Chrome Not Playing Videos? Here Are Solutions
Summary: Sometimes something can be wrong with your chrome browser not playing videos and we are here to fix this problem for you. Check the solutions for chrome not playing videos.
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Google chrome is the world’s most used web browser. It is highly secure, lightweight, and easy to use.But that doesn’t mean that it is completely free from any sort of malfunctions. In this article we will discuss such a malfunction which is related to chrome not playing videos. Yeah! This situation is quite annoying because you can’t watch the videos in chrome even if you think that nothing is wrong. But something can be wrong with your chrome browser and we are here to fix this problem for you. Please read the article till the end to get the solutions for chrome not playing videos.
Table of Contents
- 1. Restart Chrome
- 2. Clear Browsing History and Cache
- 3. Disable Hardware Acceleration
- 4. Check JavaScript
- 5. Enable or Download Adobe Flash Player
- 6. Reset Chrome Browser
- 7. Update Google Chrome
- 8. Use a Different Browser
- 9. Download YouTube Videos to Computer, Android, iPhone, Or iPad
- Conclusion
Possible Solutions for Google Chrome Not Playing Videos
This is the first solution to fix chrome not playing videos. It may happen that while browsing several video serving websites the browser may lag or give hiccups. As a result the videos may not play because they run on a separate thread in chrome’s task manager. So to avoid such a situation just restart your chrome browser. To restart your chrome browser type ‘chrome://restart’ (without single quotes) in the address bar and hit the ‘Enter’ key. Wait for few seconds and check if this fixes the problem otherwise move on to the next solution.
2. Clear Browsing History and Cache
If the above solution doesn’t work then your browser’s cache may be full. Cache is the immediate storage or you can say it is the temporary storage used by the chrome browser to fetch data quickly. Videos highly rely on browser cache because anytime you may watch the video again. So browser will use its cache to play the video quickly and faster. So if the browser cache is full then you should clear it. To clear the entire browser data press ‘CTRL + Shift + Del’ and clear entire browsing history and cache. Relaunch the browser and check if this fixes the problem otherwise move on to the next solution.
3. Disable Hardware Acceleration
Chrome uses hardware acceleration to increase its performance so that it can load websites faster. When hardware acceleration is enabled then chrome will use CPU, GPU, and even hard disk heavily. This situation applies when you use multi tabs or windows. This can be a reason for the 100 percent CPU usage. When the hardware is too busy to resolve chrome’s request for additional hardware resources then it may freeze or give hiccups.
Simply avoid this situation by disabling the hardware acceleration. To disable it type ‘chrome://settings/system’ in the address bar and disable hardware acceleration. Relaunch the browser and check if it fixes the problem or not. Please note that if after disabling hardware acceleration the browser gets sluggish or slow then you should re-enable hardware acceleration.
If JavaScript is disabled then chrome may not be able to play the videos. Simply enable JavaScript by typing ‘chrome://settings/content/javascript’ in the address bar and hitting ‘Enter’. Here click the ‘Enable’ button just above the ‘Add’ button.
5. Enable or Download Adobe Flash Player
Some websites still use Adobe Flash player. But it was ditched by Google chrome a long ago because of security risks. Google chrome still supports flash which is built into it. And chrome will give a warning to ‘Allow’ or ‘Block’ flash whenever a website try to load it. So use flash at your own risk and only on websites that you trust. You can enable flash by typing ‘chrome://settings/content/flash’ in the address bar and hitting ‘Enter’. Now enable the option which says ‘Ask first (recommended)’. Chrome never loads flash automatically and it always gives you the options to use or block flash completely.
Chrome has a lot of settings to customize. These settings include ‘Content settings’ like JavaScript, cookies, popups, flash, handlers, protected content etc. So if you aren’t sure which setting you changed in a wrong way then it is advisable to reset the chrome browser. Resetting the browser will not delete history, bookmarks, and saved passwords. In the address bar type ‘chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings’ and hit ‘Enter’. First uncheck the option which says ‘report your current settings to Google’. Then click ‘Reset settings’ to reset your chrome browser’s settings and set them to defaults.
From time to time Google chrome gets updates. You should always keep your chrome browser up to date to prevent any malfunctions and security risks. This solution is highly recommended if you often face chrome not playing videos problem. To check for updates type ‘chrome://settings/help’. Let chrome check for the latest version itself.
If none of the above solutions work in fixing chrome not playing videos problem then try switching your browser. But do remember that you can get the same problem with the new browser also. So it would be a good idea to download YouTube videos on your computer and then watch them offline on any of your devices like Android, iPhone, or iPad. Check the detailed solution and tutorial below.
9. Download YouTube Videos to Computer, Android, iPhone, Or iPad
If your Chrome cannot be used to play YouTube videos, we recommend you to download YouTube videos to computer/Android/iPhone/iPad. To download youtube videos, a free YouTube video downloader software like DVDFab YouTube Video Downloader is highly recommended. It is a free software for downloading YouTube videos in multiple resolutions up to 720p. If you want higher resolutions like 1080p, 4K and 8K, you have to pay for the premium version. Please follow the steps below to download YouTube videos to your desktop or laptop computers, either Windows or Mac.
Step 1 — Download and install DVDFab Video Downloader on your computer;
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Step 2 — Launch the program, and then from the Popular Sites section, click the YouTube icon. This will take you to the YouTube website using the inbuilt browser, which is exactly same with your own desktop browser;
Step 3 — Enter your target movie name into the search box and then select the one you prefer from the search results;
Step 4 — When the video page opens, you will see a Download button appear as the top-left corner of the inbuilt browser, click that button, and then a standalone window shall pop up, where you need to click on the Video tab, select your preferred video quality, such as 1080p, and then click on the Download button at the middle bottom to start downloading the video;
As a sidenote: If you prefer 4K and 8K videos, then you also need a 4K video player like DVDFab Player 6 to play back those downloaded videos.
Step 5 — Once the download process starts, you can check the real-time status by clicking the Downloading tab from the left pane.
Additional tips: With the paid premium version, you can also enjoy the fastest download speed by enabling the Turbo-Speed feature.
However, if you want to directly download YouTube videos to your moble devices, then this video downloader software also has an Android version for both smartphones and tablets. Just scan the QR code below to get the amzing YouTube video downloader to your Android devices. As for iPhones and iPads, you can either transfer the downloaded videos from your computer or Android devices when necessary.
Conclusion
So this article provided you possible solutions for the problem ‘Chrome not playing videos’. We have provided nine solutions in total. Out of these nine solutions, at-least one solution will definitely work in fixing the chrome not playing videos problem. However watching the online YouTube video again and again on multiple devices is not a good idea because it wastes bandwidth.
You should download that particular YouTube video if you want to watch it again and again. We recommend DVDFab Video Downloader as the best YouTube downloader. It is safe to use, free for 720p (and below) videos, and easy to use and can batch download YouTube videos. It provides multiple resolutions as download links so you will always get the best video quality for downloading. Now it’s your turn to try the DVDFab YouTube Video Downloader.
This article shows you how to fix Chrome not playing problem, but you may be also interested in how to fix the problem of videos not playing on iPhone.