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Encountering video playback issues on browsers such as slow loading, buffering, freezing, compatibility problems or display error messages can disrupt the viewing experience on YouTube, Vimeo Netflix, or other platforms.
These issues may arise due to various reasons, including outdated browsers, conflicting plugins, corrupt browser cache files, network problems, insufficient system resources, or other system-related issues.
General Troubleshooting Steps for All Browsers
Check internet speed and connectivity: Check if your internet speed is low, it could be the reason why the videos are loading slowly, not loading, or videos playing in low resolution. Try restring your router/modem or connecting to a different network and play the video again.
Update the Browser: If the current version of your browser is not playing videos, then updating the browser can resolve compatibility issues, provide bug fixes, and improve functionality, enabling smoother playback.
Clear cache and cookies: Outdated cache can conflict with the newer content, Corrupt cookies can affect the website functionality. Clear cache and cookies on your browser to solve video playback issues and loading errors on the video.
Disable or test Browser Extensions: Occasionally, browser extensions can interfere with video playback. Try disabling the extensions and playing the video file to isolate the issue, or play the video in incognito or private mode.
Check Hardware Acceleration Settings: The hardware acceleration option on your browsers shifts certain processing tasks, like video rendering, from the CPU to the GPU. His can sometimes disrupt the video playback on browsers.
Try enabling hardware acceleration if your videos are lagging, stuttering, or causing high CPU usage during playback. Otherwise, disable hardware acceleration if you have an older GPU or if videos won’t play on the browser at all.
Update OS or Video Drivers: Check if your OS and video drivers are updated, if it’s not updated, update them to ensure compatibility and solve other playback issues on browsers.
If the above doesn’t help Go to the next sections for advanced methods to fix the browser not playing videos.
Methods to Fix “Videos Not Playing on Browser”
Follow the Sections to solve browser-specific video playback issues:
Section 1: Videos Not Playing on Browser [Google Chrome]
Restart Chrome browser: Try restarting to completely close the browser to fix videos not playing on Chrome, Here is how you do it:
Type: chrome://restart and Press Enter.
Allow Javascript: Try enabling the javascript to fix playback issues on YouTube-like streaming platforms as they rely on this. Here is how:
- Click on the three-dot menu on the top-right corner and go to Settings.
- Choose Privacy and Security > Site Settings.
- Scroll down to the Content section, Choose JavaScript, and toggle it on
Restore Default Settings: Bringing back to default settings can help fix issues with videos not playing by resetting the incorrect settings that can disrupt video playback in browsers.
- Open Settings, scroll to the bottom > Reset Settings under the Reset and Clean Up section.
- Confirm by selecting Restore settings to their original default.
Section 2: Videos Not Playing on Browser [Firefox]
- Turn on the Video Autoplay
- Troubleshoot Mode
- Enable Media Source Extensions (MSE)
- Conflicts with Firefox Profiles
Turn on the Video Autoplay: When Autoplay is disabled sites can encounter playback issues, few websites rely on autoplay to deliver seamless video experiences, and blocking this feature might prevent videos from starting.
- Go to Settings > Privacy & Security
- Scroll to the Permissions section.
- Click on Settings next to Autoplay.
- In the popup, select Allow Audio and Video from the dropdown menu.
- Save changes and reload the page with the video.
Troubleshoot Mode: Try running the troubleshooting mode to disable extensions, custom themes, and custom settings to help identify and resolve issues.
- Open the menu in the top-right corner, and select Help > Troubleshoot Mode.
- Click Restart to enter Troubleshoot Mode.
Enable Media Source Extensions (MSE): Enabling the MSE can help resolve videos not playing on Firefox by allowing the browser to support adaptive streaming and advanced media playback.
Many streaming services like YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu use adaptive streaming protocols like MPEG-DASH and HLS. MSE enables these protocols, allowing videos to adjust quality dynamically based on your network speed. Without MSE, such videos may fail to load or play.
Additionally, MSE allows browsers to work with modern video and audio codecs (e.g., VP9, H.264) for playing high-definition and optimized video formats.
- Open Firefox and type about:config in the address bar.
- Accept the warning by clicking I accept the risk!.
- Search for media.mediasource.enabled in the search bar.
- If the value is set to false, double-click it to change it to true
Conflicts with Firefox Profiles: Conflicts with Firefox profiles can contribute to issues with videos not playing in the browser, as the profile contains all your misconfigured settings, then it may prevent the video play in the browser. Try creating a new profile and play the video on the browser.
- Type about:profiles in the address bar.
- Click Create a New Profile, follow the prompts, and set up a fresh profile.
Section 3: Videos Not Playing on Browser [Safari]
Check for Content Blockers: Safari extensions such as ad blockers or security tools may block essential content like videos or scripts required for proper playback, disabling or adjusting content blockers can resolve video playback issues in Safari by ensuring that no essential video content or scripts are being blocked.
Open Safari and go to Safari > Preferences > Extensions and adjust Content Blocker settings to ensure the video content isn’t blocked
Disable Content Caching: An outdated or corrupt cache can lead to issues like video not playing on Safari, disabling the cache forces Safari to reload all content from the server, which can resolve these issues.
- Open Safari Preferences again > Privacy
- Select Manage Website Data > Remove All to delete cached data for all websites.
- Alternatively, in the Develop menu, you can also choose Disable Caches (though this is typically more useful during web development)
Try Viewing in Safari’s Web Inspector: Try Using Safari’s Web Inspector to troubleshoot videos not playing, which provides detailed insights into the issue.
Check on the Console, Network, and Elements tab to see if the issue is with javascript, loading, or incompatible format.
- Go to the page where the video isn’t playing, right-click on the page, and select Inspect Element or press Cmd + Option + I.
- Use the Console, Network, and Elements tabs to investigate potential issues.
- Also, use the Timeline and Performance tabs to analyze how the page and video behave under different conditions.
Preventing Video Playback Issues on Browsers
Follow these simple steps to avoid recurring problems:
- Keep Browsers Updated: Update browsers and OS to fix bugs, enhance security and avoid compatibility issues.
- Regularly clean cache and cookies: Outdated and corrupt cache can prevent browsers from playing videos, clear them out occasionally.
- Use trusted plugins and extensions: Install and use plugins that won’t disrupt the process of playing video on the browser.
- Avoid running heavy applications: For a smooth video viewing experience make sure you do not have too many tabs or any heavy applications running in the background while streaming.
Conclusion:
Finally, We conclude the article hoping that you were able to fix the issue of videos not playing on browser using the effective solutions in the article, if you have any other DIY solution that can fix and play videos in the browser, let us know in the comments below.
