There can be several reasons as to why you are facing this issue such as no proper internet connection, incorrect proxy configuration, bitrate issues, corrupt Adobe Flash Player, incorrect date & time configuration, browsers cache & cookies etc. So without wasting any time let’s see How to Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos issue with the help of the below-listed troubleshooting guide.
Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos
Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.
Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videosMethod 1: Set Correct Date & TimeMethod 2: Clear Browsers Cache & CookiesMethod 3: Make sure to Update your BrowserMethod 4: Reset Network ConnectionMethod 5: Clear Temporary FilesMethod 6: Reset Browser’s SettingsMethod 7: Disable All ExtensionsMethod 8: Reinstall Sound Driver
Note: These particular steps for Google Chrome, you need to follow the steps for your browser which you are using such as Firefox, Opera, Safari, or Edge.
Method 1: Set Correct Date & Time
1.Right-click on date and time on the taskbar and then select “Adjust date/time“.
2.Make sure to Turn on the toggle for “Set Time Automatically”.
3.For Windows 7, click on “Internet Time” and tick mark on “Synchronize with an Internet time server.”
4.Select Server “time.windows.com” and click update and “OK”. You don’t need to complete update. Just click OK.
Method 2: Clear Browsers Cache & Cookies
When the browsing data is not cleared from a long time then this can also cause the YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos.
Clear Browsers Data in Google Chrome
1.Open Google Chrome and press Ctrl + H to open history.
2.Next, click Clear browsing data from the left panel.
3.Make sure the “beginning of time” is selected under Obliterate the following items from.
4.Also, checkmark the following:
Browsing history Download history Cookies and other sire and plugin data Cached images and files Autofill form data Passwords
5.Now click Clear browsing data button and wait for it to finish.
6.Close your browser and restart your PC to save changes
Clear Browsers Data in Microsoft Edge
1.Open Microsoft Edge then click the 3 dots in the upper right corner and choose Settings.
2.Scroll down till you find “Clear browsing data” then click on Choose what to clear button.
3.Select everything and click the Clear button.
4.Wait for the browser to clear all the data and Restart Edge. Clearing browser’s cache seems to Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos but if this step was not helpful then try the next one.
Method 3: Make sure to Update your Browser
Update Google Chrome
1.In order to update Google Chrome, click Three dots on the upper right-hand corner in Chrome then select help and then click on About Google Chrome.
2.Now make sure Google Chrome is updated if not then you will see an Update button, click on it.
This will update Google Chrome to its latest build which could help you Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos.
Update Mozilla Firefox
1.Open Mozilla Firefox then from the top right corner click on three lines.
2.From the menu click on Help > About Firefox.
3.Firefox will automatically check for updates and will download updates if available.
4.Restart your PC to save changes.
Method 4: Reset Network Connection
1.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).
2.Type the following command into cmd one by one and hit Enter after each one:
3.If you get access denied error then press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter.
4.Navigate to the following registry entry:
5.Right-click on 26 and select Permissions.
6.Click Add then type EVERYONE and click OK. If EVERYONE is already there then just checkmark Full Control (Allow).
7.Next, click Apply followed by OK.
8.Again run the above commands in CMD and reboot your PC to save changes.
Method 5: Clear Temporary Files
1.Press Windows Key + I to open Windows Settings and then go to System > Storage.
2.You see that your hard drive partition will be listed, select “This PC” and click on it.
3.Scroll down to the bottom and click on Temporary files.
4.Click Delete temporary files button.
5.Let the above process finish then Reboot your PC.
Clean Temporary Files Manually
1.Press Windows Key + R then type temp and hit Enter.
2.Click on Continue to open the Temp folder.
3.Select all the files or folders present inside the Temp folder and permanently delete them.
Note: To permanently delete any file or folder, you need to press Shift + Del button.
See if you’re able to Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos issue, if not then continue with the next method.
Method 6: Reset Browser’s Settings
Reset Google Chrome
1.Open Google Chrome then click the three dots on the upper right corner and click on Settings.
2.Now in the settings window scroll down and click on Advanced at the bottom.
3.Again scroll down to bottom and click on Reset column.
4.This would open a pop window again asking if you want to Reset, so click on Reset to continue.
Reset Mozilla Firefox
1.Open Mozilla Firefox then click on the three lines on the top right corner.
2.Then click on Help and choose Troubleshooting Information.
3.First, try Safe Mode and for that click on Restart with Add-ons disabled.
4.See if the issue is resolved, if not then click Refresh Firefox under “Give Firefox a tune up“.
5.Reboot your PC to save changes and see if you’re able to Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos issue.
Method 7: Disable All Extensions
Disable Firefox Extensions
1.Open Firefox then type “about:addons” (without quotes) in the address bar and hit Enter.
2.Disable all Extensions by clicking Disable next to each extension.
3.Restart Firefox and then enable one extension at a time to find the culprit which is causing the YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos issue.
Note: After enabling anyone extension you need to restart Firefox.
4.Remove those particular Extensions and reboot your PC.
Disable Extensions in Chrome
1.Open Google Chrome then type chrome://extensions in the address and hit Enter.
2.Now first disable all the unwanted extensions and then delete them by clicking on the delete icon.
3.Restart Chrome and see if you’re able to Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos issue.
4.If you’re still facing the issues with YouTube videos then disable all the extension.
Method 8: Reinstall Sound Driver
1.Press Windows Key + R then type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter to open Device Manager.
2.Expand “Sound, video and game controllers” then right-click on Realtek High Definition Audio and select Update Driver.
3.On the next screen click on “Search automatically for updated driver software“.
4.Wait for the process to finish finding the latest available update for your sound drivers, if found, make sure to click on Install to complete the process. Once finished, click Close and reboot your PC to save changes.
5.But if your driver is already up-to-date then you will get a message saying “The best driver software for your device is already installed“.
6.Click on Close and you don’t need to do anything as the drivers are already up-to-date.
7.Once finished, reboot your PC to save changes.
If you’re still facing YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos issue then you need to manually update the drivers, just follow this guide.
1.Again open Device Manager then right-click on Realtek High Definition Audio & select Update driver.
2.This time click on ” Browse my computer for driver software.“
3.Next, select “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.“
4.Select the appropriate driver from the list and click Next.
5.Let the driver installation complete and then restart your PC.
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That’s it you have successfully Fix YouTube Videos loading but not playing videos issues but if you still have any questions regarding this tutorial then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.