Is YouTube not working? Have no fearfulness, we'll get you dorsum to watching those cat videos soon enough. It'south possible that YouTube is down for anybody, simply the problem is more probable on your end.

Whether videos are endlessly buffering, the YouTube app isn't loading, or something else entirely, our troubleshooting steps for desktop and mobile should help you become YouTube working again.

First, Cheque If YouTube Is Downwards

It'southward rare for YouTube to have a consummate outage, but it has happened earlier. The starting time thing to check before anything else is whether the trouble is with YouTube itself, rather than anything on your side.

Ii sites to help you do that are Downdetector and Outage.Written report. They crowdsource user reports to show you what bug are being reported and from where in the world.

Outage Report for YouTube

When YouTube has major downtime, news outlets will also report on it. The quickest style to check is by going to Google News and searching for "YouTube downward" or "YouTube outage".

Accept you established that YouTube seems to be working for others? If so, crack on with these troubleshooting steps.

How to Fix YouTube on Desktop

If you're using YouTube via a desktop browser, follow these steps to try to ready YouTube.

1. Update Your Browser

Yous should ever be using the about up-to-engagement version of your browser. Most popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox should automatically update, simply it's always best to double-check this.

how to update google chrome

For Chrome, paste chrome://settings/assist into the URL bar and press Enter. You should see "Google Chrome is up to date". If you don't, the latest build will automatically download. In one case it's finished, click Relaunch.

For other browsers, see our guide on how to update your web browser.

2. Clear Your Cookies and Enshroud

Attempt clearing your cookies and cache to clean out the browser.

On Chrome, paste chrome://settings/clearBrowserData into the URL bar and printing Enter.

chrome clear browser data

On the Time range dropdown, select All time. Check Cookies and other site information and Buried images and files. Click Clear data.

For other browsers, read our guide on how to delete internet cookies.

3. Disable Extensions

Browser extensions can crusade compatibility problems with YouTube.

To view your extensions in Chrome, paste chrome://extensions/ in the URL bar and press Enter.

chrome extensions

Disable each extension in turn by clicking the slider so it turns gray. Later on each, attempt YouTube again and see if the problem is stock-still. If information technology is, go along the extension disabled, and attempt contacting the developer to see if they can patch the issue.

For other browsers, cheque out our guide on how to clean up your browser extensions.

4. Update Video Drivers

If your video drivers are outdated, it can cause bug playing videos. Try updating them to meet it resolves the issue. First, catch the latest drivers from your manufacturer's website (eastward.1000., AMD, NVIDIA, Intel).

windows device manager update graphics

Then, press Windows key + X and click Device Manager. Double click Display adapters. Then right-click your graphics carte and click Update driver. Click Search automatically for drivers and follow the wizard through.

For more support, check out our guide on how to update your Windows graphics drivers.

five. Cheque Your Internet Connection

Fifty-fifty if yous tin access other websites, it doesn't hateful your internet connection isn't at fault. Information technology might not be stable plenty to stream YouTube. Use Windows' native troubleshooter to observe and resolve problems.

windows 10 internet troubleshooter

Press Windows fundamental + I to open Settings:

  • On Windows ten, go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot > Additional troubleshooters > Internet Connections > Run the troubleshooter.
  • On Windows eleven, get to Organisation > Troubleshoot > Other trouble-shooters > Internet Connections > Run.

If this doesn't piece of work, run across our article on diagnosing a network problem for more advice.

How to Prepare YouTube on Android and iOS

If you're using YouTube on an Android or iOS device, like an iPhone or iPad, try these troubleshooting steps.

1. Update Your Operating System

Your operating organization may be outdated and thus YouTube is unable to run correctly.

On Android, open Settings and look for Software update (or System update.) It might be within an About phone section. If there's a new version available, download and install information technology.

On iOS, go to Settings > General > Software Update and download and install an update if in that location'due south 1 available.

two. Update the YouTube App

The YouTube app should always be running the latest version then you lot can do good from the latest features and issues fixes.

On Android, open the Play Shop, tap your profile icon, and select Manage apps and device. Next, tap Updates pending and, if YouTube is here, tap Update.

On iOS, open the App Store and tap the Updates tab. If you see YouTube on this list, tap Update.

iii. Clear the YouTube Cache and Data

If you lot have been using the YouTube app for a while, a large amount of cache and information could accept congenital upward and be causing issues.

On Android, go to Settings > Apps > YouTube > Storage. Tap Articulate cache and see if it fixes the problem. If not, return hither and tap Clear data.

On iOS, the all-time style to do this is to uninstall and reinstall YouTube. Printing and agree the app on your home screen and tap Delete. Then head to the App Store and download YouTube over again.

4. Sync the Appointment and Time

The YouTube app can have problems if your device's date and time is out of alignment with that of the YouTube server. The all-time fashion to resolve this is to allow your network to automatically handle the date and time.

On Android, go to Settings > General Direction > Date and time and slide Automated date and time to On.

On iOS, get to Settings > Full general > Date & Time and slide Set Automatically to On.

v. Check Your Internet Connection

YouTube might not be working if your internet is struggling to connect properly. On Android, go to Settings > Connections. On iOS, go to Settings.

First, turn Flight mode on and off. This can frequently refresh your network settings and solve the trouble. Next, effort connecting via Wi-Fi or your phone network (whichever one you aren't using by default). If this doesn't work, try disabling Bluetooth.

Notwithstanding no luck? Y'all can reset your network connection entirely. On Android, go to Settings > General Direction > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

On iOS, go to Settings > Full general Settings > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

Enhance YouTube With Extensions

Now you've followed these instructions, hopefully YouTube or the YouTube app is working once more. If information technology isn't, you should contact Google for further back up.

Assuming YouTube is working again, why non arrive even better? You can exercise so with YouTube web apps and extensions that allow you to prune videos, search text within videos, add notes to videos, and more.

five Sites and Extensions to Tweak YouTube for a Better Experience

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