YouTube is the largest online video platform globally, with over 2.6 billion monthly active users. 

Therefore, “YouTube not working” is a major problem for all YouTube viewers and that’s why, having a handy guide like this one is a must to make sure YouTube works perfectly for you.

Having said that, follow through to fix YouTube not working problem in no real time—

Needless to mention, YouTube is a multimedia platform with a high user base, as almost every user who owns a device uses it to watch or share videos. 

In fact, the situation is that nowadays this biggest video sharing platform has become a platform for exposure.

So, if you are also using it and come across a situation where your YouTube app is not loading, your videos are buffering endlessly, you cannot listen to videos or you are not able to use the platform then, you are luckily at the right place.

Now, you do not need to worry about it at all as we will help you to come out of similar problems so that you can start watching and sharing your favourite YouTube videos again.

Why Is YouTube Not Working?

If you’re unable to watch YouTube properly, it could be due to one of the following reasons—

  • An issue with your network connection.
  • You’re on a Google Apps domain and YouTube may not be turned on by the administrator of your domain.
  • Your network administrator or ISP may be blocking YouTube.
  • Amalgamation of YouTube app’s cache.
  • Your YouTube app may be Outdated.
  • YouTube may be suffering outrages 

These and many more similar problems lead you to face YouTube not working problems.

How To Fix YouTube Not Working Issue?

Irrespective of YouTube not working on Android, YouTube not working on iPhone and YouTube not working on PC—this guide got you covered! Start with the primary solutions and if still the errors show up again, move on to try the other solutions listed down the line!

Primary Solutions

Solution 1: Find Out If YouTube Server is Down

Whenever YouTube is not working, the first thing you can do is to check whether the problem is on your end or with YouTube itself. Well, because there are many instances when the websites are put down due to an unwanted attack on the website or when the website is under maintenance. 

Hence, it is essential that you must check the YouTube website server to ensure it is not down for any reason.

Although there is no direct way to check that YouTube’s servers are down, but there are some ways like—

You can get the information by going directly to the official YouTube Twitter account. Chances are, if there is an outage, it will be reported right there.

Alternatively, you can visit Down Detector, a website where people can report YouTube not working problems.

So, with such options you can find out whether YouTube is down or not!

Tip: If YouTube is down, there’s nothing you can do but wait until YouTube itself fixes its server down issue.

Solution 2: Close and Re-Open the YouTube App

Next, if you are unable to access YouTube from your browser, you should restart the system and retry opening it from the browser as closing and reopening the YouTube app can often fix a local issue or bug (if there’s any). And, doing so is as simple as performing these steps—

  • Step 1: Click on the “Start” button. 
  • Step 2: Then, click on the “Power off” button.
  • Step 3: In doing so, a drop-down list will appear.
  • Step 4: From the list of options appeared, click on “Restart”.

Tip: If in case you’re using a computer, you can close the tab or browser and try accessing YouTube again.

Solution 3: Clear Cache

Whether you know it or not, the cache plays a major role in the system as they store the logs of the user and the temporary data of the websites. 

But, because the browser has limited space for the browser cache, you must clear this browser cache to allow the system to work smoothly and fix “why is YouTube not working on my computer.”  That being said, here’s how you can clear cache—

  • Step 1: Open the Chrome browser and click on the “Menu.”
  • Step 2: Then click on “Settings.”
  • Step 3: After that, click on “Clear browsing data”.
  • Step 3: Now, when a dialog box appears, make sure to click on the “Clear data” option.

Solution 4: Check for YouTube Available Updates

Usually, there is no problem running older versions of the YouTube app, but it can sometimes cause some conflicts, especially in the case of more extensive updates or upgrades that involve server-side changes. 

Well in that scenario, make sure you’re running the latest version of the YouTube app. To do so, all you need to do is—

  • Step 1: Navigate to Google Play Store or App Store.”
  • Step 2: There, — find “YouTube” and check if it needs an update. 
  • Step 3: If so, hit the “Update” button next to it.

Tip: You can also choose “Update All” and take care of all your apps at once.

