaker and proceed with the scanning and pairing process. Once pairing is completed, you can use Voice Commands or the Touchscreen on the Google Home/Nest Hub or compatible smart display to control YouTube navigation and control functions. You can watch YouTube videos on the screen and listen to its audio on your paired default Bluetooth speaker.
Using Google Home To Play YouTube Audio and Video on Select TVs
You can also use Google Home with Chromecast to show YouTube on TVs. If you have a Chromecast or a TV with Chromecast built-in, using Google Assistant, you can tell a Google Home smart speaker or Google Home Hub/Nest to play YouTube on the TV (audio and video will both play).
You can also use Google Assistant, through Google Home, to control some YouTube navigation features to select videos, and play, pause, and resume them.
