Why My Videos Not Playing on Computer and Chrome

Sometimes Chrome users report that whenever they try to open a video in the browser, it stops playing or does not load at all. There could be several reasons for "videos not playing on Chrome" errors such as outdated Chrome, slow internet connection, disabled flash player, and more.

So if you are wondering "why are my videos not playing," let us understand the causes behind it and how you can get rid of the "videos not playing on your computer and Chrome" issue. Let's get started!

Cause 1. A Disabled Javascript

Javascript is an integral and crucial part of the Chrome browser. It also plays a vital role in running multimedia or playing videos on different websites. Several websites require Javascript so that videos can be played. However, for security reasons, Chrome or other external software may disable Javascript. This usually happens when your system experiences an attempted hack or an attack by malware.

Furthermore, whenever the Javascript is disabled, you may encounter errors like videos not playing, videos not loading, video freezes, and more. Therefore, you need to enable Javascript in your Chrome settings to play web videos again. Follow the steps below to re-enable Javascript on Chrome:

Step 1: The first thing you need to do is launch and open Google Chrome on your computer system. Then, click the menu option in the top right corner of the browser (represented by three dots).

Step 2: The next step is to click settings and then scroll down to the "Privacy & Security" option, click it, and then choose "Site Settings."

Step 3: Beneath the "Site Settings" tab, scroll down to "Javascript." Next, choose "Javascript" and then tap the "Allowed" option to turn it on.

Step 4: Now go back to the website where the video was not playing, reload the site, and try playing the video again. If the video refuses to play, then quit Chrome and launch it once again. Now, you should be able to play the video without any issues.

Cause 2. Video Files Are Corrupted

If there is a problem with the Google Chrome browser, you should be able to fix it with the above-listed method. However, if you still face the same issue, there might be something wrong with the video itself. If this is the scenario, then it is recommended that you first download the video from the website to your computer and use reliable and professional software like Wondershare Video Repair to repair the damaged video.

With the Wondershare Video Repair tool, you can fix all types of videos with different formats, including FLV, MP4, MPG, WMV, AVI, M2TS, etc.

It can repair corrupt video files and fix other errors like playback issues, audio/video syncing, dropped frames, missing audio or video, grainy video, black screen, and more.

After you have downloaded and installed Wondershare on your computer, you just have to follow the simple steps below to fix damaged or corrupted video file:

Step 1: Upload the Corrupted Video

Once you have installed Wondershare Video Repair software on your computer, open it and then add a corrupted video that you downloaded from the website to your computer.

You can add the video by simply dragging it to the software interface. Also, you can click the "Add" button on the tool to open the location on your computer from where you want to add the corrupted video.

Step 2: Perform a Quick Video Repair Process

After the corrupted videos have been uploaded on the interface, click the "Repair" button on the bottom right of the window screen to begin the quick repairing process.

Within no time, the Wondershare tool will fix all minor issues with your damaged videos and will notify you immediately. Remember, it might take some time for the recovery process to be completed, depending on the number of videos you have uploaded on the interface.

Once the repair process is complete, you can view the results and try playing the videos to check whether they are fixed.

Step 3: Try Advanced Repair

If you find out that your videos are still not fixed, you can try performing advanced video repair. All you have to do is go to the "Advanced Video Repair" option on the software to proceed further.

You will be asked to add a sample video, which is a working video and is of the same format as your damaged video.

Add a sample video from any location that will be used as a reference to repairing your corrupted video. Once the sample video has been added, click on the "Repair" button and the software will begin the repairing process.

Step 4: Preview and Save your Video Files

As soon as the recovery process is complete, a message will be displayed on your screen, informing you that the repairing operation has been completed successfully.

Now, you can click preview the repaired videos and click on the "Save" button to save them to the location of your choice. Do not save the repaired files in the same location where you had stored the corrupted video files.

Cause 3: Disabled Flash Player

As a "legacy" program, Adobe Flash comes with some security issues, which is why Google and other browser developers have stopped using it. Unfortunately, when visiting some websites, you might require "Flash" to play videos as these websites have not been updated to work without Flash. So if "Flash" on your browser has been disabled, you need to enable it so that you can play videos without any interruption.

In most scenarios, when you are not able to play videos, you will see a message on your screen that says, "Click to enable Adobe Flash Player." If this message does not appear on your screen, you can check manually to make sure that the Flash is allowed or enabled on your browser. To do so, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Launch Chrome on your computer system. Then type chrome://settings/content in the address bar and press the Enter key.