Solution 5: Ask Network Administrator If Network Blocking YouTube

Often, there are network restrictions on YouTube and other services. It’s common to see this when accessing the Internet from libraries or schools or other places where administrators don’t want you to watch random videos.

Also, it can result from parents’ restrictions who want to limit their children’s YouTube activity.

So, in this particular scenario you can talk to the network administrator and ask if any YouTube restriction exists. In case there’s a network block YouTube, the only solution to this problem would be to ask the administrator to allow YouTube access. 

Tip: You can consider switching to data or use another available network.

Other Solutions

Solution 1: Restart Your Device

If you are unable to access YouTube, then you should try restarting your respective device and then try to open YouTube again.

Solution 2: Check Your Internet Connection

Quite obvious that you must make sure that the system is connected to the Internet. To check the Internet connection, you just need to click on the “Connection” option on the system. 

Alternatively, you can check the Internet connection by “opening any website on the browser.” If it doesn’t load properly, you may be offline.

In addition, you should also check whether your mobile data | Wi-Fi is on or, you have accidentally turned-on Airplane Mode. Not only that, those using Wi-Fi or LAN should also look at the router and see if it is connected.

Solution 3: Relaunch Browser

Those who don’t know—Chrome provides its users with the feature to relaunch the browser and this might fix any basic issue with the browser in which you enjoy watching YouTube. 

Considering that, it is necessary that you must “Close the browser” and then, double click on the “Browser icon” to relaunch the browser.

Solution 4: Update Your GPU Drivers

As Drivers ensure that all the services are well synced with the required system permissions, they play a major role in the smooth functioning of the system.  So, there’s no wonder why you need to update the drivers to make sure that YouTube not working error is fixed. To update your GPU drivers, follow these steps—

  • Step 1: Right-click on the “Windows” icon.
  • Step 2: Click on “Device Manager”. As you do so, the Device Manager window will open. 
  • Step 3: Right-click on “Display adapters” drivers one by one, followed by clicking on “Update Driver”.

Solution 5: Update Your System

Windows provides its users with the feature to develop fixes and update the bugs in the system. So, because Windows releases various updates for its users, you must update the system to the latest version of the operating system. To do so—

  • Step 1: Click on the “Settings” option to open the Settings window. 
  • Step 2: Then, click on the “Update & Security” option to reach onto the Update & Security window. 
  • Step 3: Now, the system will automatically start checking for “Updates.”

After the updates are checked, the system will start downloading the update (if there’s any) and hopefully after that all your problems including “YouTube not working” get resolved.

Solution 6: Check & Sync Your Device’s Date and Time 

It is worth noting that when a user tries to connect to the Internet from the system, then the logs of the connection files are created. Now, in these logs, the time and date on the system are verified to the date and time on the Internet. But, if the date and time are not verified, then you cannot establish a connection which leads to issues like you’re facing. So, keeping this in time, make sure you check and sync your device’s date and time this way—

  • Step 1: Open “Settings.”
  • Step 2: Then, click on “Time & language”.
  • Step 2: After that, push the slider titled “Set time automatically” to the “On” position.

Solution 7: Run Troubleshooter

For those who do not know, let us tell you that Windows has designed a troubleshooter for its users. It allows Windows users to detect and fix various errors on the system. So, if you are a Windows user, it means that your system is already equipped with a network troubleshooter that detects the possible causes of YouTube not working error and provides solutions for the same.

Now, that you know about the troubleshooter, here is how you can run it—

  • Step 1: Open “Settings”
  • Step 2: Then, click on “Network & Internet.”
  • Step 3: After that, click on “Status.”
  • Step 4: And, in the end, you just need to click on “Network Troubleshooter.”

Solution 8: Check Hosts Files

Host files in the system are files that contain network information. You can block access to the website by adding a link to the website in this file. That’s why you should make sure that the link to the YouTube website isn’t added to the hosts file via following these steps—

  • Step 1: Click on the “Start button” and search for “Notepad.”
  • Step 2: Then, right-click on “Notepad” followed by clicking on “Run as administrator”.
  • Step 3: After that, click on “File”.
  • Step 4: Next, click on “Open” and as you do this, a dialog box will open.
  • Step 5: Now, navigate to the “Folder” by following the “Address” mentioned in the Snipshot below. 
  • Step 6: Following that, select the “Hosts” file and click on the “Open” button.
  • Step 7: Now, at the end of the file, type “127.0.0.1”, and simply add the “Link of the website” that needed to be blocked.

