YouTube is one of the most popular video streaming platforms in the world today. People can easily upload their videos and view videos shared by others using this platform. Accessing this service can be done using various devices . Sometimes though there are issues that can occur when trying to access YouTube. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle the YouTube freezes on Chrome issue.
What do do when YouTube videos freeze on Google Chrome
Before performing any of the recommended troubleshooting steps listed below it’s best to restart your computer first. This action refreshes the operating system and removes any corrupt temporary data that could be causing the problem.
There are several factors that can cause this particular problem ranging from an outdated Chrome browser to corrupt data in the browser. Listed below are the recommended troubleshooting steps you need to do to fix this problem.
Update Google Chrome
The first thing you will need to do in this case is to make sure that your browser is running on the latest version.This ensures that any bugs that could be present in the older version is fixed.
- On your computer, open Chrome.
- At the top right, click More
- Click Update Google Chrome.If you don’t see this button, you’re on the latest version.
- Click Relaunch.
Check YouTube still freezes on Google Chrome.
Clear the cache and data of Chrome
Your browser will usually store data that allows it to perform better. There are however instances when this data can get corrupted which in turn can cause issues when opening certain websites. You can fix this by clearing this cached data.
- On your computer, open Chrome
- At the top right, click More (three vertical dots or arrow icon pointing up, depending on your browser version)
- Click More tools
- Click Clear browsing data…
- Select a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
- Check the boxes for Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data
Check if the YouTube freezes issue still occurs.
Try turning off hardware acceleration
Hardware acceleration uses your graphics card to render videos and images which usually can provide a better viewing experience. Sometimes though certain issues will occur especially if your computer does not have a powerful GPU. If this is what’s causing the problem then you should turn off hardware acceleration.
- Launch Chrome
- At the top right, click More (three vertical dots or arrow icon pointing up, depending on your browser version) then go to Settings.
- Scroll down to the bottom and select the “Advanced” option.
- Scroll to the “System” section and toggle “Use hardware acceleration when available” off.
Check if the YouTube freezing issue still occurs.
Try to disable your browser extensions
Extensions can enhance the way you use your browser however it can also cause certain issues sometimes. To eliminate the possibility of an extension causing the YouTube videos freezes on Chrome problem you should try to disable it.
- Input chrome://settings in the URL bar and press Enter.
- Press the Advanced button.
- Then scroll down to Restore settings to their original defaults option. Select the Restore settings to their original defaults option.
- Click Reset Settings to confirm.
- Users who prefer not to reset the browser can manually disable extensions by entering chrome://extensions in the URL bar. Then toggle the button off for each extension on that tab.
Check if the YouTube freezing in Chrome issue still occurs.
Update your graphics card driver
One last thing you can do to fix this problem is to update your graphics card drivers.
If you have an NVIDIA graphics card then follow the steps listed below.
- Press Win+R (Windows logo key and R key) at the same time to invoke the Run box.
- Type msconfig and click OK. Then the System Configurations will open.
- When System Configuration opens, click the Boot tab. Under Boot options, check Safe boot then click OK.
- When you’re prompted to restart your computer to apply these changes, click Restart then you will boot into Safe Mode.
- Go to your local hard disk by clicking on This PC then Local Disk C. You should be able to see the NVIDIA folder right there. Right-click on it and choose Delete.
- Click Start and type Run. Select Run, the Run dialog box will appear.
- Type “devmgmt.msc” in the run box and click the OK button which should open the Device Manager Window.
- Expand the “Display Adapters” field. This will list all network adapters that the machine has installed. Right click on the Nvidia adapter you want to uninstall and select “Uninstall”.
- Click “OK” when prompted to uninstall the device. This will remove the adapter from the list and uninstall the driver.
- Press Win+R (Windows logo key and R key) at the same time to invoke the Run box.
- Type msconfig and click OK. Then the System Configurations will open.
- When System Configuration opens, click the Boot tab. Under Boot options, uncheck Safe boot then click OK.
- When you’re prompted to restart your computer to apply these changes, click Restart.
- Download the latest NVIDIA driver for your computer from here https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx.
- Run the setup file and follow the instructions which appear on screen. Choose the Custom installation option and check all the boxes in the custom install options windows. Also check the box which states “perform clean install”.
- Restart your computer
If you have an AMD graphics card then follow the steps listed below.
- Download the AMD Cleanup Utility from here https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/gpu-601.
- Locate the file where it was saved and double-click on the “AMDCleanupUtility.exe’ file.
- A dialogue box should appear stating AMD Cleanup Utility has detected the system is not in safe mode and provide an option to reboot the system to run the Utility in safe mode:
- Click “Yes” the system will be rebooted and AMD Cleanup Utility will run in safe mode.
- The next dialogue box provides a warning message stating that the AMD Cleanup Utility will remove all AMD driver and application components.
- Click “OK” to continue
- After clicking “OK” the Utility will be minimized to the notification area (system tray) and the progress will be displayed as a tool tip.
- The cleanup process will continue to run in the background. To check the progress, hover the mouse over the AMD icon in the notification area.
- Once the cleanup process is finished, a message is displayed stating it has successfully completed. Click “View Report” to see the list of components that were uninstalled, otherwise click “Finish” to exit the Utility.
- Reboot your computer.
Once the drivers have been uninstalled it’s time to install the latest driver update. You can do this with the help of the AMD Driver Auto-detect tool which you can download from https://www.amd.com/en/support.
- Visit the AMD Driver and Support page and see section Auto-Detect and Install Radeon Graphics Drivers for Windows.
- Click the DOWNLOAD NOW button to begin downloading the executable file for the tool.
- Once download is complete, run the file to launch the Installer.
- Click Install to extract the needed files.
- After file extraction is complete the tool should automatically launch.
- Review the End User License Agreement and information about the User Experience Improvement Program.
- Click Accept and Install to continue or close the window to exit the AMD Driver Auto-detect tool.
- After clicking Accept and Install, the tool will attempt to detect the installed AMD graphics product and operating system.
- Upon successful detection of your system configuration, the tool will display the latest Recommended and Optional driver packages that are compatible with your graphics product, as well as the currently installed driver version
- Select the desired version and choose Express installation.
- After the driver package has been downloaded, installation should begin automatically.
- Restart your computer
If you have an integrated graphics (Intel)
- Press the Windows Logo key + R to launch a Run
- Type devmgmt.msc into the Run dialog and press Enter to launch the Device Manager.
- In the Device Manager, expand the Display adapters
- Right-click on your graphics drivers, click on Uninstall and then go through the uninstallation wizard to uninstall the drivers.
- Restart your computer. Once your computer boots up, it should automatically reinstall the same version of the graphics drivers.
Check if the YouTube freezing on Google Chrome issue still occurs.