Despite having a decent internet connection, it happens that your YouTube doesn’t work as it supposes to be. Sometimes YouTube video buffers pause in between for no reason, videos stuck on loading after the advertisement, etc. There could be much reason behind the “Why is YouTube Not Working” issue.

If you’re like me who loves to kill time watching YouTube live game streaming of Apex Legends, Fortnite, COD: Warzone, and more. It completely ruins my entertainment experience when the YouTube live stream buffers in spite of having a good internet connection. Some people say there is the possibility that YouTube could face slow server issues, but I think that is nothing but just one of the conjectures. The problem is more likely from our end.

What can we do in such situations? If you’re thinking that restarting the YouTube app could resolve the issue, let me inform you. That is a good thing to do but those are just one of the Temporary workarounds. But don’t you worry, you have probably landed on the right post, we have got you all covered up.

Follow the guide till the end that we have managed to provide you. Without further ado, let’s get started.

See also: How to Download Specific Part Of Youtube Videos

1. Check YouTube Status

It has happened before that a YouTube user was victimized by a server downtime issue. In such cases, you are not the only one who is experiencing the issues related to YouTube.

This could have happened due to the server maintenance break by YouTube’s developers, if that’s the case, we don’t have any choice but to wait for the server to get active like before.

How to check if YouTube Servers are down?

Following are the valid ways, to check if YouTube is facing downtime issues:

• Check the Google News by searching some keywords such as “YouTube down” or “YouTube outage”.
• Check whether the YouTube app is working through one of your friends or family member’s smartphone.
• You can also visit the down detector or outage.report website, as they will let you know if the YouTube servers or down or not.

Here, downdetector.com is a valid and quick way to verify if any platform is facing downtime issues. Also, you can analyze the situations by looking at the graphs, if you are personally facing any issue but realize that YouTube servers are all right then you can report the issue by hitting I have a problem with the YouTube button.

Fix YouTube Private Video issue

If you are not able to play the YouTube video because it is private, then there are some valid reasons behind it. Here are some conditions that you should know about YouTube private issues.

You will not able to see any private videos on YouTube because:

• A person who has posted the video kept some privacy settings
• You have not signed in to your YouTube account
• You have no valid direct link to watch the video
• You have been signed into the YouTube account where the video was not shared with

Check Internet Connection

Sometimes, the internet connection is the actual culprit behind the YouTube issues. Interment internet connection could affect the YouTube videos to load or buffer. It could also ruin your experience by affecting the video resolution.

Here’s how to troubleshoot the internet connection:

Power Cycle Wi-Fi or Modem

If you are using Wi-Fi or a modem then perform the following steps to power cycle the hardware:

Step 1: Simply turn off your Wi-Fi or modem.

Step 2: Then take out the power cables and leave the network hardware for at least 40 to 60 seconds.

Step 3: Plug the cables back to the power socket and turn on your WiFi or modem.

Contact your ISP (internet service provider) if the internet connection is still slow. Switch on Google’s DNS if possible i.e 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

Windows 10 users

We are going to use Windows 10’s troubleshooter to track and fix the issue:

Step 1: Press Windows + I shortcut keys at the same time to open Settings.

Step 2: Now, visit Update & Security, and click on Troubleshoot.

Step 3: Select Internet Connections and then click on Run the troubleshooter.

Cellular Data

If you use cellular data on your Android or iOS smartphones. Then simply try to refresh the network by turning on and off your Airplane mode.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your Android or iOS device.

Step 2: Now, just turn the toggle on and off Airplane mode.

This will force the cellular network to restart. Also, check if you have sufficient cellular data.

Mac users

Here, we are going to run Wireless Diagnostic on Mac to resolve the issues related to the internet connections. Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: First, make sure to close all the applications on your Mac.

Step 2: Connect your Wi-Fi that you are having a problem with (skip the step if you have done it already).

Step 3: Press and hold the Option Key and select the Wi-Fi status icon located in the menu bar.

Step 4: Now, click on Open Wireless Diagnostic option.

Step 5: Follow the on-screen instructions to resolve the network issue.

You can click on the “i” button located on the Summary pane to learn more know more about the elements or items.

Enable the Ad Personalization option

If the Ad Personalization option is turned off, it could affect YouTube videos. You might experience sudden pauses in the videos, or the video won’t play or begin to play after a few of the attempts.

YouTube ads might cause this problem. This could happen due to the Google account restricts videos that you’re watching on YouTube. Here’s how to fix the issue:

Step 1: Open Chrome or any browser and open Google.com, make sure that you’re using the same account to use YouTube.

Step 2: Click on your profile icon located at the upper right corner of the browser.

Step 3: From the menu, select Manage your Google Account.

Step 4: Select Data & personalization located on the left menu.

