Encountering the “Failed to Load Media” error in Chrome can be frustrating, but there are ways to fix it. In this article, we provide 12 tips to solve the issue and get your media playing smoothly.
While opening a particular website, generating a picture, or playing a video, browsers frequently stall. The message “Failed to Load Media, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported” is a frequent error message that appears during video playback in the Chrome browser.
Your browser, not the website where you’re trying to watch the video, is to blame for the mistake. If you are having the same issue, you may utilize the list of remedies we’ve put up here to repair it.
1. Inspect Internet problems.
First, inspect for any internet problems. To test whether it works, try playing something else in the same browser. If the problem is caused by the internet, rebooting the router and reconnecting to the internet will resolve the problem. If that fails, you may try some OS-specific ways to repair internet problems on Windows and macOS. If nothing else works, contact your internet service provider.
When it is not an internet issue and just happens on one web page, begin implementing the changes listed below.
2. Eliminate Server Problems
The issue might be caused by a problem with the server that hosts the video you’re watching. As a result, you must rule this possibility out.
3. Reload the Browser.
Reload the page where you’re seeing this blunder. Give the video a new beginning subsequent to invigorating. On the off chance that the blunder endures subsequent to reviving the site page and restarting the video, it very well might be more serious and require further examination. Go on with the other fixes all things considered.
4. Change Your DNS Server.
You may likewise experience the “the media couldn’t be loaded” mistake as a result of limitations from your ISP. This is bound to occur on the off chance that you’re involving Wi-Fi in a library or school, where chairmen could have forced limitations.
5. Fix Failed to Load Media by Updating Chrome
An out-of-date browser frequently causes the problem at hand. Therefore, if you keep the Chrome auto-update setting disabled, it might be time to turn it on and manually update your browser.
- If you are not sure if your browser is up to date, click on the three vertical lines in the upper right corner of Chrome. Help install Google Chrome in Chrome.
- Go to Help; About Chrome.
- Allow Chrome auto-updates to avoid experiencing the same problem again. If Chrome is already up to date, you will receive a notice that says, “Chrome is up to date.”
- The notification verifies that outdated Chrome was not the source of the problem. The next step would be to see whether you’re using a VPN to see the video on the webpage.
- You can also download updated version of chrome here
6. Enable or Disable VPN
A VPN protects your privacy, but it can sometimes affect your online experience. So if you are accessing the video while your VPN browser is open, disable the VPN. This patch also works in reverse so you can watch the video if you haven’t used it.
Sometimes, access to specific media links is restricted from certain locations. Using a VPN connection will remove this possibility. When turning off or enabling the VPN doesn’t solve the problem, it’s time to clear the browsing cache and history.
7. Clear your Browser Cache and History
Cached data makes web pages load faster by saving some content on the site from previous visits. However, it accumulates when it is not controlled and affects the browsing performance negatively. Therefore, it is important to clear the cache to prevent cache entry. To clear Chrome’s cache and history, follow these steps:
- Press Ctrl + H to open Chrome’s history page.
- Click Clear Browsing Data on the left sidebar.
- View browsing history, cookies and other site data as well as saved images and files.
- Tap the Clear data button
In a similar way, you can clear history in other browsers. Try again accessing the video on the webpage after clearing it. Is the error still present?
8. Check for Profile-Explicit Issues.
The issue may be unique to your browser profile in some instances. Try playing the video in an anonymous window to rule it out.
To open an Incognito window, select New Incognito window by clicking the three vertical dots in Chrome’s upper-right corner. After that, play the video on the same website.
Opening the New Undercover Windows in Chrome.
If the video plays correctly this time, the issue is profile-specific, this suggests. Therefore, play the video once more and sign in with a different profile on your browser.
You should delete your old profile and permanently switch to the new one if there are no errors on the new one. However, if using an Incognito window or switching profiles does not help, apply the following fix.
9. Disable Extensions for Ad Blockers.
By directly interfering with the script of the website, ad-blocker extensions prevent advertisements from appearing on that site. This interference can also prevent HTML tags like the video> tag from running or cause some website content to not load correctly, resulting in the error we’re talking about. Disabling such extensions for a short period of time might help fix the issue.
Follow these steps to disable an ad-blocker extension:
- In the upper-right corner, click on the three vertical dots.
- Select Extensions under More tools.
- In the installed extensions, look for the ad-blocker extensions.
- To remove the extension from Chrome, click Remove or use the toggle to disable it.
- Chrome’s Adblocker Extension Disabling or Removing
There are a few additional options you can try if disabling ad-blocker extensions does not resolve the issue.
10. You can save the Video.
Consider downloading the video you’re having trouble playing if none of the solutions have worked for you. Users can download videos from websites with many video downloaders. Try downloading the video by selecting one of them.
After downloading the video, you can watch it with this alternative. However, you should address the underlying issue if you want to avoid downloading videos each time you want to watch an embedded video. Continue implementing the remaining fixes in order to accomplish that.
11. Refresh Chrome.
It’s best to reset Chrome if none of the aforementioned solutions work. It will undo any changes you’ve made to the settings up to this point, so it’s unlikely that customizing them is to blame for the issue. However, it will undo all of your customizations, necessitating a new configuration of the browser. Know about that gamble before you reset it.
Follow these instructions to reset Chrome:
- In the upper-right corner, click on the three vertical dots.
- Select Settings.
- Click the Advanced drop-down menu in the left sidebar.
- Select the button labeled “Reset and clean up.”
- Select Restore settings to their previous state.
- After that, select Reset settings.
- In Chrome Settings, resetting the browser.
As a last resort, you might want to try reinstalling the browser from scratch if the reset method does not work.
12. Install Chrome again.
Reinstalling the browser will eliminate the possibility of restrictions on both the browser and the operating system side, despite the fact that resetting it will give it a fresh start. However, properly uninstall it first before doing that.
To remove Chrome from Windows, perform the following steps:
- Open the app for Windows Settings.
- Go to the Applications section.
- In the search box in the Apps & features settings, type “Chrome.”
- Select Uninstall by clicking on it.
- Uninstalling Chrome in Windows’s Apps Settings.
- Chrome can be uninstalled in a similar manner but with slightly different steps on macOS.
Grab a new copy of Chrome and reinstall it after you’ve uninstalled it. Most likely, the issue will be fixed and the performance of your browser as a whole will improve after a new installation.
Still having trouble resolving the error?
With these fixes, I hope you can watch the video you were trying to play and resolve the browser issue. As a last resort, you might want to try switching to another browser if none of the troubleshooting steps helped. If the video on the website works fine in another browser, you might want to permanently switch from Chrome.
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