Step 2: Now, Settings will open on your browser, scroll down to find "Flash" and click on the arrow, located at the right side of the icon. Next, select "Allow" to enable the plugin.

Step 3: Finally, you can go back to the website where the video is not playing, reload the site, and see if the video is playing. If not, quit Chrome and relaunch it. This time, your video should work smoothly.

Note: Flash has multiple security issues and can be extremely risky. So try to only enable it for sites that you trust.

Cause 4: Accumulated Cookies and Cache Data

If the above solution does not work, there might be a possibility that Google Chrome has a lot of cached data saved. Websites and other services make use of cookies and cache that acts as immediate or temporary storage on the Chrome browser to fetch data quickly.

So the next time, whenever you try to open a video on a particular page that you visited before, Chrome will use the cache memory stored on your browser to open the site rather than establishing a new connection. This makes loading extremely fast.

However, sometimes, when a lot of Cache memory is saved on your device, it may lead to problems like videos not playing or buffering issues in Chrome. Fortunately, you can clear up the corrupted cookies, passwords, history, and other browsing data to free up some space on your browser to play and load videos smoothly without any disruptions. Overall, clearing cookies and cache data from Chrome will improve the performance of your computer while browsing.

The following steps will help you clear cookies and cache from your Chrome browser.

Step 1: Launch Chrome and then go to the menu option located at the top right corner of the Chrome browser (it is represented by three vertical lines or dots). You will now see a list of options, scroll down to "More Tools," click it, and select "Clear browsing data."

Step 2: A new window will appear, click the time range under the "Basic" tab, and choose the option "All time." Also, make sure that the checkboxes next to "Cached images and files" and "Cookies and other site data" are enabled. If you see no tick, then click on the checkboxes. Now, press the "Clear Data" button on the bottom right side of the window.

Step 3: The last step is to restart Chrome and check if you can open the video page and play the video. If not, you can check out the next solution.

Cause 5. ISP (Internet Service Provider) Issues

Sometimes, your internet service provider can face network problems that can further impact your network connection, leading to videos not playing or loading slowly on your browser. Additionally, your internal network connection at home through WiFi and network cable could be having some issues, which might affect your browsing and result in "videos not playing" on Chrome.

Thus, to achieve faster loading and playing videos without interruption on your Chrome, you should restart the internet connection of your system and try playing the video again. Here is how you can reset your internet connection:

Step 1: Turn off your computer. Then, unplug the modem that you use for the internet connection. If you are using a separate device as a wireless router, unplug that also.

Step 2: Do not turn on or plug in the modem for at least a few minutes. After some time, turn on your wireless router or plug back your modem. Wait for the lights to stop blinking and then turn on your computer.

Step 3: In the end, open the video page on your Chrome browser and try playing the video.

Cause 6. Enabled Hardware Acceleration

Chrome makes use of hardware acceleration to improve browsers' performance so that it can quickly load websites. When hardware acceleration is enabled, Chrome uses the system's graphics processing unit (GPU) to help render website pages. Sometimes, when GPU is being used for other tasks, it may cause hindrance while playing videos on the web. Therefore, you should try to disable hardware acceleration on Chrome and check if the videos start playing or not. You can visit Chrome "settings" to disable the hardware acceleration.

Step 1: Launch Chrome and go to the menu option (represented by three dots on the top right corner of the browser). Then, scroll down to "Settings."

Step 2: Choose the "Advanced" option under the settings tab. You will see a list of options, click "System" which is located at the bottom. Now, beneath the System tab, tap on "Use hardware acceleration when available" to disable the option. You can now close the settings, try playing the video again, and see if it works.

Follow Tips While Fixing Videos Not Playing

You can consider the following tips to make sure that you do not face playback errors while playing videos on your computer or your Chrome browser. These tips will help you to prevent video-related issues that might occur on Chrome.

Closing Words

With one of the above methods, you should be able to fix the "Chrome not playing videos" error. For most Chrome users, removing extensions, plugins, cache data, and cookies helps them to play videos efficiently.

However, if this does not work for you and you are still thinking "why are my videos not playing," it is best to start with simple solutions like updating Chrome, deleting temporary files, or checking your internet connection.

But if still, Chrome refuses to play videos, you can use a professional video repair tool like Wondershare that will enable you to fix all kinds of corrupted or damaged videos within a few minutes.