YouTube Videos Not Playing/Won't Load Issues Fixed

2. Browser Settings Issue.

Sometimes, you might find that the video can be normally played on your mozilla firefox browser but not your Google Chrome. If this happens to you, the Chrome browser settings might be to blame. How to make YouTube video play on Chrome with success? Do these:

Solution 1:
1. Delete history, cookies from Chrome browser;
2. Tap 'Do not Track' and send a 'Do Not Track' request with your browsing traffic.

Solution 2:
1. Click settings button at the top right of the Chrome browser.
2. Followed by scrolling down to choose "Show advanced settings".
3. Tap it and drop down to find and untick the option of "Use Hardware Acceleration when Available".

3. Browser Plugins.

In most cases, users won't take browser pulgins into consideration since they don't realize how much impact the plugins have for YouTube video playback. If you have already excluded other potential factors but still fail to make video successfully play, you're strongly suggested to disable your plugins for a try.

Solution:
1. Launch your Chrome browser and type "chrome://plugins" on your browser address bar. Then click "Enter".
2. Tap "Disable" button next to the installed plugins that show up on the webpage.
3. Go back to your YouTube website to open a video to have a try. Don't worry. You can enable your plugins.

4. Browser Extensions.

It's undeniable that Google Chrome extensions are exceedingly convenient for you to analyze the webpage data and uncover the secrets to success behind the YouTube video and more. Of course, what we just mention about the extensions function is just the tip of the iceberg. They have more advantages worth your discovery.

That being said, browser extensions also have some negative impacts, among which the conflict with YouTube video playback is the common one. If you can't identify which extension is incompatible with YouTube video playback, the simplest way is to disable all extensions.

Solution:
1. Open your Chrome browser and type "chrome://extensions/" on your browser address bar. Then hit "Enter".
2. Here will show the list of Chrome extensions you've installed.
3. Untick to disable all the extensions. Then close and re-open Chrome browser to try again.

5. Haven't installed Adobe Flash Player.

As experienced YouTube users, they know it is a must to install Adobe Flash Player, a plug in used by YouTube web browser, which streams most of YouTube videos. For someone first came to YouTube, he/she will ignore Adobe Player installation note because they regard it as unsafe on the false ground. Hence, it's higher possibility for them to encounter YouTube videos not playing since they are unaware of the importance of constantly updating Adobe Flash Player plug-in.

By the way, sometimes even if you installed Adobe Flash Player, you can still encounter YouTube no sound issue. Why? You might installed an outdated Adobe Flash Player or Adobe Flash Player is broken.

Solution: To fix YouTube error of videos not playing, install Adobe Flash Player plug-in when you came to YouTube site at the first time; update Adobe Flash Player according to its prompt.

6. Connection Improper Settings

The precondition to play YouTube online is the stable network connection. What if there is something wrong with your network connection? Let's say improper connection settings? So you might need to carve out some time to check your network connection settings.

Solution:
1. Access to Control Panel > choose "Large icons" in viewing way and click "Internet Options".
2. Tap "Advanced" icon > hit "Restore advanced settings" button and "Reset" option. Afterwards, give the last press to "Apply" button to apply the changes.

7. Over-estimate video quality.

Certainly, everyone favors the high quality video. For making users having the best viewing experience, YouTube allows people to freely adjust video quality from low to high. Sometimes, it is feasible. But, YouTube videos won't play, such as YouTube black screen problem, burrly videos, videos not loading, if your selected video quality is higher than its original upload quality. To be specific, some videos were recorded based on the standard definition so that they are not available in the high definition.

Solution: In this kind of case, it is wise for you to change the quality of the video. You can go to the gear icon and select the quality that you prefer. Alternatively, it's advisable for you to free download YouTube video in HD or 4K Ultra HD for offline watching without video high quality playback issue.

8. YouTube no longer supports 4K on Safari

This YouTube not playing 4K problem actually is originated from a long ago announcement that YouTube began encoding uploaded videos into VP9. "VP9 is the most efficient video compression codec in widespread use today." YouTube seemed to be imminently announcing the launch of VP9 as their default 4K playback codec. However, Safari has no VP9 support, so errors occured when playing 4K videos on Safari.

Solution: To solve this YouTube not playing 4K videos on Safari probelm, there are 2 ways to go:
1. move to other browsers which supports VP9 codec like Chrome.
2. Or you can also get a Safari YouTube downloader to download YouTube 4K videos offline for palyback. The free MacX YouTube Downloader works like a charm on 4K videos free download from YouTube, and then you are able to successfully watch them on iPhone iPad Android with nary a trouble. Check the ultimate solution guide.

9. Too many cache and cookies.

It is no doubt that too many cache and cookies could lead to video not playing. Therefore, users should pay attention to cache and cookies when your videos not playing Chrome, Safari, Firefox etc.

Solution: Clear cache and cookies and then restart your browser to play videos again. Below is the detailed operating instruction about different browsers.
Firefox: Click Firefox Menu > History > Clear Recent History > Details > Cache > Clear Now;
Chrome: Click Chrome Menu > Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Clear Browsing Data > Empty the Cache/Delete Cookies;
Safari (for Mac OS X): Click Safari Menu > Empty Cache > Empty;
IE: Click Gear icon > Safety > Delete Browsing History > Temporary Internet Files/ Preserve Favorites Website Data > Delete.

Bonus Reading: easy solution to fix YouTube Not Working on iPhone, YouTube video lagging fixed

10. JavaScript is disabled.

Maybe many people don't know what JavaScript is. But, it doesn't matter; you just need to know JavaScript must be enabled in your browser for purpose of keeping away from videos not playing, or any likewise YouTube problems.

Solution: Enable JavaScript before you play YouTube videos.

11. Audio Programs Conflict.

You might used to do multiple tasks at the same time and not be accustomed to shut down some programs when focusing on one task. That's fine, but sometimes that might become a problem. The typical example is that your YouTube video won't play when other audio programs (audio recorder, music player, audio streaming on SNS website) are running on the background. In such case, the solution is to quit audio programs.

Solution:
1. Open your audio programs and save the audio to Collections if you wanna listen to it online later. Or you just apply top music downloader to free download music audio to your local computer or device for offline listening.
2. Shut down these audio programs and leave enough memory and CPU for video playback.

12. Firefox Safe Mode.

How weird you may think when the video is said to be supported to play, all you get is black screen on your firefox browser. This might be related to your Firefox mode. To fix this YouTube not playing trouble, please activate your Firefox Safe Mode.

Solution:
1. To enable Firfox in Safe Mode, please keep holding down "Shift" key (Options on macOS) and starting Firefox.
2. Opt for "Start In Safe Mode" on the dialog that pops up. Please remember not to refresh.