Why and How to Fix Google Chrome Not Playing Videos?
Many users get accustomed to watching videos in Google Chrome via YouTube, Facebook, Netflix or any other streaming services. However, video playback in the browser isn’t always that smooth. There are such errors as video not loading, blank screen or gray box instead of the video, Chrome freezing or chrashing while loading the video. For that purpose, we prepared a few workarounds that should help you solve video not playing in Chrome error.
Feasible Solutions to Fix Video Not Playing in Chrome Error
Why Is Video Not Playing on Chrome?
There are many users asked: why my video on Chrome is not playing good? Why Chrome will not show video when playing? Actually, the culprits behind the Chrome video not playing error can be concluded as follows:
- The Chrome browser is outdated.
- The Javascript is turned off.
- The Flash player is disabled.
- Your internet network may cause the video not playing error in Chrome.
- The extensions may affect your Chrome performance.
- The video format is not supported.
Workarounds to Fix Google Chrome Not Playing Videos
Speaking of the Chrome video playback problems, here are the possible fixes.
Solution 1. Update Chrome.
Video streaming sites usually update in accordance with Google Chrome to comply with its new standards. Installation of the latest version of Chrome is reported to quickly fix the video not playing error. Here are the detailed steps.
- Open Chrome on your computer.
- Click More at the top right > Update Google Chrome > Relaunch.
- Go back to the site with the video. Click Reload at the top left.
Solution 2. Clear your cookies and cache.
Many issues with Chrome are caused by your cache, cookies or any other browser history. A simple clearing of them may solve such Chrome-related issues as video not playing or loading error in Chrome.
- Open Chrome on your computer.
- Click More at the top right > Settings > Advanced > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data.
- Click Advanced. Choose a time like the past hour or the past day when the box appear. You can also select the beginning of time to delete everything.
- Check in the items you want to delete such as browsing history, download history, cached images and files, cookies, and other site data.
- Click Clear browsing data.
Solution 3. Disable plugins or extensions in chrome.
If clearing cache doesn’t work and the chrome video not playing error still exists, you can follow the steps to disable some suspicious extensions, which are known to affect the Chrome performance including video playback.
- Click More > Settings > Extensions.
- Disable all the extensions.
- Go to the site with the video, and reload it. If the video starts playing in Chrome, re-enable the extensions one by one and identify which suspicious one that breaks the Chrome browser.
Solution 4. Turn on Javascript.
Chrome may disable javascript for security purpose so that you won’t be subject to any hack or malicious site. But this will cause video playback problems, too, since some media needs corresponding Javascript. You can turn on it to see if the video plays again.
- Click More > Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings.
- Click Javascript.
- Turn on Allowed.
- Reopen the problematic video and check if it is able to play in Chrome.
Solution 5. Reset to Chrome default settings.
Any installation of applications or extensions may change the browser settings. A reset of the Chrome settings to default can help to solve the video playback issues.
- Click More > Settings.
- Click Advanced > Click Reset Settings under the section Reset.
- Once the process finishes, open the video in Chrome and check if the video not playing error is solved.
Note: Google phased out Adobe Flash as of 2021. If you are playing some legacy videos such as the Adobe Flash files, they will no longer play back in Chrome. In the situation, you can enable Adobe Flash in Chrome. But be cautious of the risky Flash as it may cause many security issues. You can also use the video converter to convert flash video to MP4 or other format.
