Do you want to watch your favorite content creator, but YouTube videos won’t load on your device?
If you find that YouTube videos are not loading up on your device, there are several reasons for this issue. On most occasions, videos refuse to load due to an unstable or slow internet connection.
However, faulty servers and browser issues should also be taken into consideration when addressing this problem.
You’re probably stuck with the same issue for several minutes now, and getting frustrated is understandable.
Thankfully, you have come to the right place!
In this guide, we’ll show you a few methods for fixing YouTube videos that won’t load on your browser.
To get started, check YouTube’s server status first using Downdetector as the problem could be on their end. Downdetector is a third-party website that shows the current status of website servers and the issues it encountered for the last 24 hours.
On the other hand, check out the listed solutions below if YouTube’s servers are working fine.
- 1. Turn Off VPN.
- 2. Change Your YouTube Region Manually.
- 3. Lower the Quality of YouTube Videos.
- 4. Use PureVPN.
- 5. Update the YouTube App.
- 6. Clear Your Browser Cookies and Cache.
- 7. Disable Browser Extensions or Try Another Browser.
- 8. Check and Reset Your Internet.
- 9. Block CDN IP Addresses.
1. Turn Off VPN.
If you are using VPN services on your system, try to turn them off when streaming videos on YouTube. VPNs work by changing your default IP address randomly to hide your true identity online.
However, this process makes it difficult for your device to communicate with YouTube’s servers. Since streaming videos are quite demanding on bandwidth, you wouldn’t want third party programs to interfere with your network’s flow.
DIsable your VPN and see if the problem goes away.
2. Change Your YouTube Region Manually.
Based on what we’ve found out, some users could fix the issue by manually changing their region on YouTube.
As it turns out, the server dedicated to your area could be experiencing problems at the moment, and switching to another server helps alleviate the issue.
See the steps below to guide you on the process.
- First, open YouTube on your browser and go to the video that you want to play.
- After that, click on the URL box of your browser.
- Finally, change the ‘www’ on YouTube’s URL to ‘ca’ and hit the Enter key on your keyboard to reload the page.
Try to play the video again to check if the problem is solved.
3. Lower the Quality of YouTube Videos.
If videos are not loading on your device, it is possible that your network simply cannot handle the bandwidth requirement. To fix this, try to change the video playback resolution on the settings to reduce the required internet speed.
On mobile devices, check out the steps below to change your video playback resolution.
- First, open the YouTube app on your device and go to the video with problems playing.
- After that, tap on the More button inside the video controls and select Quality.
- Finally, select a lower playback resolution for the video. Ideally, you can choose 720p or lower if you don’t have access to a decent connection.
If you are using a browser, you can change the video playback quality on YouTube by doing the following:
- On your browser, go to YouTube and open the video with playback issues.
- Now, click on the Gear icon on the video controls tab and select Quality.
- Lastly, lower the video playback resolution.
After changing the playback quality, try to play the entire video to see if you would encounter problems.
4. Try Using PureVPN
Do you prefer using a VPN service while browsing online? Check out PureVPN!
PureVPN is a virtual private network provider with 6500+ servers across the globe for optimized unparallel performance. PureVPN has many helpful features like split-tunneling, port forwarding, 256bit AES Encryption, and more!
With PureVPN, you are sure that your data is safe and protected online without dealing with network connectivity issues.
Besides, PureVPN also has 24/7 customer support available via phone, email, and live chats to help you with problems that you may encounter on the platform.
Secure your data online with PureVPN!
5. Update the YouTube App.
If YouTube videos won’t load in the app, you may be dealing with corrupted files or a temporary glitch that occurred during runtime.
Thankfully, a simple update can fix glitches and errors on the YouTube app.
On Android, you can update YouTube by doing the following:
- First, open Google Play Store on your device and tap on the Menu button to access the side drawer.
- After that, check for updates by tapping on My Apps & Games.
- If available, tap on the Update button next to YouTube to install the latest version.
If you are on an iOS device, see the steps below to update your apps.
- On your device, tap on the App Store to open it.
- After that, go to the Updates tab, and your device will automatically scan for available updates.
- Finally, find YouTube from the list and tap the Update button beside it to install the latest version.
After updating YouTube, try to load the video again.
6. Clear Your Browser Cookies and Cache.
Caches and cookies are temporary data stored on your device locally to help your browser load websites faster. However, these data can quickly accumulate over time and get corrupted. If this happens, your browser may have a hard time loading websites and encounter issues.
Thankfully, this problem could be solved by simply clearing your browsing data.
- First, open your browser and go to its settings page.
- After that, find the Privacy and Security tab and click on Clear Browsing Data.
- Now, make sure that your browser cookies and cache are included in the process.
- Finally, click on the Time Range tab and select All Time. Hit the Clear Data button afterward to proceed.
Once done, go back to the YouTube video and see if it will now load.
7. Disable Browser Extensions or Try Another Browser.
Browser extensions are third-party applications that add extra features to specific websites. It could be a video enhancer, password manager, or a grammar checker.
Whichever kind of extension you have, try to turn it off if you have issues loading videos on YouTube. Your browser extensions may be interfering with how YouTube works, and your device is having a hard time loading the videos.
To turn off your browser extensions, follow the guide below.
- First, open your preferred browser and go to its settings.
- Inside your browser’s settings, click on the Extensions tab.
- Lastly, disable all your browser extensions, including the extensions for YouTube.
Now, go back to the YouTube video and try to load it.
On the other hand, it is also possible that your browser is having issues at the moment. If this is the case, we suggest that you try using a different browser in the meantime.
Ideally, use popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, which most web developers highly support.
8. Check and Reset Your Internet.
A slow internet connection could also be the culprit for YouTube videos that won’t load on your device. Run a speed test on your network using Fast.com to verify its current status.
If the test shows that your connection is slow, try to restart your router to fix the problem. Unplug your router’s power chord from the wall outlet for about 10 seconds to allow it to rest. After that, plug back in the power chord.
After restarting your router, run another test to check if your network is now running correctly. However, if you continue to experience your network issues, report the problem to your service provider and ask them to fix their service.
9. Block CDN IP Addresses.
If you play a video on YouTube, you are not directly connecting to its servers but with CDNs or Content Delivery Networks. Although there is nothing wrong with this, your ISP can throttle your network speed when using these CDNs.
To fix YouTube videos that won’t load, block CDN IP addresses from your device so that you can connect directly to YouTube’s servers.
- First, open the Command Prompt as an administrator on your device.
- After that, type the following command on CMD:
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name=”YouTubeTweak” dir=in action=block remoteip=173.194.55.0/24,206.111.0.0/16 enable=yes
- Hit the Enter key on your keyboard afterward to run the command.
Once done, go back to YouTube and try to load a couple of videos.
As we end this article, we hope that this guide helped you fix YouTube videos that won’t load on your device. If you have other concerns, please voice them out in the comment section below, and we’ll do our best to accommodate them.
If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂
