Do you have a PC with Windows 11? The Windows system has a huge number of problems with playing YouTube videos. You must have done everything you could to get Windows 10 to play YouTube videos, but it still won’t. You must have gone to YouTube’s website, clicked on the video you want to watch, and waited forever for it to start playing, but it didn’t. But most people want to know how to fix YouTube Not Working on they devices.
YouTube is the biggest video-sharing site in the world. It has a huge number of users and works on a huge number of devices. But, despite how popular it is, people sometimes have trouble with it. YouTube needs to fix a lot of things, like the black screen, the constant buffering, and the playback error.
can’t get YouTube videos to play on your Mac? Does your Mac have trouble buffering or loading YouTube videos? Well, we know exactly what to do to solve the problem. Follow the steps in the guide below to learn how to fix YouTube videos that won’t play or work on a Mac.
So, you found a video on YouTube that you wanted to watch and clicked on it. But instead of starting to play right away, you see the horrible buffering or loading screen. You think your internet connection is slow, so you keep waiting, but nothing happens. Visit their official site for more information.
How to Fix YouTube Not Working on Windows PC
Turn Off Mode of Flash Protected
Most videos on YouTube play with HTML5 player, but some old videos still need Adobe Flash to play. Adobe Flash has a security feature called protected mode. This feature is always set to work automatically. Sometimes this feature can cause YouTube videos cannot play an issue if it is turned on. This feature needs to be turned off.
- Click the “+” sign in the upper right corner of the browser and then click the “Add-ons” button.
- Click “Plugin” in the “Add-ons” menu, and then click “Options” next to “Shockwave Flash” to change the settings.
- Uncheck “Adobe Flash Protected Mode” in the next window, and then close your browser for the changes to take effect. You can now try again to play YouTube videos.
Clear Cache and Cookies
- Open your browser and click on the “≡” icon at the top right corner and then scroll down to “Library”.
- You need to click “History > Clear Recent History” in the “Library” section.
- Now, next to “Time Range to Clear,” click “Everything.” Now, check the boxes next to “Cache” and “Cookies,” and then click “Ok.” After you click “Ok,” your cache and cookies will be cleared in a few seconds. Then you can start playing your YouTube videos again, and the “YouTube video won’t play” problem will be fixed.
Keep Your Browser Up to Date
- Click the “≡” option in your browser. It is located in the upper right corner of your browser.
- After you click on it, scroll and look for the “Help” option. Click on it to open the options.
- After you open the options, click the “About Firefox” button. Check if your browser is up to date. If not, click the button to update it. This should help you solve the “YouTube does not play videos” problem.
Check Your Internet Connection
Even if you can access other websites, that doesn’t mean your internet connection isn’t to blame. It may not be stable enough to stream YouTube. Use Windows’ native troubleshooter to identify and fix problems.
Press Windows key + I to open Settings: On Windows 11, go to System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters > Internet Connections > Run.
Update Video Drivers
If your video drivers are outdated, it can cause problems playing videos. Try updating them to see if that fixes the problem. First, get the latest drivers from your manufacturer’s website (e.g. AMD, NVIDIA, Intel).
Then press Windows key + X and click Device Manager. Double-click Graphics Cards. Then right-click on your graphics card and click Update driver. Click Search for drivers automatically and follow the wizard.
How to Fix YouTube Not Working on Mac
Disable Plugins in Web Browser
The plugins in your web browser may conflict with the YouTube player so that YouTube videos do not play on the Mac. You can disable the plugins and then check if the problem is solved.
- Open Safari and then go to Preferences > Security.
- Uncheck Allow Plug-ins for Internet plug-ins.
Fix the Network Connection
You say: YouTube won’t load on my MacBook. If you encounter this problem, you should first check if your network connection is good. If the network connection is slow or unstable, the YouTube player will not be able to play the high-quality videos smoothly.
If you are sure that the network connection is enabled and the only problem is that the network connection is slow or unstable, you can simply set the video quality to lower and then you can watch the YouTube video smoothly.
Update Your Mac
If your system is running an outdated macOS version, this can also cause YouTube to stop working on it. You can easily fix the problem by updating your macOS to the latest version. Go to the Apple icon and click on the “Software Update” option. The Mac will then check for the latest stable update and simply let you update your system.
Restart Your Mac
This is one of the simplest yet very effective solutions to fix issues like YouTube not working on your Mac. Since this resets the current power cycle and temporary settings on your Mac, it can fix the problem. Go to the Apple icon in Finder and click the “Restart” button. Confirm your choice and wait for a while as your Mac will restart in a few minutes. If it is stuck, you can long-press the power button to do the same.
Use Repair Disk Permissions
- Click Go and then select Utilities.
- Double-click Disk Utility.
- Select the target drive from the left pane.
- Click First Aid.
- Click Repair Disk Permissions.
