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YouTube loading extremely slow even on Fast internet connection (solved)

A slow YouTube experience on a fast internet connection can be caused by various factors, from browser and network settings to ISP throttling. Here is how to identify and fix the root cause.

Steve Ballmer

November 26, 2024

YouTube videos not playing in Chrome — "© By JYPIX/Adobe Stock"

Did you experience YouTube videos loading extremely slow even if your device is connected to Fast internet? Sometimes you may experience YouTube videos not loading, just buffering icon forever. This can be frustrating, YouTube video lagging issues may occur for many reasons weak internet connection or limited bandwidth to Outdated browsers, accumulated cache, or conflicting browser extensions are common. If you’re having YouTube running slow issues, apply the solutions mentioned in this post to fix the issue and watch the videos again without interruption.

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1 YouTube videos not playing in Chrome

YouTube videos not playing in Chrome

Experiencing slow YouTube video loading speeds despite having a fast internet connection can be frustrating, especially when other websites load quickly. Several factors can lead to this problem:

Browser-Related Issues: Cache, cookies, or outdated versions of the browser can affect YouTube performance.
YouTube Server Problems: Sometimes, the issue lies with YouTube’s servers being overloaded or experiencing downtime.
ISP Throttling: Internet Service Providers may throttle video streaming services like YouTube.
Network Congestion: High traffic on your network or local area can slow down YouTube.
DNS Configuration Issues: Using a slow or inefficient DNS server can delay video loading times.
Ad Blockers or Extensions: Certain browser extensions, especially ad blockers, may interfere with video playback.
Outdated System or Hardware Acceleration: Older systems or improper hardware acceleration settings can cause performance problems.

Check YouTube Server Status

Sometimes this problem may be because of YouTube server issues. Use websites like DownDetector to check YouTube’s status. If the issue lies with YouTube, you’ll need to wait until it’s resolved.

Pro tip- If youtube videos not playing on chrome browser, then pause or disable the Adblock extension and check if the issue resolved.

With the chrome browser open, press shift + ctrl + N to start Chrome in Incognito mode. Now visit youtube.com and try to play a video. If there is no problem playing videos on Chrome browser then clear the browser cache or disable extensions help fix the problem.

But if the problem continues, Youtube Not Working on Chrome Incognito mode you need to check and fix your internet problem first.

Check internet speed

You need a stable working internet connection to watch online videos on your PC. You can check your internet download speed here at speedtest.net or Fast.com

If you notice youtube video stop frequently, then Press the Windows key + R type ping youtube.com -t and click ok. Check if continuously getting from youtube.com if the replay breaks you need to troubleshoot your internet connection.

In addition, disconnect VPN if configured on your device and temporarily disable or uninstall third-party antivirus. And now try to play a YouTube video on your Chrome browser.

Update Google Chrome

To get the best from your Chrome browser, make sure it’s up to date. Google regularly releases Chrome updates with new features, and security enhancements and resolves compatibility and bug-related problems. Update Chrome with the latest version not only fix the video not playing issue but also improves browser performance and speeds it up.

First, open the Chrome browser on your computer.
Click on the three dots menu icon in the upper right corner.
Navigate to the Help option in the drop-down menu, and select About Google Chrome from the submenu.
Or you can type chrome://settings/help in the address bar and press enter key to allow check and download the latest Chrome update on your device.
If new updates are available it will download and install automatically, once done Click on the Relaunch button and try to play videos again

Clear Chrome browser cache and cookies

Over time, cached data and cookies can cause performance issues, including slow YouTube speeds.

Cleaning overburdened browsing data in your Google Chrome give the browser new wheels.

Open the Google Chrome browser on your computer, then tap on the three-dot menu at the top.
Navigate to More tools then select the Clear browsing data option, Or type chrome://settings/clearBrowserData in the address bar and hit the enter key,
This will open the popup with options to clear browsing data on the Chrome browser, choose a time range between 24 hr to all time,

Checkmark on Cache and Cookies files to delete from the following menu.
Then relaunch the Google Chrome browser and inspect if the problems with YouTube have been fixed or not.

