YouTube started rolling out chats next to videos:
This is often/always(?) open when I start playing a video.
It happens with live replays, recorded replays, and prerecorded videos (it is unclear to me when a video can have a chat).
Is there a setting to disable the chat, or have it start closed by default?
Best Answer
An interesting workaround that may work for some people is browsing the http://youtube.com/tv version of the site made for TVs. It is a simpler version of the site that strips many features, including chat for now.
But for normal youtube.com, there is currently no builtin or easy way to make the YouTube chat disable / hide / start hidden.
The "Disable Live chat" quote from YouTube Help in the previous answer is not relevant here, because it is help for people who upload the streams/videos, not for the people who play videos.