SOLVED: If playback doesn’t begin shortly try restarting your device
When encountering the error message “If playback doesn’t begin shortly, try restarting your device,” it often manifests as videos failing to start, leaving you stuck with a loading circle. This error typically means that your device or browser is having trouble initializing video playback, which can be caused by several underlying issues.
The most common cause is outdated or misconfigured browser settings, particularly hardware acceleration or autoplay settings. Other potential causes include outdated drivers for audio or video, issues with the device’s cache, or even problems with the website’s video player itself.
In some cases, disabling hardware acceleration or enabling autoplay in the browser settings can resolve the issue. If that doesn’t help, a temporary solution is to restart your device, which may clear up any temporary conflicts. It’s also important to check for any updates to your browser or system drivers, as these can also affect video playback functionality.
This error is not uncommon, especially on platforms like YouTube, where it might be caused by changes in the way the video is rendered or played on certain browsers or devices
Method 1: Disable Hardware Acceleration in Chrome Browser
To disable hardware acceleration, go to Settings → Advanced Settings → System
Click on “Show Advanced Settings”
Uncheck the “Use hardware acceleration when available” button under the “System” menu.
Method 2: Try Running Chrome as an Administrator
Right-click on the Chrome icon and click “Run as Administrator.”
Method 3: Update/Uninstall NVIDIA Graphics Driver
This problem may also occur if you are using an NVIDIA graphics card.
To resolve the issue, please download the latest drivers for your video card from the manufacturer’s website and update the drivers.
To update the video driver, go to Control Panel → All Control Panel Items → System → Device Manager → Display adapters. Right-click on the display card and choose “Update Driver Software.”
If it doesn’t solve the issue, please uninstall the display drivers and reinstall them. Restart your machine after uninstalling the drivers.
To uninstall the video driver, go to Control Panel → All Control Panel Items → System → Device Manager → Display adapters. Right-click on the display card and choose “Uninstall.”
Method 4: Switch Audio Device
This problem may be caused by audio devices such as headphones or speakers getting stuck. Try switching the audio device or restarting it. If you are using headphones, try unplugging them and plugging them back in.
Method 5: Install HTML5 Player Add-Ons
If the problem is caused by the new HTML5 player, you have to install the following add-ons for your respective web browsers:
For Firefox or Waterfox web browsers, install this add-on from here.
There is no add-on for EDGE, but Microsoft is planning it for the future, though. Chrome used to have this extension, but extensions have been removed.
Method 6: Update Audio Driver
- Press ‘Windows’ + ‘R’ to open Run and type in ‘devmgmt.msc’. Press enter to launch the device manager.
- Click the dropdown for ‘Sound, video, and game controllers’.
- Right-click the audio service working on your PC/laptop, click on “Properties,” and go to the “Driver” tab.
- Click on the ‘Update Driver’ option.
- Then click ‘Search automatically for updated driver software’ and wait for the driver to be updated.
