How to Fix YouTube Videos Not Loading on Chrome?

YouTube is the internet’s most popular video streaming and video hosting platform. Users can watch videos for free on mobile devices or on desktop Browsers. Generally, YouTube is pretty sleek and works even with a decent internet network. But if you are not able to load YouTube videos on your Chrome browser or facing video playback issues on your PC, then below are some of the best solutions to fix YouTube Videos Not Playing on Chrome.

Basic Fixes you can Try

Before moving forward with the technical fixes for the videos not loading on the YouTube issue on Chrome Browser, we can try this basic fix to see if this works.

• Make sure you have the latest version of Chrome installed.
• Try an alternative browser or incognito mode, or guest mode.
• Check your internet connection. If your connection is slow or unstable, it could be causing problems with streaming.
• Restart your computer. Rebooting the PC will restart all system processes and close unwanted background processes

1. Change Browser DNS

DNS is a set of IP addresses that are retrieved when requested. If the YouTube video is not loading, then changing the DNS can come in handy. Changing DNS does not affect internet speeds.

1. Open Chrome Settings.
   
2. Click on Privacy and Security.
3. Here under Use Secure DNS.
4. Click on With Customized and change the DNS from the dropdown menu or enter the best DNS you know.
   

2. Clear Browser Data

If the video is not loading or taking a long time to load, then clearing the data and cache build-up of the browser will help you fix the issue.

1. Open Chrome Settings.
2. Click on Privacy and Security.
3. Here click on Clear Browsing Data.
   
4. A pop-up box will open. Here under the Advanced tab, select All Time as Time range, and right-tick on Browsing History, Download History, Cookie, and other site data, and Caches images and files.
   
5. And hit Clear data to fix YouTube Video Not Loading on Chrome Browser.

3. Disable Chrome Extension

Browser add-ons are the best productivity tools that can boost the performance of any web browser. They run simultaneously with the page load to check if there is any action to perform. If you are using any content-blocking extension or code injecting/modification extension, then I recommend you disable the addon and check if the videos are working or not.

1. Enter chrome://extensions
2. Here look for the extensions that may block content or restrict the page loading.
3. Disable the extension by turning off the toggle.
   
4. Now reload the page and check the site should be working now.

4. Disable/Enable Hardware Acceleration

Hardware Acceleration uses specialized hardware, such as a graphics processing unit (GPU), to render graphics, play videos, or perform complex calculations. It is good to enable or disable (if already enabled) Hardware Acceleration to see if this helps you fix the YouTube Video Playback issues.

1. Open Chrome Settings.
2. Click on System from the left menu bar.
3. Click on the toggle to turn On/Off; use hardware acceleration when available.
   

5. Disable Energy Saver

If your device’s battery level reaches 20%, Chrome will save battery by limiting background activity and visual effects for websites with animations and videos. If the YouTube Videos are not playing smoothly or flicker issues are happening, then disabling the power saver mode can help you smooth up video streaming activity.

6. Reset Chrome Browser

Resetting Google Chrome is an excellent option to fix any settings issues with the Chrome browser. This will reset your startup page, new tab page, search engine, and pinned tabs. It will also disable all extensions and clear temporary data like cookies. Your bookmarks, history, and saved passwords will not be cleared.

1. Open Chrome Settings.
2. Click on Reset Settings from the left side menu.
3. Here tap on Restore settings to their original defaults.
4. Finally, hit on Reset settings to reset the browser.
   

Conclusion

The above solutions will help you fix video playback issues on YouTube on a desktop browser. If none of the above methods work, there may be an issue with the video itself or YouTube’s servers. Try waiting a while and then checking again, or contact YouTube support for further assistance.