4 Ways to Fix YouTube Not Playing Videos on PC

Basic Fixes

• Check your network connection: Ensure your device has a good internet connection. I recommend at least 5 Mbps internet speed to stream content on YouTube.
• Inspect the YouTube server status: Visit Downdetector to check an active YouTube server outage.
• Adjust the video quality: Open YouTube and play your desired video. Click the Gear icon at the bottom right, and select Quality. Change the current video quality to resume playback.
• Enable VPN: YouTube may be unavailable in your region or your ISP may have blocked its access. Enable your VPN connection and reload YouTube in the browser.
• Correct device’s date and time: Your web browser might struggle to access YouTube if your PC has an incorrect date and time. Head to Windows Settings > Time & language > Date & time, and enable ‘Set time automatically’.
• Close other tabs in your browser: It will reduce your PC’s RAM consumption, allowing YouTube to play videos swiftly.
• Update or reinstall the browser: Open browser settings on your PC to update it. Alternatively, uninstall it from Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps, and install it afresh from the Microsoft Store or its dedicated website.

Fix 1: Disable Ad Blockers and Browser Extensions

YouTube may block your access on PC if you’re actively using an ad-blocker or similar browser extension. Disable or remove it from your browser and reload YouTube. Let’s take Google Chrome for instance.

Step 1: Click the three-dot menu at the top right of Google Chrome, select Extensions, and open Manage Extensions.

Step 2: Toggle off the Ad blocker or related browser extension to turn it off. Alternatively, click Remove under an extension to delete it.

Fix 2: Clear Browser Cookies and Cache Files

Corrupt cache files and obsolete browser cookies are common reasons behind YouTube not playing videos on PC. Clear them manually from your browser settings to restore normalcy.

Step 1: Open Google Chrome, click the three-dot menu at the top-right, and select Settings.

Step 2: Select Privacy and security from the left sidebar, and click Delete browsing data.

Step 3: Mark ‘Cookies and other site data‘, ‘Cached images and files‘, and click Delete data. Reload YouTube in a new tab on your browser.

Fix 3: Disable Graphics Acceleration

Graphics acceleration boosts your browser’s performance. An issue with it, however, can halt the video playback on YouTube resulting in an error. Turn off the feature in your browser’s settings (e.g. Google Chrome), and reload YouTube.

Open Google Chrome Settings (check the above steps), select System from the sidebar, and toggle off ‘Use graphics acceleration when available‘.

Fix 4: Update the Display Adapter

Lastly, if nothing works, update the display adapter drivers on your PC using the Device Manager app and reboot the system to fix the YouTube video playback error.

Step 1: Press the Windows key, search Device Manager, and click to open it.

Step 2: Expand Display adapters, right-click your graphics adapter, and select Update driver.

Step 3: Click Search automatically for drivers to install the latest compatible display adapter drivers for your PC online.