What to Do When Unable to Play Video Error 5

How to fix "unable to play video error 5"? Before finding out solutions to it, let us know the "unable to play video error 5" and when you come across it. This type of error occurs when a person attempts to use the cloud-based "Google slide" app for making presentations. It happens when we insert videos from Google drive into Google slides while making a presentation.

You may encounter such queries on the internet while searching for the problem, "unable to play video error 5" like I have tried a lot for getting rid of the pop-up message, "unable to play video error 5" while I was making presentation slide using Google slides. The video is unable to play in Google Chrome, but it plays in MS Edge. How can I fix this problem?

Here we are up to with some of the troubleshooting methods from expert tried and tested options. We recommend you to follow these steps sequence wise to quench the problem from several possible causes. So, get ready to know the answers to how to fix embedded videos not playing in Google chrome.

Part 1. Reasons Why You Are Getting the Pop-up Message "Unable to Play Video Error 5"

One of the main and major reasons for getting a message like "unable to play video error 5" on your screen while linking a video in Google slides can be the corruption of your video file too. Before you jump on finding a tool or repair software, it is better to find out and resolve the corruption of video files. Like a broken header of the file, the reason can be many lost internet connections during linking and downloading of the video file, downloading video from unreliable links, sudden power loss, and issue with the video file's compression, etc. Sometimes the VLC media player available on our PCs will assist us in repairing these video files. Luckily, we do not need to download or purchase some other kinds of tools. Before concluding, we will learn how these video files get corrupted and how we can save them from being corrupt.

There can be several reasons why your video file can get corrupt. These reasons are listed below:

Your file might get attacked by a virus: virus attacks and malware infection is the worst thing that ever happens to a file or a computer. Viruses make the file infected as their read sector becomes bad sectors, making it unable for the machine to read or discover.

Crashed system: Crashed systems often lead to some files; it may cover your video files too. A hardware malfunction or software bugs are often responsible for the corruption of files and displaying the message as "unable to play video error 5".

Hard drive problems: Loss of magnetism in hard drive results in bad sectors. Saving videos or any data on these bad sectors results in the corruption of your files.

We know and understand the loss and irritation when you are about to finish an important presentation or equally excited to watch something on video, how does it feel when an unexpected message "unable to play video error 5" pops up instead of playing the video file. Don't get sad. The most desirable and satisfying thing is that here comes some software or tools which are capable of repairing your corrupted data, either video or audio. Many free repair tools repair and fix your corrupted files on the device.

Part 2. Sequence Checklist to Fix "Unable to Play Video Error 5"

Tip 1. Try checking your Internet connection first

Poor internet connections or network issues in your locality may be responsible for not loading or linking your video file to the Google slides application. So, first considering and cross-checking your internet connection's quality is the first and preeminent aspect of clarifying why the message "unable to play video error 5" is being displayed on your Google slides when trying to link a video file from Google drive.

Tip 2. Clearing the browser's cache and cookies can work

While diagnosing such problems, cache and cookies can often be responsible for video playback issues. You can try playing the video after clearing your web browser's cache and cookies. Also, try to check if the video is played on any other platforms such as YouTube or Facebook.

Don't get caught by many questions and assumptions about how you will be clearing the cache and cookies of your web browser, etc. We are here to help you out from all. Let us see how you can clear cache and cookies in the two most commonly used web browsers: Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

Clearing cache and cookies on Google Chrome:

You can now try checking on Google slides for the video if it is playing or not.

Clearing cache and cookies on Mozilla Firefox:

Tip 3. Go for the incognito or private browser window

Try opening the same we platform o web page on which you want to play the video in the incognito or private browsing modes of your web browser and see if your issue of receiving the message displayed as- "unable to play video error 5".

Follow these simple steps to go for the incognito mode in Google Chrome:

Click on the top right corner of Google chrome where three points are visible, select Incognito Window. A new window with a different looking black colored background will open. The Incognito window will never save your data in any cache or cookies.

Opening private mode window in Mozilla Firefox: On the top right corner of your web browser, select a new private window.

