Fix: YouTube Something Went Wrong (Android, iOS, Chrome)

YouTube ‘Sorry, something went wrong’ error message is displayed when YouTube is experiencing technical difficulties or undergoing maintenance. It can happen due to various reasons, such as high traffic, server outages, software updates, or other technical glitches.

So, before proceeding with the solutions mentioned down below it’s best to check if YouTube’s servers are up and running. To do this, visit site such as DownDetector. This should give you a better idea if it’s just you facing this issue or everyone else.

How to Fix ‘Sorry, Something Went Wrong’ Error in YouTube?

Once you have confirmed that YouTube servers are in fact up and running stably for everyone else, you can proceed with the methods down below. However, if the servers are down it’s recommended that you don’t do anything and wait patiently till the servers are available again.

Solution 1. Use another variation of YouTube’s URL

Before diving into more technical solutions, check if logging out of YouTube, opening the following URLs one by one (using a browser, either PC or mobile/TV), and logging into YouTube solves the issue for you:

https://www.studio.youtube.com

https://www.youtube.com/signin?action_handle_signin=true&skip_identity_prompt=False&next=/channel_switcher

https://myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts

Solution 2. Edit the Related Settings of Your Device

You may encounter the something went wrong message while using YouTube if the different device-related settings (like Developer Mode, network settings, etc.) are not properly configured or corrupt. Follow the solutions down below:

Reset Network Settings of Your Device

1. Launch Settings of your iPhone and tap on General.

   

2. Then open Reset and tap on Reset Network Settings.

   

3. Now tap on Reset Network Settings to confirm the reset and afterward, check if YouTube is working fine.

   

Solutions for the Mobile/TV/Console YouTube App

Your YouTube app might keep saying something went wrong tap to retry because of many things like corrupt YouTube app cache/data, or corrupt installation of YouTube application. You can try the undermentioned solutions to solve the YouTube issue.

Solution 1. Use the Phone’s Browser

1. Open a browser on your phone (e.g., Chrome) and navigate to the YouTube website.
2. Now open a video and if asked to open the video in an app, select YouTube and tap Always. Then check if something went wrong issue is resolved.

   

Solution 2. Clear the Cache and Data of the YouTube App

1. Launch Settings of your device and open Apps or Application Manager.

   

2. Now open YouTube and tap on Force Stop.

   

3. Then confirm to Force Stop the YouTube app and open Storage.
4. Now tap on Clear Cache and then check if the YouTube app is clear of something went wrong.
5. If the issue persists, force stop and clear the cache of the YouTube app by following steps 1 to 4, and afterward, tap on Clear Data (in the Storage settings of YouTube).

   

6. Then confirm to delete the YouTube app data and switch off your device.
7. Now, wait for 1 minute and power on the device to check if YouTube is clear of something went wrong message.

Solution 3. Reinstall the YouTube App

1. Launch the Settings of your device and open its Apps or Application Manager.
2. Now open YouTube and tap on Force Stop.
3. Then confirm to Force Stop the YouTube app and tap on Uninstall.

   

4. Now confirm to Uninstall the YouTube app and once uninstalled, power off your device.
5. Then wait for 1 minute and afterward, power on your device to check if YouTube is working fine.

In the case of a console (like Xbox) or a TV (like Apple TV), when signing into YouTube after reinstallation, choose Sign in With Activation Code on Browser or Using My Phone (the activation code from your device). Also, check your mobile phone (linked to the same Google account as YouTube) for any notification asking for linking the accounts, if so, allow it to check if that solves the problem. If Using My Phone option is not shown, then use Other Options, select Sign in On Phone or Computer, and open YouTube.com/activate to check if that solves the issue.

Solutions for Windows / Chrome YouTube

There can be many browser-related settings like adblocker extensions (on a PC) that can cause YouTube to show somethings went wrong. You can try the following solutions to check if the issue was related to the browser. But before proceeding, check if you can open YouTube in another browser without any issue.

Solution 1. Update the Browser to the Latest Built

1. Launch Chrome and open its menu.

   

2. Now select Settings and in the left pane, navigate to the About Chrome tab.
3. Then make sure Chrome is updated to the latest release and relaunch Chrome to check if the YouTube issue is resolved.

