YouTube an error occurredYouTube is one of the most popular sites for watching, uploading, downloading, and streaming videos. Apart from offering all these features, it’s very easy to use and have great accessibility as well. Although YouTube works well almost all the time, it may encounter some errors sometime. One of these errors is when you are trying to watch a video and the screen turns grey and grainy with the message appearing in YouTube an error occurred, please try again later” with a hyperlink “Learn More”. There can be numerous reasons for this error to pop-up. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may be having trouble connecting to YouTube or maybe some settings on your system are not allowing you to watch videos. Whatever the reason may be, here is a guide to fix the issue which will help you in getting through and continue enjoying watching videos on YouTube.
6 Ways to Fix YouTube An Error Occurred, Please Try Again Later
Method 1: Checking the Internet Connection
First of all, check that your internet connection is working fine. It can also be the root cause for YouTube an error occurred issue so make sure that it’s working in proper order. Also, try restarting your system along with your router or modem as well.
Method 2: Switching to a different browser
If the internet connectivity seems to be fine, then another way you can solve YouTube ‘an error occurred issue is by switching to a different browser. If YouTube works fine in another browser, it means that your default browser or the browser that you prefer to use seems to have the issue. You can update your browser to the latest version and see whether this fixes the issue. If not, you can just continue using the other browser whenever you want to watch videos on YouTube.
Method 3: Clear browsing history
Browsing history stores all the information related to your search history like the sites that you visited, their URLs, some passwords, cookies and more. But sometimes some type of data also gets saved which can lead to the occurrence of errors, including YouTube an error occurred, please try again later error as well. Thus, clearing browsing history can help in such a case. To do the same: (these steps are for Google Chrome)
- Click on the three dots at the top right corner of your browser.
- From the drop-down, select more tools.
- Afterward, click on ‘Clear browsing data’.
- In the new window that gets opened, you can choose to either delete all the data or specifically choose which data you want to delete. Select as per your preference and click on the clear data option.
- Close your browser and open it again.
Check whether the issue still persists. If yes, then try other methods as well.
Also Read:
- 3 Best Ways to Fix FFXIV Unable to Download Patch Files
- Fix ERR_CACHE_MISS in Google Chrome | 5 Methods
- {Solved} 6 Ways To Fix Your Windows License Will Expire Soon Error
- 6 Ways To Fix Confirm Form Resubmission Error
Method 4: Updating Sound Card drivers
Drivers are the source of communication between the hardware and the software. They guide the operating system on how to interact with particular hardware. But if your drivers are faulty, corrupt, or outdated, they may lead to errors. And in case of a faulty sound card driver, it can be the reason for YouTube ‘an error occurred’ error as well. To update your sound card driver, follow these steps:
- Open Device manager by opening the start menu and searching for it in the search bar.
- In the Device manager, find ‘Sound, video and game controllers’ and expand it by clicking on it.
- Right-click on your audio device and further select ‘Update driver’.
- You can choose from updating the driver automatically, wherein it will search the internet for the driver for you, or update it manually, wherein you should have the latest driver available on your system.
You can also make use of third-party software for updating your drivers.
YouTube’s an error occurred, please try again later error can also be caused due to third-party cookies being blocked. You need to enable third-party cookies or put YouTube under the exceptions list. You can enable cookies by following the below-given procedure: (this procedure is for Google Chrome)
- Open Cookies in Settings by clicking on the three dots at the top right corner or type in the following address in the address bar “chrome://settings/content/cookies”.
- Check whether the “Block third-party cookies” option is enabled or not.
- If it’s enabled, then disable it by toggling the switch next to it.
Open YouTube now and see whether the issue YouTube an error occurred gets solved or not.
Method 6: Google DNS
Domain Name Server (DNS) is like a phone directory for the browsers that stores the IP addresses of various websites that the user visits. It translates the domain names to IP addresses as web browsers only understand IP addresses, making it possible for them to search the internet resource.
Google DNS is a public DNS which can be employed to fix this error as these are more safe, fast, and even less prone to poisoning. Google DNS is a free service offered to its users. To switch to Google DNS:
- Press Windows + R keys simultaneously to open ‘Run’.
- Type “npca.cpl”, and press Enter.
- Click on ‘Change Adapter Settings’ from the left panel.
- Right-click on the Wi-Fi network that you are using. Further, select Properties.
- Under ‘This connection uses the following items’ section, double click on ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’.
- Under ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) properties’, check ‘Use the following DNS Server addresses’.
- Now enter the Google DNS address.
Google Public DNS addresses:
8.8.8.8 for preferred DNS Server.
8.8.4.4 for alternate DNS server.
- Click on OK.
- Afterward, run the Command Prompt (Admin) by pressing Windows + X keys.
- Type ‘ipconfig/flushdns’. Press Enter.
- Type ‘ipconfig/release’. Again press Enter.
- Type ‘ipconfig/renew’, again followed by pressing Enter.
- Close the Command Prompt (Admin).
- Restart your system.
Try watching videos on YouTube now. The YouTube an error occurred will most probably have been solved.
Final Words
Apart from the methods mentioned above, you can try changing the video quality as well. Also, you can hold the Shift + Reload buttons. This will reload the page by bypassing the cache through which the files that may be causing the error will also get bypassed.
I’m an IT Professional with diverse operational experience in IT industry. I am very passionate about technology and love helping people thrive in tech. I believe that every problem has a solution, you just have to find a way to fix it. And that’s exactly why I started this troubleshooting website to help people easily fix various technical errors in their systems easily with my cool guides.