Step 5: Now, scroll down and search Ad personalization and click on it. And select Go to ad settings.

Step 6: Now, enable Ad personalization.

Update YouTube app on Android and iOS

Google provides regular YouTube updates, so make sure to keep up with that.

Update YouTube app on Android

Step 1: Visit Google Play Store app.

Step 2: Type YouTube in the search bar.

Step 3: Hit the Update button.

Update YouTube app on iOS

Step 1: Visit Apple Store app on your iOS device.

Step 2: Select Updates at the bottom of your screen.

Restart your smartphone once the YouTube app is updated.

Troubleshooting the Chrome Browser

Sometimes, the Chrome browser can cause some issues. It could be the reason why is YouTube not working.

Update Chrome browser

Do you remember when you have updated your Chrome browser last time?

It has noticed that older versions of Chrome were having some issues. YouTube could not work on it properly. If that’s the case then you should update the Chrome browser on its latest version.

Here’s how to do that:

Step 1: Click on the three horizontal dots located on the right side in the line of the URL bar.

Step 2: From the menu, select Help and click on About Google Chrome.

Step 3: Google Chrome will get updated automatically (if the update is available)

Clear Cookies and Cache

It has noticed that clearing cookies and cache help us to resolve the bugs and glitches. here’s how to clear it:

Step 1: Click on the three horizontal dots located on the right side in the line of the URL bar.

Step 2: From the menu, select More tools > click on Clear browsing data.

Step 3: Under Clear browsing data, tick Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files and select the Clear data button.

Turn On Javascript

Javascript is the essential factor for YouTube in order to play videos on Chrome.

Step 1: Click on the three horizontal dots located on the right side in the line of the URL bar, and select Settings.

Step 2: Select Privacy and security located on the left sidebar, and select Site Settings.

Step 3: Scroll down to javascript.

Step 4: Here, turn on / enable / toggle on the “Allowed” option.

Update Graphics Drivers

YouTube users have reported that they have experienced black, white, and green screen issues while playing the videos. Now, this issue can occur due to outdated graphic drivers. Here’s how to update it:

Step 1: Press Windows + R key to summon the Run feature on Windows.

Step 2: Now, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.

Step 3: Expand Display Adapters in Device Manager.

Step 4: Select Update driver.

Step 5: Select Search automatically…

Now, the graphic drivers will be installed accordingly.

Turn OFF Hardware Acceleration

You might not aware that hardware acceleration can affect your system performance. So it’s better to disable the feature.

Step 1: In your browser type chrome://settings/system.

Step 2: Now, toggle off Use hardware acceleration when available option.

Step 3: Now, select Relaunch to restart Chrome.

Delete Malicious app

Some apps present on your system can conflict problem of playing YouTube videos. I know it sounds offbeat but these could be the malicious apps that can affect other programs too.

How to find it? Well, it can be the recent apps installed on your system. Here’s how to delete them:

Method 1

Step 1: Press Windows + R key to summon the Run feature on Windows.

Step 2: Type appwiz.cpl and press enter.

Step 3: Here, sort the apps so that you can see the recently installed apps by selecting Installed On.

Step 4: Uninstall recent and unwanted apps present on the system.

Method 2

Alternately, you can also do the same process of deleting the problematic apps that cause YouTube videos on run-in trouble. In fact, this method is effective.

Step 1: Open Chrome, and type chrome://settings/cleanup, and press Enter.

Step 2: Now, select the Find button to search the problematic programs that cause issues.

The scan will begin and detect the problematic programs. Delete them.

Set Correct Date, Time, and Region

Incorrect date, time, and region can affect Google’s search engine. That’s is why YouTube, not working the issue that occurs sometimes. Here’s how to fix the issue:

For Windows users

Step 1: On the Windows taskbar, click on date and time.

Step 2: Now, select Date and Time settings.

Step 3: Toggle on for Set time automatically, and Set time zone automatically under Date & Time window.

For Mac users

Step 1: Open System Preferences.

Step 2: Select Date & Time.

Step 3: Select Set time zone automatically using current location, under time zone.

Additional Fixes

Here are some additional fixes that will help you to resolve the “why is YouTube not working” issue:

• If you’re using adblocker, that can affect on YouTube to misbehave. Try to disable the ad blocker and check if the issue has resolved.
• Use VPN to access YouTube, this is just another workaround if the YouTube servers are actually down. Connect your VPN server to the non-problematic region.
• Update your system software, if it’s available.

What if Nothing Works?

All the fixes mentioned above are valid fixes. But if you’re still facing issues while watching videos on YouTube. Then it is advised to visit the help section of YouTube, you will find helpful content there.

That’s it for now, hope this helps! Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Till then stay tuned for more info.

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