   

Solution 2. Allow All Cookies on the Browser

1. Launch the Chrome browser and open its menu (by clicking the menu button near the top left).
2. Now select Settings and steer to the Privacy and Security tab.
3. Now open Cookies and Other Site Data and make sure Google and YouTube are not shown in the blocked cookies section.

   

4. Then enable Allow All Cookies and relaunch Chrome to check if the YouTube is clear of something went wrong.

   

Solution 3. Disable Hardware Acceleration of the Browser

1. Launch the Chrome browser and open its menu.
2. Now select Settings and expand Advanced (in the left pane).
3. Then select System and in the right pane, toggle off the switch of Use Hardware Acceleration When Available to Disable it.

   

4. Now relaunch Chrome and check if YouTube is working fine in it.

Solution 4. Use the Incognito or InPrivate Mode of the Browser

1. Launch your browser in the Incognito or InPrivate mode and check if YouTube is working fine (log in using the credentials of the problematic account) but before that make sure no extension is allowed to operate in the Incognito or InPrivate mode.
2. If YouTube is working fine in the Incognito mode, then the issue could be browser-related, otherwise, the issue could be a result of the OS related (like hindrance from the antivirus of your system.

Solution 5. Disable Browser Extensions

If YouTube is working fine in Incognito or InPrivate mode, then most probably a browser extension is causing the issue. Adblock and NoScript extensions are reported by users to create the YouTube issue.

1. Launch the Chrome browser and open its Extensions menu by clicking the Extensions icon.
2. Now disable the Adblock extension and check if the YouTube issue is resolved.

   

3. If the issue persists, then disable all the browser extensions and check if the issue is resolved.
4. If so, then enable the extension one by one to check which one is causing the issue. Once found, disable or uninstall the problematic extension to solve the issue.

Solution 6. Delete the Browser’s Cache and Data

1. Launch the Chrome browser and click on its menu button (near the top right of the screen).
2. Now hover over More Tools and select Clear Browsing Data.

   

3. Then click on Sign Out (if you do not want to delete the history from your Google account) and select the Time Range of All Time.
4. Now select all the categories and click on the Clear Data button.

   

5. Once the data is deleted, relaunch the browser and check if the YouTube issue is resolved.

Solution 7. Reset the Browser to the Defaults

1. Launch the Chrome browser and open its menu.
2. Then expand Advanced (in the left pane) and select System.
3. Now, in the right pane, click on Restore Settings to Their Original Defaults and then click on Reset Settings.

   

4. Then relaunch Chrome and check if YouTube is working fine in Chrome.

Solution 8. Reinstall the Chrome Browser

1. Firstly, make sure to backup the essential info/data of your browser and right-click on Windows.
2. Now, open Apps & Features and expand Chrome (or the problematic browser).
3. Then click on Uninstall and follow the prompts on your screen to uninstall Chrome.

   

4. Now reboot your PC and upon reboot, launch the Run command box by pressing Windows+R keys.
5. Then execute the following in the Run box:

   %localappdata%\Google\Chrome

   

6. Now delete the User Data folder (ignore any files/folders that cannot be deleted) and then reinstall Chrome to check if something went wrong issue is resolved.

   

Solution 9. Disable or Uninstall Antivirus of Your System

YouTube might show something went wrong if the antivirus of your system (Kaspersky is reported to cause the issue at hand) is hindering the operation of YouTube and disabling or uninstalling the antivirus may solve the YouTube problem.

Warning:

Proceed at your own risk and with extreme care as uninstalling or disabling the antivirus of your system may expose your data/system to threats like viruses, trojans, etc.

1. Right-click on the Kaspersky icon in the system’s tray (you may have to check in the hidden icons) and click on Pause Protection.

   

2. Then confirm to pause the protection and check if YouTube is working fine. If so, then you may have to uninstall the antivirus and use another antivirus

If the issue persists, then you may have to reset the device (Xbox, etc.) to the factory defaults to solve the YouTube issue.