HBO Max Not Working? Here’s How to Fix It

Although HBO Max promises epic streaming, you might not have the same experience every time. Sometimes, you may encounter buffering and screen freezing issues during your playback.

Although there can be vast array of issues, you can be solved them with minor troubleshooting steps.

How to Fix HBO Max Not Working?

As a general solution to troubleshoot the problem, you can force close the HBO Max app on your device and relaunch it. If the minor glitches are making it unresponsive, it should solve them.

However, if it is still not working, you might have to implement a few fixes. You can check them out below.

Check Wi-Fi Network

One of the primary reasons HBO Max is not working could be a poor Wi-Fi network. To play HD videos, you need to connect to a secured internet. But when it lags, you will experience video buffering and loading issues.

So, you can check the network connection speed of your device by running a test on your web browser first. If it is low, you can start by rebooting your Wi-Fi router. Restarting should improve your network as it clears out the router’s cache and solves glitches. Besides, you can follow a few general measures mentioned below to improve your Wi-Fi connectivity.

• If possible, try to minimize the distance between your Router and streaming device.
• Temporarily disconnect the Wi-Fi network on other idle devices.
• Update your Router.

Check HBO Max Server

Sometimes, all users might experience the problem at the same time. There might be an error within the HBO Max itself. For instance, it could be a server down or a buggy update. In such case, it is best to check their official Twitter account and stay alert on it. 

If the team has tweeted regarding the error, you can not fix them on your own. However, you can keep track of the status to see if the issue has been resolved. In case there is no problem from the official side, you can check out the next fix. 

See Subscription Status

HBO Max will stop working if your subscription plan has come to an end. It may be time to renew your plan. So you can check the status of your account with your Adult Profile on the website. Follow the given steps.

1. Launch Web browser
2. Enter HBO Max website
3. Log in to your account if prompted 
4. Now, at the upper right, navigate to the Profile icon > Subscription 
5. Find the Next Billing Date and see if it has ended.

Sign Out From All Devices and Sign-in Back

Although HBO Max allows you to use your account on 3 devices simultaneously, it might cause playback errors when you reach the limit. So, you can sign out of your account on all devices from a web browser. Then, sign in back on only the most used devices. Check out the steps given below.

1. Launch a web browser and enter HBO Max.
2. If prompted, Sign In.
3. Now, on the top-right, click on Settings.
4. Scroll to find Devices.
5. Click on Manage Devices. 
6. Select Sign All Devices Out. 
7. You can enter your account credentials and sign in on every streaming device.

Try Using HBO Max on Other Devices

If the issue persists, device-related errors could be another cause for the playback failure. So, you can try using the app on other devices to check. However, you need to ensure that it is supported by HBO Max. If the application or website runs smoothly without any problem, you might have to take a deeper look into your current device. 

Clear Cache 

When you heavily stream HBO Max, the temporary junk files on cache data gets larger and might corrupt. If you do not clear the corrupted data, you will experience app crashing and not working issues. So, you can eliminate them by clearing the HBO Max cache on your streaming devices. It should fix the problem.

On iOS devices, you cannot find the default clear cache menu on Settings. Therefore, you can reinstall to wipe out all app-related data. Besides, on Android, there is a clear cache option. You can follow the given steps.

On Android 

1. From your Application Library, tap on HBO Max and hold it 
2. Choose App info > Storage & Cache 
3. Tap on Clear Cache
4. Again, choose Clear all data and confirm 

On iOS

1. Launch Settings
2. Tap on General > iPhone Storage 
   
3. Locate HBO Max and tap on it
   
4. Choose Delete App and confirm it
   
5. Download HBO Max from App Store 

Update App

Usually, HBO Max will not work or keep showing error messages if the app is not up to date. Such outdated software might have bugs that interfere while streaming content. However, the team identifies fixes for them and frequently releases the latest software version to provide a better experience. So, upgrading the app should solve the problem.

Update Software

For an uninterrupted experience, it is equally important to update your device. There might be security updates and new features in the latest release. So, you can check if there are new software versions available and update them. 

You can find out the steps given below.

On Android

1. Open Settings
2. Choose About Phone > System Update 
   
3. Tap on the Download Update button 
   

On iOS

1. Launch Settings
2. Navigate to General
   
3. Choose Software Update 
   
4. If there are new updates, tap on Download and Install 
   
5. If prompted, enter your phone’s lock screen PIN 

Reinstall App

If you still encounter HBO Max not working, you can try reinstalling the app on your device. Deleting the app will also completely remove the data related to it. So, it will fix if your app is freezing. You can install it again and use it from the beginning. 

Follow the steps given below. 

On Android 

1. On the App Library, find HBO Max app 
2. Tap on the Application and hold it 
3. Choose Uninstall 
4. Again pick Uninstall to confirm

On iOS

1. On your Home screen, locate HBO Max app
2. Tap and hold on the Application until it jiggles
3. Tap on Minus icon and pick Delete App
   
4. Confirm to Delete
   

How to Fix HBO Max Not Working on Browser?

If you use the HBO Max website on your PC and it is not working, you can start by force quitting the web browser. Then, launch the website fresh from the start to play a video. When you keep using bookmarked URL, it might not respond sometimes. Additionally, you can check out the other fixes to troubleshoot the problem. 

Disable Extensions

If you have added and enabled Adblocker extensions on your web browser, it might be interfering while streaming Hulu. Besides, there could be a bug in the extension that is causing a playback failure. So, you can disable them one by one temporarily to see if it is leading to the error. When you start using HBO Max, it should work without any problem.  

You can see the steps to disable extensions on a Google Chrome browser.

1. Launch the browser.
2. Then, hover your cursor over the Extensions icon and click on it.
3. Choose Manage Extensions.
   
4. Now, toggle the button Off next to the extension to disable them. 
   

Turn Off Hardware Acceleration

If you get a black screen during the playback, hardware acceleration might be the cause for it. Although this feature is significant for the enhanced performance of programs on a browser, sometimes it may cause problems on the browser. It can lead to freezing or lagging issues. So, turning it off should fix the problem. 

Here’s how you disable hardware acceleration on Google Chrome.

1. Launch the browser and click on the Three-dot icon located at the top-right.
2. Choose Settings.
   
3. Open System menu from the left panel.
   
4. Now, locate User Hardware acceleration when available and Toggle Off.  
   
5. Relaunch your Browser and use HBO Max website.

Check For Browser Updates

If your browser is out of date, it can cause a running webpage to crash. This might be why your HBO Max is not working. Therefore, you can manually check if there are newer versions and update them.

Find out the steps for it below.

1. On Google Chrome, find the Three-dot icon on the top-right and click on it.
2. Select Help > About Google Chrome
   
3. It will start searching for newer versions and update them automatically. You should see Chrome is up to date after it completes. 
   

Use Another Supported Browser

If the issue persists, you can change the streaming browser for HBO Max. Some of the supported web browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. You need to ensure they are up to date. If it works, the error might lie on your current web browser. 

Report the Issue to HBO Max

If HBO Max still does not work after all the fixes, a serious software problem might require professional support. In such case, the last resort is to report the issue to their official customer service team via email, chat, or call.