Disable chrome extensions

There are chances some third-party extensions such as Adblocker interfere with YouTube playback on Chrome browser. Open Chrome in incognito mode using ctrl + shift + N key and try to play any youtube video. If everything is ok there then might some extensions prevent the Chrome browser from playing youtube videos. Let’s disable or remove the chrome extension and probebly fix the video not playing issue on Chrome.

Disable the extensions and plugins once and then try to play videos in Chrome.

Open Google Chrome, tap on the three-dot menu at the top and Navigate to More Tools then Extensions.
Or you can access the Chrome extension directly using chrome://extensions/ on the address bar.
This will display all installed or enabled Chrome extension list,
Toggle off all the extensions and play a video on youtube.

Also, there is a Remove button beside the potential problematic extension to erase it from the browser.

Flush and Change DNS Settings

Your current DNS settings may not be optimized for YouTube streaming. Switching to a faster DNS like Google DNS or Cloudflare can improve performance.

First try Flush DNS following steps:

Open Command Prompt (Admin) by pressing Win + X and selecting it.
Type ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.

Also, you can try to To Change DNS Settings, that probably help.

Open Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.
Click Change adapter settings.
Right-click your active connection and select Properties.
Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
Enter the following DNS servers:
- Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
- Cloudflare DNS: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
Click OK and restart your connection.

Disable Hardware Acceleration in Chrome

Hardware Acceleration in Chrome utilizes the GPU of your computer to play high-resolution videos or other Graphics intensive tasks for which CPU is not enough. But sometimes hardware acceleration may not perform due to driver issues and cause problems playing videos in Chrome. Let’s disable the Hardware Acceleration in the browser settings and check if the chrome youtube video not playing issue is solved.

The hardware acceleration feature in Chrome can sometimes prevent videos from playing.

Open Chrome browser, navigate to Settings then System
Or you can type chrome://settings/system in the address bar and press enter key,
Now under the system section look for the option Use hardware acceleration when available and toggle off the button next to it.
Go ahead and try the YouTube playback again in the Chrome browser.

Enable JavaScript

For security reasons, Chrome can sometimes disable a plug-in like JavaScript, and enabling it again can make the videos play in Chrome.

JavaScript is required by some media like YouTube videos, so you must turn on it.

To re-enable JavaScript:

Open the Google Chrome browser on your computer, tap on the three-dot menu at the upper right corner, and select Settings.
Navigate privacy and security then site settings, Scroll down and click javaScript under content.
Or you can type chrome://settings/content/javascript in the address bar and press enter key to get the same window.
Here select the default behavior, radio button sites can use javascript

Reset Chrome settings

Still the problem not resolved, chrome not playing youtube videos? Let’s reset or restore Chrome’s settings to default. This will fix any problem or correct any incorrect settings and your web videos can play again without any issues.

Follow the below steps to reset Chrome:

Open the Chrome browser, select the menu button to locate upper right corner of the browser and select settings from the drop-down menu.
Navigate to the Reset and clean up option then click on restore settings to their original defaults,
The confirmation popup opens, click the reset settings button
Or you can type chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings?origin=userclick in the address bar and click on reset settings button to restore Chrome’s settings to default

Once the process finishes, open your web video in Chrome on your computer. They should be now playing properly.

Update graphics driver

For a few Windows 11 users, Updating the graphics drivers helps them fix the video not playing issue on their computer. Let’s update or reinstall the graphics driver following the steps below and check if this fixes the Chrome video not playing issue on Windows 11.

Press Windows key + X and select device manager,
Locate and expand the Display adapters section, find the graphics drivers Right-click on it, and select Update Driver.
Select the option to search automatically for drivers and follow on-screen instructions to download driver updates from the Microsoft server.

Windows OS will automatically find and install the latest graphics drivers on the device. Reboot your system to apply the changes and check if there is no problem playing videos on Windows 11.

Again If YouTube struggles to load videos, try lowering the resolution temporarily.