It really gets on our nerves when we are in the middle of watching a video on YouTube, and “An Error Occurred Please Try Again” notification pops up. Sometimes, the homepage of YouTube just does not open, sometimes a particular video does not play, and sometimes, the video stops midway. Even though the timing of error may differ, this experience remains the same. Well, we tried to find some easy solutions to this YouTube error problem. And after going through a lot of research, here is what we found. If you follow these easy methods, you should be able to get over this An Error Occurred Please Try Again Later YouTube problem in no time.
Common YouTube Playback Errors
In the process of knowing a solution to any particular problem, it is a crucial step to know its types. Now speaking of YouTube errors, there are many types of “YouTube Error Playback Id” errors that may occur while trying to play a particular video. Most common errors which many users have encountered are as follows:
- Error occurred during searching for videos
- Error occurred watching videos
- Error occurred while performing any operation
- Videos not playing
- Error occurred in Chrome, Edge, Opera, Mozilla
- Error occurred in Flash player
How to Fix An Error Occurred Please Try Again Later YouTube?
Below are different methods on how to fix YouTube Video Playback Error in Chrome / Firefox on PC or Mobile.
Way 1: Latest Version Update of Browser
To have an uninterrupted and smooth web experience, you must always check if your browser is updated to its latest version or not. If it is not automatically updated, then what you can do is update the version manually. For that-
1. Open Google Chrome on your device.
2. Tap on the screen’s rightmost corner.
3. You will see 3 dots on which you have to click.
4. If your browser not updated, then there would be an option “Update Google Chrome”.
5. Click on that option in order to get your browser updated.
Way 2: Clearing Cache Data From Browser
Cookies, browsing history and cache data that get stored in your browser are often responsible for online videos stopping playing. You can try these measures for clearing the cache data to get an error-free YouTube experience.
1. Open “Settings” on your Google Chrome browser.
2. Find the option “Advanced”, and tap on it. Then click on “Privacy and Security”.
3. Click on the “Clear browsing data” option. Check the boxes “Browsing history”, “Cache,” and “Cookies, site data”. Choose the “Clear” option.
4. Now reopen YouTube, and you can start playing your favorite video.
Way 3: Adobe Flash Player Reinstallation
Reinstalling Adobe Flash player might be a smart move when your YouTube videos are not playing properly. Sometimes, YouTube uses Adobe Flash player itself for playing. So we recommend you uninstall and reinstall it to fix your YouTube problem.
Uninstallation
Uninstaller for Adobe Flash Player Download
- First of all, you have to download the uninstaller. It works both on the 32-bit and 64-bit WOS on your desktop.
- Save this file in a location where you would easily find it as and when needed.
Closing apps and programs that use Flash Player
To be able to uninstall Flash player, you would have to make sure that no program that uses Flash player is active on your desktop.
- Carefully scan the taskbar; if you see any active app or program that uses Flash player, then right-click on it and close that tab.
- Also, take a look at the system tray to see if any background program is active using Flash player.
- An easy way to understand this is the ending of the program name; if it has a “.swf” ending, you should exit that one.
Running the Uninstaller
1. Double click on the downloaded uninstaller on your desktop.
2. Press the “Yes” button when you get to see this “Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?” prompt pop up.
3. Carefully delete all the Flash player folders and files.
4. Now you have to click on the “Start” button and then tap on the “Run” option. Paste this following line and tap on OK. C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash
5. Delete all the folders and files again, and follow the steps as they pop up. After going through all the previous steps, restart your computer and refresh it.
6. Now check the current status for Adobe Flash player.
Reinstallation
1. Go to this following site in order to open Adobe home page.
https://get.Adobe.com/Flashplayer/
2. Hover your cursor to the toolbar at the top of that opened page. Click on the “Download” option, and then tap on “Adobe Flash player” as it would appear under the “Toolbar” section.
3. Now you would be shortly directed to the downloading page for the said Flash player.
4. Tap on the button “Install now” to install that application.
5. Now there would be other options that may try to make you download additional items. Deselect those items to avoid installing unnecessary items.
6. Now download the Flash player installer and save it on your desktop.
7. A dialogue box would appear when you would want to save the file. Tap on “Save file”.
8. Now open the “Downloads” dialogue after the successful completion of the Flash player download.
9. Beside the recently downloaded Flash player installer, there you will see a link. Tap on that link, and a pop-up appears; here, click on “Next”.
10. That’s it! This whole installation process completes after a few moments; click on “Finish” once it is complete.
Way 4: Disabling Extensions
Browser extensions are extremely helpful to customize the browser interface by providing you with advanced cookie management, ad-blocking etc. But these extensions are also responsible for slowing your browser down, which ultimately causes your YouTube videos to stop playing. Hence, disabling these extensions is a brilliant trick you can try to eliminate the YouTube Server Error problem.
In Mozilla Firefox
1. Go to the top left corner of the said browser and click on its menu.
2. Tap on “Add-ons”, and then click on “Extension/Add-ons” to view the same.
3. Now start disabling extensions one after another until your YouTube error gets fixed.
On Google Chrome
1. After opening Google chrome on your desktop, tap on the 3 dots at that page’s top.
2. Tap on the “Menu” and select “Extensions”.
3. Toggle the extensions off in order to get them disabled.
Way 5: Enabling JavaScript
A web page cannot be called fully functional if the JavaScript is disabled on the browser. You can try enabling this JavaScript for experiencing smooth YouTube operation.
