What does "you will want to" mean?

I often find people (mostly American people) telling to me "you will want to do this" or "you will not want to do this". Does it mean they are telling me that I should do something (in the sense of being authoritative) or are they just requesting that I do something?

Solution 1:

It literally is a prediction of a future condition. It's often used as a way of sharing your experiences with the hope of those experiences helping someone else. It can be a way of insinuating commands or requests, but only as a turn of phrase.

For example, a person who just got out of the rain might tell someone about to leave that "You will want to have an umbrella." If a road is blocked, they might say "You will want to drive this other route."

By alerting someone to a future condition, you help them make informed decisions without stepping on their toes.

Solution 2:

“You will want to do X” is simply an informal yet animated way of saying, “I highly recommend trying X.” It's usually meant to be friendly, more so than authoritative; the speaker is sharing heartfelt enthusiasm, often based on personal experience. For example:

You will so want to stay active on EL&U! They've got some great people there, and you can learn a lot.

Solution 3:

In "American" it's basically saying: In my opinion this is the best course of action for you, you don't have to follow it, but if you fail I can say "I told you so"

Solution 4:

It can be perceived as a way of giving advice, a way of trying to persuade someone of something, or simply as it is. "You will want to do this" could mean that the person saying it wants you to do this, believes that this is something you should do, or believes that, if you don't now, you will later want to do this.

The other side of all this is that if someone says "You don't want to do this" it means that either the person doesn't want you to do this, that the person believes that this is something you shouldn't do, or believes that this is something you will regret doing later.