YouTube Videos Loading Slow? Here’s the Real Fix

When you open YouTube to watch a video, you expect the video to load in a matter of seconds so you can start watching. But sometimes this is not what happens at all. Instead, you find yourself waiting for a few minutes for one video to load, a situation that is not ideal.

This problem has often been referred to as the YouTube slow loading issue and the solutions we will look at here will help you overcome it. But before we begin, let’s look at some of the reasons this may happen.

Why Is YouTube Loading So Slow?

There are a lot of reasons why YouTube videos are loading slowly for you. The following are some of the main reasons;

• YouTube servers may be overloaded
• Your browser may be outdated
• The plugins installed on your browser may be faulty or malfunctioning
• Your internet connection may be slow
• Browser caches and cookies could also be to blame

Whatever the reason, the following are the solutions that you can try;

1. Check Your Internet Connection

The first thing you need to do when faced with this YouTube loading slow problem is to check your internet connection. YouTube requires at least 500kbps to 1mbps of internet speed to work smoothly. So, you may want to do the following to make sure that your connection meets this threshold;

• Use a trusted internet speed test tool to check if your connection is within this optimal range. If it is below 500kbps, you may want to connect the device to a different network.
• Move your router or connect the network cable if you are using Wi-Fi.
• Disconnect some devices from the network.
• If the above solutions don’t work, contact your internet service provider for further assistance.

2. Make Changes to the URL

One of the ways that many users say will fix this problem is by changing the YouTube URL link for the video that you are trying to watch. Here’s how to do that;

Step 1: Open YouTube and search for the video that you would like to watch.

Step 2: In the address bar at the top change the URL by replacing “www” with “ca” like the example below;

• Original URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td7Muakbkas
• Changed URL: https://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=td7Muakbkas

3. Change the Video Quality

This is a good solution if the internet connection you are using is a little slow. You can change the video quality directly from YouTube, using these simple steps;

• Open YouTube on your browser.
• Click on the “Gear” icon at the bottom right corner of the video player.
• Choose “Quality” from the options that appear and then select a lower quality than the one you are currently trying to use.

Then, try to load the video again to see if the issue has been resolved.

4. Clear Browser Cache

To speed up your browser and therefore speed up YouTube video loading times, you may also want to clear the browser cache. Here’s how to do that;

Clearing Browsing Data on Chrome;

• Open Chrome on your browser and click on the menu icon at the top.
• Select “Settings” from the options that appear.
• Select the “Privacy and Security” option and then left-click on the “Clearing Browser Data” option on the right pane.
• Then click on the “Clear Data” button after choosing a date range. This will clear all browsing data from Chrome.

Clearing Browsing Data on Firefox;

• Open Firefox and click on the menu button at the top right corner.
• Click “Options” and then select “Privacy and Security” from the left pane. Scroll down until you find “Cookie and Site Data” and click on “Clear Data.”
• Ensure that “Cached Web Content” is selected and then click “Clear.”

5. Update Your Web Browser

Updating your web browser will ensure that it continues to run smoothly and therefore eliminate any issues you may have with YouTube. Here’s how to update your browser;

On the Web;

• Open the browser.
• Click on the menu button. It is often located at the top-right corner of the screen.
• Select “Help” and then click “About”.

You should be able to see if it has been updated or not. If not, follow the instructions to update it.

On Mobile Devices;

• Open Google Play or the App Store for iOS devices.
• Search for Chrome or the browser that you’re using.

You should see if it is due for an update and follow the instructions to update it.

6. Close Unused Browser Tabs

Any opened tabs on your browser when you try to load the YouTube video could be taking up much-needed computer resources, thereby affecting the loading speed.

Therefore, before attempting any other solutions, you may want to close any unused tabs on your browser until you are done watching the YouTube video.

7. Disable Browsing Extensions

If there are any browser extensions installed on your browser, you may want to temporarily disable them just to see if they are the problem. Here’s how to do that;

• Open your browser and go to the Settings.
• Click on the “Extensions” tab to see the extensions installed on the browser.
• Disable all of them and check if this resolves the issue.

8. Go for a VPN

VPN can be a good way to boost connection speed. There are a lot of free and paid VPNs in the market to choose from. But if you’d like a reliable solution that will also offer protection, we recommend choosing a paid option.

One of the best VPNs you could use is NordVPN. It has a reputation as a great solution that is also quite affordable.

9. Disable CDN Addresses

If you are using CDN (Content Delivery Networks) to watch YouTube, you may experience this problem. It may therefore be a good idea to disable this function and instead watch directly from YouTube Servers. Here’s how to do it;

Step 1: Use the Windows Search function to look for “Command Prompt.”

Step 2: Right-click on the option when it appears and then choose “Run as Administrator.”

Step 3: Once inside CMD, type in the following command and then hit “Enter.”

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name=”YouTubeTweak” dir=in action=block remoteip=173.194.55.0/24,206.111.0.0/16 enable=yes

Step 4: Close Command Prompt and reboot your computer.

10. Check YouTube Servers

In many cases, you may be experiencing problems with YouTube because the YouTube servers have a problem or they are overwhelmed.

You can use a third-party solution like Downdetector to check the status of YouTube servers. If there is a problem, there is nothing you can do but wait until Google resolves the issue.

11. Try Using YouTube Premium

If you are still having problems, you may want to try using YouTube Premium. For $12 a month, you can download YouTube videos for offline viewing whenever your internet connection is not strong enough to facilitate streaming.

But if you don’t want to pay $12 a month just to download YouTube videos, there is a solution that can help. With Fucosoft Video Downloader, you can download as many YouTube videos as you want to your computer and watch them offline or even transfer them to other devices. Unlike YouTube Premium, this program allows you to keep the videos you download for good.

Here’s how to download YouTube videos to your computer;

Step 1: Open Fucosoft Video Downloader on your computer after installing it.

Step 2: Go to YouTube and find the video you want to download. Copy its URL in the address bar.

Step 3: Go back to the downloader and click on “+Paste URL” to paste in the link.

Step 4: Allow the program to analyze the link you have provided, select an output format and quality, and then click on “Download” to begin downloading the YouTube video.

Conclusion

While for the most part, YouTube will work as you expect it to, sometimes it fails to function as expected. One of the most common problems is a slow video loading speed and now you have a few solutions that can help in this regard should you experience this issue. Select a solution that best suits your needs and follow the steps to implement it.