Tip 4. Update your browser and computer

Sometimes, we are unaware that our system starts facing some problems when it has not been updated properly or partially. Therefore, it is very convenient to get the system updated from time to time. A timely update of the system helps fix bugs in any software or application. We recommend you strongly to properly update your web browser and windows of the system to resolve and remain unaffected from issues created by improper or no update of the system, which may lead you towards the message- "unable to play video error 5".

For updating windows 10 Operating System: Select settings, security, and update choose windows update. Click on check for updates. Updates will be installed automatically.

For updating Google Chrome: Select your browser's settings and click on about chrome. You can start updating your browser if a new update is available.

Tip 5. Try disabling all your browser extensions once

Usage of plug-ins and extensions can enhance the user experience, but many a time, these plug-ins and extensions are found to be malicious or can infect your computer with viruses. If Google drive cannot link and play the video you want to insert in the slides and show the message- "unable to play video error 5," then it can due to some extensions and plug-ins installed in your web browser. Try disabling your plug-ins one by one and check if the video starts playing without showing the message- "unable to play video error 5" again.

Tip 6. Go turn off the hardware acceleration in Google chrome

You can also opt to turn off the hardware acceleration in your web browser's settings, as making the hardware acceleration on can make intensive usage of the GPU of the PC. If you face some problems while playing the embedded videos, just try turning off the hardware acceleration from the browser's settings.

Learn turning off the Hardware Acceleration in Chrome:

Tip 7. Using the video repair tool following these easy steps to recover your 'unable from playing video error 5' error

Corrupted video file! The video you want to play after embedding it from Google drive into your slides in Google slides app is corrupt. But don't panic! We do have a solution for this problem too. You can judge it if the videos are neither playing in the other web browser nor using any of the methods, then there are great chances that the video is corrupt. Now here, you would require a special tool or software to recover your corrupted video file. These software or tools are nowadays open source and paid available in the market, which can easily repair your corrupted file, and you can happily use the file again. One such specialized software comes as Wondershare Repairit, which we recommend.

Wondershare Repairit: It is specialized and specifically designed video repair software, which helps to recover any format of the video file, which is corrupt. It repairs the file's corruption in the sections such as header, sound, movement, video frames, video slider movement, etc., and data of the selected video files to be repaired. It can repair different video file formats and removes your problem of getting the message "unable to play video error 5".

Wondershare Repairit - Video Repair

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751,557 people have downloaded it.

• Repair damaged videos with all levels of corruption, such as video not playing, video no sound, out-of-sync video or audio, playback errors, header corruption, flickering video, missing video codec, etc.

• Repair videos of diverse formats, including MOV, MP4, M2TS, MKV, MTS, 3GP, AVI, FLV, MXF, KLV, INSV, M4V, WMV, MPEG, ASF, etc.

• Repair damaged or corrupted videos caused by video compression, system crash, video format change, etc.

• Repair critically damaged or corrupted videos available on SD cards, mobile phones, cameras, USB flash drives, etc.

• Repairit has a quick and advanced scanning mode. You can use either depending upon the level of corruption the video file has undergone.

• Support Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019/2022, and macOS 10.10~macOS 13.

Steps to fix corrupt embedded video files with Wondershare Repairit:

Step 1: Download Wondershare Repairit and launch it on your device successfully.

Click to add files to be repaired, i.e., the video file saved on your computer's drive. It also gives you the feature of adding one or more corrupt video files at a time.

Step 2: Click on Repair to start the video repair process, and you will get a notice when the video repairing process finishes.

Step 3: Preview the repaied video and click Save.

After saving your repaired video file, you need to reload it in your Google slides presentation. Now you should play the file perfectly and have stopped receiving the message "unable to play video error 5".

Part 3. Useful Tips to Avoid "Unable to Play Video Error 5"

Every problem indeed comes with a solution itself, but instead of indulging in some frustrating and time-consuming problems, it's much better to take care of some cautions before things get bad. The same applies to the corruption of your files on devices and systems. Here we are providing you some useful and beneficial tips for taking care while handling a system file. We will list to you why the files often get corrupted and what you need to take care of?

Taking a bit careful while dealing with your important files and using the above-mentioned methods is sufficient to prevent you from suffering from data loss or anxiety due to improper handling or technical issues happening to your video files.