Many of us prefer to play videos on the computer as it has a bigger screen. Be it for watching videos or editing them. But, sometimes, we may encounter unexpected errors such as “Playback error” or “Black Screen error.” Your video will completely stop working. Or, in some cases, your audio might be working but with a black screen.
Although you’ve tried playing on a different media player, it might still not work. One of the reasons could be a corrupted video. Or the computer might not support your video format. However, you can be at ease as the issue is solvable. In this article, we will guide you with 12 fixes for the issue.
Video Playback Errors
You are most likely to encounter the following errors while playing video.
- Playback error
- Blurry or Stuttering Videos
- Black Screen
- Distorted Sound
- Freezing video
- Codec error
Why Your Computer Won’t Play Videos?
Your video won’t play if the file format is unrecognized by the media player. For instance, the .avi format is incompatible with Microsoft Windows Media Player. Besides, there are other reasons. Find it out below.- Corrupted Video
- Download Error
- Unsupported Video format
- Outdated Graphics Driver
- System Malware
- Not updated Video Player
- Large Video size
How to Fix a Computer Not Playing Videos?
Before implementing the fixes, you can try restarting the media player. It will refresh the freezing app. Then, try playing your video again. However, if the issue still persists, you can try out the 12 fixes mentioned below.
Troubleshoot Video Playback
Firstly, you can troubleshoot video playback from the Windows Settings. Windows Troubleshooter will identify the playback error that’s causing an issue playing your video. Then, you can solve it. Follow the given steps.
- Navigate to Windows Settings > System > Troubleshoot
- Click on Other Troubleshooters
- Locate Video Playback and click on Run
- In the dialogue box, select the option to Troubleshoot the errors you’re facing.
- After troubleshooting completes, you can see the Detected error
Redownload the Video
Large-size videos take time to download and load. So, it might not have been downloaded fully. You can redownload the video and try playing it to see if it works. From the video properties, you can compare the size and disk size. If there is a huge difference between them, only parts of your video were downloaded. The video should play after redownloading.
Check if the Video is Corrupted
If a computer identifies a corrupted or unreadable video, it won’t play it. So, you can check if the video is corrupted. Try playing any other videos on your device. If it plays, then the video you intend to play is corrupted. There are various third-party tools to repair a corrupted video.
However, it is time-consuming and might not guarantee you the lossless quality repair. So, I recommend downloading the video again to solve the issue promptly.
Convert Video to Supported Format
Another fix you can try is to convert your video to a supported format with the media player. Similarly, for large-size videos, you can compress the size using Video converter tools. However, while converting or compressing, there are high chances of degrading the video quality. So, please make sure to choose and use lossless video converter tools. It will prevent quality loss.
Install Another Media Player
Your computer won’t play videos if the media player does not support the video format. For instance, Mac videos might not be compatible with Windows. So, you can install the supported media player to fix the problem. Once you install it, try playing the video with that media player. You should be able to play videos.
Download Codec
Various media players use a codec to play media. For Instance, MP3 and Windows Media Video. However, if you don’t have the suitable one, you will face a codec error message while playing a video. You need to download the Codec to fix the black screen errors. Follow the given steps.
- On Windows Media Player, enter Ctrl + M for the menu bar.
- Navigate to Tools > Options
- On the Player tab, click on the box for Download Codecs Automatically
- To save, click on OK
Update Your Video Player
Older Media players might not support your video. So, you must update it for new features and performance improvements. You can uninstall the older version and install the latest version from the official download page. For your reference, I have mentioned an example of a Windows media player on Windows 11 below.
- Go to Settings > Apps > Optional Features
- Locate Windows Media Player and click on Uninstall
- Then, on the optional features page, click on the Add a feature
- Search for Windows Media Player and click on Install
Update Drivers
An outdated driver might be the reason your video is not playing. So, you need to update it to fix the issue. Generally, your drivers are automatically updated with the Windows update. However, to manually update it, please follow the given steps.
- Right-click on Windows Start
- From the menu, choose Device Manager
- Double-click on the Display adapters to expand the menu
- Right-click on the device and choose Update Driver
Update Your Windows
You need to update your windows to fix the system malware and viruses that might cause video playing errors. If you haven’t turned on automatic updates, follow the steps to update below.
- From the Windows Start, navigate to your device Settings
- Go to Windows Update and click on Check for Updates
- If there is an available update, click on the Update
Reinstall Display Driver
Another fix for computers that won’t play videos is reinstalling the display driver. It would solve the issue if your videos stopped playing after the latest Update. Follow the given steps below.
- Right-click on the Windows Start and choose Device Manager
- Double-click on the Display adapters to open the menu
- Then, right-click on your device and click on Uninstall. Please click on the box to Remove the driver package from the system
- To reinstall the driver, go to the Action Tab of the device manager
- Click on Scan for hardware changes and restart your computer to save changes.
Disable Browser Extensions
If your computer is not playing videos on web browsers, extensions with bugs or viruses might be the reason. Your computer might have detected it and blocked you from accessing videos. In such case, you can remove the browser extensions. You should be able to play videos on the web.
Clear Browser Cache and Cookies Data
If you don’t clear cache and cookies data for a long time, it will cause malfunction. Such corrupt data will lead to video playing and loading errors. So, you need to clear browser cookies and cache data to troubleshoot it. Also, clearing it will improve the loading speed of a video.
