Try These Basic Fixes
- Temporarily disable your VPN connection: Issues with the VPN service might prevent the YouTube app from connecting to the internet and playing videos. To check for this possibility, temporarily disable your VPN connection and see if that gets YouTube to play Shorts.
- Check if YouTube is down: The YouTube app may fail to load Shorts and other content due to server-related issues. To overrule this possibility, check YouTube’s server status on a website like Downdetector.
- Update the YouTube app: YouTube Shorts may not play on your phone because you’re using an outdated or buggy app. Head to the Play Store or App Store to update the YouTube app and see if that helps.
Fix 1: Enable Mobile Data for YouTube (iPhone)
On iOS, you can control mobile data permissions for each app. If you have previously disabled mobile data access for the YouTube app, it won’t play Shorts or other regular videos when you are away from Wi-Fi. To enable mobile data usage for the YouTube app:
Step 1: Open the Settings app and scroll down to tap on YouTube.
Step 2: Enable the toggle for Mobile Data.
Fix 2: Enable Automatic Date and Time
YouTube might fail to connect to its servers if the date or time on your phone is inaccurate. To fix this, you can configure your phone to use the network-provided date and time. Here are the steps.
On Android
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your phone and tap on General management.
Step 2: Tap on Date and time and enable the toggle for Automatic date and time.
On iPhone
Step 1: Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and navigate to General.
Step 2: Tap on Date & Time and toggle on Set Automatically.
Fix 3: Clear YouTube App Cache (Android)
Existing cache data collected by the YouTube app could also cause such issues. Clearing the YouTube app cache should help if that’s the case.
Step 1: Long-press the YouTube app icon and tap the info icon from the resulting menu.
Step 2: Go to Storage and tap the Clear cache option at the bottom.
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Last updated on 03 July, 2024
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I have a Huawei phone “p40 light e” and the listed actions and functions do not apply to it. How can I fix the problem with video playback in my case?