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Home » Ben & Jerry's » How to fix videos not playing in Google Chrome

How to fix videos not playing in Google Chrome

Google Chrome users often complain about videos not playing in the browser. Their web videos either freeze, won’t load, or keep buffering in Chrome. It is even more annoying when you cannot watch your favorite videos on Vimeo, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, etc.

Web videos problem on Chrome can occur due to several reasons. It could be a slow Internet issue, or too many tasks are opened on your computer that don’t let Chrome load videos. Outdated browser or missing JavaScript required to play those videos can also result in video playback issues in Chrome.

Whatsoever the reason, you cannot ignore the problem. If you are facing the Chrome browser issue, here’s how you can fix it.

Try the workarounds to resolve web videos issue on Chrome

Quick hacks can help to immediately play online videos in browser on your device. Try these 5 workarounds and enjoy watching videos in Chrome in no time:

  1. Play video in Incognito window of your Chrome.
  2. Watch your video in lower quality. You can do it from the ‘Settings’ option on the video screen. Select an acceptable minimum quality from the options.
  3. Open only one browser window to play the online video. Close all other browser windows.
  4. If possible, try downloading the video on your computer and then play it. If still the video doesn’t play or play choppy, etc., it might have corrupted. You can try a video repair software, such as Stellar Repair for Video to fix it.
  5. Simply switch to another browser.

Above workarounds didn’t work? Troubleshoot the problem to fix it forever. Let’s get started with the methods to fix videos not playing in Google Chrome

  1. Fix Internet connection

Videos cannot play in Chrome or buffer continuously, if Internet speed is slow. So check your Wi-Fi connection. Run the Internet speed test. Once unplug and again turn on your modem/ router. If the videos are not playing on other browsers as well, contact your service provider, it can be a broadband problem.

  1. Update Chrome

Any browser matter should be first dealt with by updating it. Updates resolve compatibility and bug-related problems that may be causing video problems in Chrome. Further, updating Chrome will improve browser performance, speed, and may also bring in new features.

Hence, make sure you are using the latest version of Google Chrome. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open Chrome and click on 3 dots on top-right corner.
  2. Select ‘Update Google Chrome’. If the option is not present, it means your Chrome is updated.

3. Clear cache, cookies, and temp files in Chrome

If your video is playing perfectly in the Incognito window in Chrome, it reveals that cache, cookies, browsing history, and temporary files are not letting your videos play in Chrome.

Caution: Clearing cache and cookies will remove any passwords you have saved for various websites. You will have to re-enter the passwords to login to the websites. So before removing these files, note the passwords somewhere, in case you don’t remember.

Follow the given steps to delete these files in Chrome:

  • Go to ‘Settings’ in Chrome.
  • Navigate to Advanced > Privacy and security.
  • Click ‘Clear browsing data’.
  • Click ‘Advanced’.
  • Check in the items you have to delete like Browsing history, Download history, Cached images and files, and Cookies, and other site data.
  • Click ‘Clear Data’.

4. Turn on JavaScript

Most of the websites use JavaScript programming language to make their pages more interactive for the users. If JavaScript in disabled in Chrome, you won’t be able to play videos in the browser. This will also limit your other activities on the website. For example, you may not be able to refresh your account or the Search box on website may not work, etc. So turn on or enable JavaScript in Chrome to play videos seamlessly.

Follow the below steps to enable JavaScript in Chrome:

  • Open Chrome and click on the 3 dots on the top-right corner.
  • Click ‘Settings’.
  • Click ‘Privacy and security’ on the left.
  • Select ‘Site settings’ on the right side.
  • Scroll down to ‘Content’ and click on ‘JavaScript’.
  • Turn on ‘Allowed’.

Now, again open your website and see if the video is playing in Chrome or not.

  1. Disable plugins and extensions in Chrome

Extensions and plugins in Chrome can affect your browser’s performance. They can be malicious too, if installed from dubious third-party websites. Disable the extensions and plugins once and then try to play videos in Chrome. To turn off plugins, navigate to the ‘Privacy and Security’ option in Chrome settings. In ‘Content Settings’, disable the installed plugins.

To remove extensions in Chrome, click on the 3 dots on top in the browser. Navigate to ‘Extensions’ via ‘More Tools’. Toggle off the extensions you see here.

Now check if the problem of videos not playing in Chrome is fixed.

  1. Reset Chrome settings

Installed applications, extensions, or plugins might have changed your browser settings. Reset can restore Chrome’s settings to default, and your web videos can play again without any issue.

Follow the below steps to reset Chrome:

  1. Open Chrome and click on the 3 dots on top.
  2. Click ‘Settings’.
  3. Select ‘Advanced’ on the left. If you are using Windows PC follow: Reset and cleanup > Reset Settings > Reset Settings. Mac or Linux users can click to follow Reset Settings > Restore settings to their original defaults > Reset Settings.

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

  1. Disable Hardware Acceleration in Chrome

Hardware acceleration in Chrome utilizes the GPU of your computer to play high-resolution videos or other graphic-intensive tasks for which CPU is not enough. But sometimes, hardware acceleration may not perform due to driver issues. This results in lags or freezes in videos playing in Chrome.

So try to play videos in Chrome by turning off Hardware Acceleration in the browser settings. In the Chrome settings, select ‘Advanced’ followed by ‘System’. Here, uncheck ‘Use hardware acceleration when available’ and close the window after confirmation.

Finally

There’s so much exciting and informative video content online. But sometimes you don’t get to play them smoothly because of browser issues in Chrome. Try the above methods to fix web videos not loading or playing on Chrome and enjoy your videos again.

Categories: Life