1. Go to “Settings” in your Google Chrome, and then go to “Show Advanced Settings”.
2. Now, go to “Privacy”, then to “Content Settings”. There, find the “JavaScript” option.
3. Toggle the “Blocked” to “Allowed,” or, you can tap on “ Allow all sites to run JavaScript”. Toggle the “Blocked” to “Allowed,” or, you can tap on “Allow all sites to run JavaScript”.
4. Now tap on “OK” and exit “Settings” on your browser.
5. You can Reload the page to see whether the issue is resolved or not.
Way 6: Use HTML5 Player by Disabling the Adobe Shockwave Flash Player
HTML5 player is soon going to take over YouTube, and Flash player might see its own demise. Therefore, if you want a better YouTube performance, try to go for an HTML5 player, which is more advanced and naturally better working than the Adobe Flash player. Using HTML5 player, you can enjoy YouTube videos without any plugins. Therefore to get this HTML5 player going, you should have access to an HTML5 player and HTML5 supporting browser.
1. First, you have to disable the Adobe shockwave Flash player.
2. Go to “Settings”, and then click on “Content Settings”.
3. Go to the “Flash” option and click on “Ask first” or “Always ask”. Now you should not encounter errors while watching YouTube videos anymore.
Way 7: Public DNS of Google
Adding Google’s public DNS server instead of using your current DNS provider to your network connection may be a possible reason for the “YouTube videos won’t load” error. But this method should be tried only if none of the YouTube videos are playing, instead of only one or two. Users have reported that this method is a useful one to fix this problem.
1. Press “Windows + R” keys together on your keyboard. The “Run” dialogue box emerges.
2. Now, type “ncpa. cpl” in that box and click “OK”.
3. Double click on the “Internet Connection” option to open the same window.
4. Click on “Properties”, under the “General” tab.
5. Tap on “Internet Protocol Version 4” under “Networking”.
6. Enter the Google public DNS server address as “8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4” after selecting “Use the following DNS server address” to apply DNS settings.
7. Now, just click “OK” and tick the “Validate settings upon exit” option.
Way 8: Web Page Reloading
Sometimes, trying out complex methods also does not bear any fruit. In that case, a simple hack, like reloading the web page, may fix your YouTube error problem.
- Press “Shift” on your keyboard while tapping on the Reload option on the web page.
- This simple yet useful hack would eliminate all cache files responsible for Youtube errors.
- Close Youtube and then reopen it. The problem should get resolved by now.
Way 9: Uninstall Bitdefender
Even though it sounds a bit unconventional, Bitdefenders also give rise to YouTube errors. So repairing or uninstalling Bitdefender might be a uniquely good idea for fixing errors. If repairing Bitdefender does not make any change to your YouTube problems, then you might need to uninstall that for once and all. Also, you can update Bitdefender to its latest version as that also has been reported to be utterly useful in case of resolving YouTube errors. Lastly, installing another anti-virus may be beneficial while resolving YouTube problems as well.
Way 10: Changing YouTube Video Quality
When “An error occurred please try later” pop-up shows on your screen, you can try changing the video quality randomly for two or three times. This simple yet effective trick has been proved to be doing wonders to fixing the Youtube errors. You would just be required to tap on the gear icon on the top corner of the video and then choose a different video quality (Auto, 144p, 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p). Try to repeat this trick for every video you watch, as this is not really a permanent solution, but a temporary and quick hack.
Way 11: Plugging Earphones or Headphones
Another unusual solution to the YouTube errors problem is plugging your earphones or headphones into the device. It is seen that plugging your earphones in the audio jack of the device fixes video errors. In case of built-in speakers, you can connect speakers to get the same results.
Way 12: Playing a Video in Another Browser
If you cannot play videos using your regular browser, then try to watch videos in another browser. Changing your video-watching platforms temporarily might be a good idea. Until your regular browser gets fixed (updated), you can try watching videos in a different browser.
Way 13: Restarting the Router
If your device is connected properly and still videos are not playing, that might be because of a slow connection. In this case, you can try restarting your router and connecting your device freshly again.
Way 14: Updating Audio Drivers
Updating audio drivers for the latest version can prove to be a possible solution for your YouTube videos not playing problem. Many users have already reported that using this simple hack, they were able to fix this particular issue quite easily. So you can try visiting the official website of your sound card manufacturer and install the latest Windows 10 drivers from there. An automatic software that would download the latest versions of audio drivers regularly can come in handy here.
Way 15: Disabling Hardware Acceleration
Hardware acceleration may lead to numerous problems, one of them being the errors on YouTube. So you can expect that after you disable the hardware acceleration, the “YouTube an error occurred while performing this operation” problems would get resolved.
- Open your Mozilla Firefox browser and go to “options”.
- Now go to the “Performance” section.
- Uncheck the options “Use hardware acceleration when available” and “Use recommended performance settings”.
- Now refresh the page or restart your browser and try playing some random YouTube video.
Conclusion
So, you must have got access to a wide selection of tricks and hacks from this article by now. We understand that it can be quite frustrating if YouTube stops working all of a sudden without any apparent reason. But you must know that there are many underlying reasons behind these errors occurring on YouTube. Next time when you face the same problem again, do not lose your cool and try to follow these easy methods to get your problem solved within a few moments. If one method fails to give you your desired result, try using other ones, and we assure you that you will indeed get benefited from the previously stated ways.