Solution 9: Control or Turn Off Hardware Acceleration

Chrome offers its users a feature called hardware acceleration, which allows them to increase the working and efficiency of hardware devices.

But this feature sometimes results in some bug, so you should try to disable hardware acceleration in Chrome by following the steps listed below to fix YouTube video not loading error—

  • Step 1: Open Chrome Settings and click on “Advanced”.
  • Step 2: Under the System heading, toggle “Use hardware acceleration when available” to off.

Solution 10: Clear Your DNS Cache

It is worth knowing that the DNS acts as a directory that stores the information on the domain names of the website. So, if you are unable to access any website, you can follow the steps mentioned here to clear the DNS cache and fix YouTube not working error—

  • Step 1: Press Windows + R from the keyboard and search for “cmd”. 
  • Step 2: Click on “OK” and the command prompt will open.
  • Step 3: Type “ipconfig/flushdns” to reset the DNS cache.

Solution 11: Check Your Proxy Settings

Windows provides its users with an additional layer of security, known as proxy settings. But, sometimes the proxy settings do not allow the users to establish a connection with the website. So, in order to fix YouTube not working error you have to disable proxy settings in settings by following the steps listed below—

  • Step 1: Open settings and click on “Network & Internet”.
  • Step 2: Click on “proxy” and turn off “Automatically detect settings” and “Use a proxy server”.

Solution 12: Conduct a Line Test

Last but not least, the Line test is one of the simple tests that can be easily performed by any user. 

In this test, all you have to do is hold the “Wire” from the router port and then, follow the “Connection medium” from the router to the system. So, whenever a problem occurs, it is recommended that the user perform this line test to ensure that the wire is not broken or cut from any point.

Conclusion

YouTube is a huge platform with a huge user base. For most of the users, YouTube has become a part of their daily life. For example—A student learns from YouTube, a person listens to music on YouTube, people share ideas on YouTube and it goes on. 

But there are times when your YouTube videos may buffer endlessly or you cannot use the platform due to certain reasons, some of which are listed above in this post. However, when you have access to such a handy guide, you do not need to worry about it as you can easily fix YouTube not working problems using the 17 solutions mentioned here.

Recommendation: If YouTube is still not working after trying all these fixes, take your case to YouTube as YouTube has its Help Center, where you can ask for help if you really can’t get the service working properly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ques: Why is YouTube not working?

Ans: YouTube not working is a common error faced by the users and there can be many reasons responsible for this error. However, whenever it is not working, try restarting your system and try opening YouTube again.

Ques: Why does my YouTube video not play?

Ans: Since there can be many reasons that can be responsible for this error, we have listed some of them below. Have a look—

  • Slow Internet connection
  • System incompatibility
  • Leakage in the wire
  • Driver error

Ques: How do I reset my YouTube?

Ans: To reset YouTube, what you need to do is clear all cache and cookies in the browser and flush the DNS.

Ques: How do I fix the server error?

Ans: Server error can be easily fixed in various ways and some of them are listed—

  • Clearing cache
  • Reloading browser
  • Using VPN
  • Clicking Try again later

Ques: How do I refresh my YouTube?

Ans: First, clear cookies and then, click on the refresh button in the browser to refresh YouTube.

Ques: How do I fix YouTube not working error?

Ans: Various methods can help you to fix YouTube not working error and some of them are listed below—

  • Restart system
  • Run Network Troubleshooter
  • Update Drivers
  • Check Hosts file
  • Clear cache and cookies

Ques: How to watch YouTube videos if banned in your country?

Ans: YouTube is one of the most popular sites to watch videos but watching YouTube or YouTube content is blocked in some countries. In this case a VPN can be a solution. Using it will be a simple process as all you need to do is download the VPN application or client, connect it to a server in the appropriate country and you are ready to access YouTube content.