Reset the Router
Often, a faulty network connection can cause problems with YouTube or another website. To fix this quickly, you can reset the network router. There is a reset button on the back of the router. Press and hold it for about 10 seconds to reset your router. Alternatively, you can turn off the router, wait for a while, and then turn it on again.
Check Date & Time
If the date and time on your Mac are not up to date, it can cause unwanted problems. For example, if the date and time on your Mac are out of date, YouTube will stop working. Fortunately, the problem can be easily fixed by going to your Mac’s System Preferences > Date and Time. In the window that opens, you can enable the automatic date and time features. You can also manually set the date and time to the current settings. Once that’s done, restart your Mac and check if YouTube works on it.
Update the YouTube App
Before you take drastic measures, you should make sure that the YouTube app you are using is up to date. Of course, if the YouTube app on Mac is outdated, it may hang or stop working unexpectedly. To fix this, launch the App Store on Mac and visit the Updates section in the navigation bar.
Here you can search for any apps that have an update available. Search for YouTube and click the “Update” button next to the app. Alternatively, you can also search for the YouTube app in the App Store and update it.
Clear Cache and Data
When was the last time you cleared the cache on your Mac? If it’s been a while, that may also be the reason why YouTube isn’t working on your Mac. There may be an application, system, or browser cache on your Mac that is causing conflicts with YouTube. In the Finder, go to Go > Go to Folder, type “~/Library/Caches” and press Enter. When the Cache folder opens, you can browse for the YouTube cache and delete it from your Mac’s memory.
How to Fix YouTube Not Working on Android Phone
Check Network Connection
When was the last time you cleared the cache on your Mac? If it’s been a while, that may also be the reason why YouTube isn’t working on your Mac. There may be an application, system, or browser cache on your Mac that is causing conflicts with YouTube.
In Finder, go to Go > Go to Folder, type “~/Library/Caches” and press Enter. When the cache folder opens, you can browse for the YouTube cache and delete it from your Mac’s memory.
Enable Airplane Mode
The Airplane Mode setting on Android phones disables all network-related connections. Try enabling it for a minute and then disabling it. This will also fix network-related issues on your phone along with YouTube playback issues.
To enable airplane mode, open the quick settings on your Android phone. To do so, open the notification bar and you will find Quick Settings at the top of the page. Tap on the Airplane Mode setting to enable it. Wait for 1 minute and then disable it. Open the YouTube app. Hopefully, it will work fine.
Clear Cache and Data
- To clear YouTube app cache and data, open Settings on your phone and go to Apps. Under All apps, tap YouTube and then tap Storage.
- First tap Clear Cache. Restart your phone and see if the app works now. Then tap on Clear Data or Storage depending on the option available.
Update YouTube App
- On Android, open the Google Play Store, tap your profile icon, and select Manage apps and device. Next, tap Updates pending and, if YouTube is here, tap Update.
Reinstall App
If there is no update available or the YouTube app update did not fix the problem, you should uninstall the YouTube app. Then restart your phone and install it again. To uninstall YouTube, open the Play Store and search for YouTube.
Tap Uninstall. On many phones, the YouTube app cannot be uninstalled completely because it is a pre-installed app. In such cases, the factory version of the app is restored. This is also sufficient. If that happens, update the app again.
How to Fix YouTube Not Working on iPhone
Restart your iPhone
Try turning your iPhone off and on again before proceeding. Restarting your phone will allow you to reboot and might fix small software issues that could be the reason why iPhone YouTube videos are not playing. To turn off your iPhone, press and hold the power button, which is also known as the sleep/wake button.
Then you will see a red and white power icon and the words Slide to power off. You need to swipe the icon from left to right. Wait for about 30 seconds before turning your iPhone back on to give it time to completely shut down.
Close and Relaunch the YouTube App
- Open the app switcher.
- iPhone with Face ID: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen towards the center and hold until you see the app switcher.
- iPhone with Touch ID: Double-click the Home button.
- Step 2 Swipe left or right to find YouTube.
- Swipe up the YouTube app to close it.
- After about half a minute, open the app again.
Update the YouTube app
It’s possible that the reason the YouTube app doesn’t work on the iPhone is because of the app itself. Maybe you need to update it. So, go to the App Store and tap the “Update” tab. There you will see all the available updates for apps. Select the YouTube app and update it as soon as possible.
Reset Network Settings on iPhone
If none of the above suggestions work and YouTube is not available in your region, you can fix the problem by resetting all your network settings. Open Settings on your iPhone and go to General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Then connect your iPhone to a Wi-Fi or cellular network. Hopefully, the problem of YouTube app not working on iPhone is fixed now.
FAQ
Why is YouTube not working?
Turn off your mobile data connection and then turn it back on. Clear the cache of the YouTube app. Uninstall and reinstall the YouTube app. Update to the latest available version of the YouTube app.
Why is YouTube lagging?
Determine the strength of your Internet connection: If you can’t establish a stable Internet connection, this could be the reason for YouTube video lag. With a quick speed test on your Android phone, you can find out if a poor Internet connection is the cause of this error.
