Why Is My Youtube Screen Black? Try These Fixes

When playing a video on YouTube, if you can view the title and the comment section, but only the video is all black, try closing and reopening it. That should help play the video normally. Sometimes, how fast we navigate through YouTube also affects its interface.

But, if you can see the YouTube logo, but the whole feed is black, you can try these solutions.

Why is My YouTube Screen Black?

If your YouTube won’t load and the screen is completely black, or you have a black screen with audio, it can be due to the following reasons:

Corrupted Cache files
Browser extensions
Ad-blocker plug-ins/apps
VPN apps
Potential malware
Geographically-Restricted content
Unreliable apps
Slow internet connection or low data

Fix Youtube Black Screen

A black or a frozen screen on YouTube usually indicates a weak internet connection. If it’s also not working or is slow while using other apps, change to the 5GHz frequency band. It usually provides a faster connection when compared to 2.4GHz. If that’s not working, upgrading your data plan on mobile is also another useful option.

Similarly, if the current browser has multiple tabs and is lagging, check YouTube on another browser or on Incognito mode. If your YouTube screen is partially visible, try to sign out of your account and then sign back in as well.

Turn Off Hardware Acceleration

Hardware Acceleration means when your computer software takes help from hardware components to boost the overall performance. This setting is always turned on by default on your computer.

But sometimes, your computer can give tasks to the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and not to the CPU. During this, your browser can crash or lag, even causing YouTube to show a black screen. So, in such cases, you should disable Hardware Acceleration to get your websites working smoothly. For example, if you’re using Chrome, this is how you can turn off hardware acceleration on it.

Open Settings by clicking on the three dots at the top-right corner.
Click on System. On this page, you can view the option Use Hardware Acceleration When Available. Slide the toggle to turn it off.
Restart your browser.

Clear Browser History/Data

Cache files help your browsers and apps to load faster. But, as they continue collecting your data, they can get corrupted, causing crashes or a black screen.

So, regularly clear your browser cache to fix such errors. Here is an example to clear cache date on Chrome:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete at once. This will directly lead you to a pop-up option to clear your browsing data.
Select the items you want to remove along with selecting the timeline as well.
Then, click on Clear Data.

If you use an Android phone, you find the Clear Cache option by going to Settings > YouTube > Storage > Clear Cache.

To clear the app cache on the iPhone, you’ll have to uninstall YouTube and reinstall it.

Turn Off VPN

Although using VPNs has its benefits, there are also a few cons to it. Since VPNs work hard to encrypt and transfer data, they tend to consume a considerable amount of bandwidth. This can make your phone slow, causing some apps, like YouTube, to not work correctly.

Besides that, some unreliable VPN apps can bring potential viruses to your phone, thus, causing apps to freeze or not work. So, if you have a VPN turned on, turn it off and restart your phone.

On the contrary, some YouTube videos have geographical restrictions and can show a black screen when you click on its link. So, using a VPN to play the video is the only solution to it. Not only can you enjoy the video, but you might also experience a faster internet speed using a VPN. The same method applies to PC users as well.

Turn off Ad-Blocker Extension/App

Not all browser extensions are reliable. Some can have bugs, viruses, or corrupted files that can harm your computer and the websites you visit.

If you also have AdBlocker extensions or plugins, they could be causing YouTube to show a black screen as well due to the above-mentioned reasons. They can also be gathering your data in the background. So, you can uninstall or disable such extensions as well and try visiting YouTube again. Look out for the extension’s reviews as well to view its credibility. To delete the extension on Chrome, follow these steps:

Click on the Menu icon in the top-right corner.
Go to More Tools > Extensions.
Switch the toggle next to an extension to disable it or click on Remove.

If you’re on mobile, you can simply disable or uninstall it from the PlayStore or AppStore.

Update Browser or YouTube app

Sometimes an error like a black screen or YouTube, not loading can also be due to bugs within an outdated browser. So, if there are any updates available, update the browser or the app on your phone and check if it solves the issue. Here is an example with Chrome.