Last month, Google started implementing a transfer tool to help users seamlessly migrate from Google Play Music to YouTube Music. It’s a one-click process that syncs your library, recommendations, playlists, likes and dislikes, and more. However, as is often the case with new technologies like this, many users are experiencing a technical problem, reporting that the migration of their data is making their YouTube side panel disappear on both desktop and mobile devices.
This is not the first time that YouTube’s main app / website side panel has been lost for many. While YouTube has responded to the problem previously by suggesting users to clear their browser’s cache and cookies, or by uninstalling the app if it’s on a mobile device, it appears the error is back and the latest culprit is transferring data from Google Play Music.
Some users say that logging out and logging in again solves the problem temporarily, but tends to go away again. We are still waiting for an official response from YouTube, but there seems to be a solution that users are having success with. Commentator Joe Voisin suggested that by removing all media uploaded to YouTube Music and removing subscriptions to “Bands”, the sidebar would be restored. While this is a rather tedious solution, you should return the links to your subscriptions and playlists next to your YouTube app.
