[SOLVED] YouTube Videos Not Playing

YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing platform, but sometimes, despite having a stable internet connection, videos may fail to play. The reason your YouTube videos aren’t playing can range from outdated browsers to software issues.

Fortunately, you can use several troubleshooting techniques to identify and fix YouTube videos not playing issue, depending on the root cause. That’s what this guide is about.

With that said, let’s begin.

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Watch this short video for a quick fix. For more detailed steps, continue reading the full article:

YouTube Videos Loading But Not Playing: Top 5 Reasons

Unfortunately, there are several reasons why your YouTube videos are not playing on your laptop. Let’s go through some of the top reasons: 

1. No or Bad Internet Connection

If you don’t have a stable internet, YouTube videos might not load and play. The Internet connection icons with an up-and-down-pointing arrow are hidden in this situation.

2. Problems With the Mobile Browser

You may not think much of the YouTube videos not playing on the app’s version. However, the alternative platform may still give you trouble. For example, mobile browsers may have bugs because they are:

• also available as applications,
• slow to load on poor connections, and
• they come with incorrect plugins.

3. The Date and Time Are Out of Sync

Google, the company that operates YouTube, ensures that its mobile apps are always in sync with the time and date on your device. If YouTube doesn’t collect the required data, it may have trouble loading and playing videos.

4. Issues with Video Resolution

Another reason for YouTube not loading videos is that the platform can no longer stream high-definition videos. In other words, you need a fast Internet connection if you want high-quality video. On the other hand, the video might freeze or take forever to load if you have a slow internet connection.

5. Phone Freezes Up

If you don’t know why YouTube not loading videos, it could be that the iPhone or Android phone is frozen. The operating system of an iPhone or Android device may become unresponsive at times. If this happens, wait for a little and then restart your phone.

How to Fix YouTube Not Loading

In this section, we’ll show you different ways to fix the problem of your YouTube videos not playing. Go through them and find the one that works.

1. Check the Network Connection

You need a strong internet connection to play your YouTube videos. Videos won’t load no matter what you do if your local internet connection is slow or disconnected. If you’re having trouble with a high-definition or 4K video, this could be the problem.

So you should check your internet speed to determine whether that’s the cause for YouTube not playing video. To do that, open another browser and check how quickly other websites are by refreshing them.

Also Read: Boost Internet on Your PC: Tips on How to Speed Up Your Internet Connection

2. Set the Correct Date and Time

Maybe the date and time were changed without your knowledge, or you recently traveled across time zones. Whatever the reason, you can quickly resolve the issue by adjusting the settings to ensure that YouTube is synced correctly and videos play without issues.

It’s better to use the “Automatic Date and Time” option as it provides greater accuracy than manually setting the time based on another clock. Here’s how to set the correct date and time:

• Select Adjust date and time by right-clicking the time and date in the taskbar.
• Next, enable the Set Time Automatically.
• Click Update and OK after selecting time.windows.com as the server.

3. Change the YouTube Video Quality

Setting the YouTube video quality high will result in a long loading time if the network speed is slow. Conversely, you can get the video to play by lowering the quality settings on YouTube.

Here’s how to do it:

• First, adjust the video’s settings by clicking the gear button.
• Select Quality from the pop-out window
• Choose the lowest quality value of the options provided.

The next step is to test if the video on YouTube loads properly. If this works, you can experiment with higher video quality until you find the maximum your connection can handle. There may also appear problems with video formats but fixing that is an easy task. For instance, you can use a free WMV to MP4 converter or tools that work with other video formats, and make the desired transformation.

But if videos still don’t play, you can try the next solution.

Also Read: How to Download a YouTube Video to Your PC?

4. Make Changes on Your Browser

You might have left your computer idle, and the YouTube page simply went into sleep mode. If this is the case, all you have to do is refresh it. Once you do this, you can play the YouTube videos.

On the other hand, if you have an outdated browser, it can prevent you from properly playing videos on YouTube. So you must keep it updated. With that said, the first thing you have to do is check the version of your browser.

After that, go online and look for the latest version. Compare the two versions, and if you see that yours is outdated, follow the instructions for updating it. If you don’t know how to check your browser version, follow the instructions below.

For Edge and Chrome:

• Click the More Options button on your browser. It should look like three vertically aligned dots.
  
• On the drop-down list, click Settings.

• Go to the Settings menu, then click About Chrome or About Microsoft Edge. You should see your browser version there.

For Mozilla Firefox:

• Go to More Options by clicking the three vertically aligned dashes.
• Then, under the left-bar menu, click General.
• Scroll down until you get to Firefox Updates. You should be able to see your browser version here.
• If it is updated, you should see a note saying, Firefox is up to date.

Also Read: How to troubleshoot No Sound on YouTube?

5. Delete Cache and Cookies

Over time, your saved cookies and cache can accumulate and may affect your YouTube player. In this case, it would be advisable to delete them to speed up your browser performance.

Keep in mind that the steps vary depending on the type of browser you’re using. We’ve listed below how to fix YouTube by clearing cache and cookies on Chrome and Firefox browsers.

For Chrome:

• Click the More Options button, which looks like vertically aligned dots.
• Under the drop-down list, click More Tools and Clear Browsing Data.

• If deselected, click the checkboxes besides Cookies and other site and plugin data and Cached images and files.
• Choose the beginning of time among the obliterate period options.
• Click the Clear Browsing Data button.
• Restart your computer and try playing YouTube videos again.

For Mozilla Firefox:

• Click the More Options button, which looks like three vertically aligned dashes.
• Under the drop-down list, click Settings.
• Go to Privacy & Security, then click Clear Data.
• Click the Clear Now button.
• Reboot your computer and see if this fixes the problem.

Also Read: How to Reduce YouTube Data Usage on a Windows 10 Computer?

Also Read: Fixing YouTube Running Slow on Your PC

Conclusion

Several reasons can cause YouTube videos not playing, such as browser issues, outdated software, or problems with internet connectivity. However, you can try various troubleshooting steps in this guide to fix the problem.

By following these tips and taking the appropriate steps, you should be able to resolve most issues with YouTube video playback and enjoy uninterrupted viewing experiences.