Why is YouTube Slow? 5 Easy ways to Fix it

YouTube is one of the most popular websites on the internet. Millions of people use it every day to watch videos, learn new things, and be entertained. However, if you’re experiencing problems and feel that youtube slow loading is worrying you, you’re not alone. Many people are struggling with this issue. In this article, we will discuss some troubleshooting tips that may help you fix the problem. Stay tuned!

Why is your YouTube running slow?

There are a number of reasons that could be causing your YouTube to run slowly. It could be an issue with your internet connection, or it could be an issue with the Youtube app itself. If you’re unsure of what the problem is, you can try troubleshooting the issue to see if you can identify the root cause.

One reason why your YouTube might be running slow is because of your internet connection. If you have a slow internet connection, it’s likely that YouTube will also run slowly. You can try testing your internet speed to see if this is the problem. If you find that your internet connection is the issue, you may need to upgrade your plan or switch to a different provider.

Another possibility is that there’s an issue with the Youtube app itself. If this is the case, you can try reinstalling the app or clearing your cache. You can also try using a different browser to see if that makes a difference.

If you’re still having trouble, you can follow the simple steps we mentioned below and fix them.

How to fix Youtube loading slow

Method 1: Clear your browser’s cache and history

Your browser engages in more tasks than you might suspect. To ensure optimal efficiency, it is beneficial to clean your cache periodically so it can start fresh. With that said, let’s explore how to clear the browser cache.

Although you might prefer different browsers, the process of clearing your cache and history is similar for most browsers.

Note: Following these steps below will clear all your browsing history and clear all your site cache or cookie files stored in the browser.

1) Open your Google Chrome browser.

2) Click on the 3 dots in the right corner to see a drop-down.

3) Select “Settings” from the dropdown menu.

4) Go to “Privacy & Security”

5) Select “Clear Browsing Data.”

6) If you are an advanced user, we suggest you go to the advanced tab. If not, stay on the basic tab.

7) Select the “Time Range” and from the drop-down pick “All time”

8) Now, click on “Clear Data.”

9) This should mostly fix your problem with Youtube’s not loading.

Method 2: Decrease your YouTube video’s quality.

Although lower video quality might be acceptable on YouTube if you’re just trying to listen to the audio, there are still optimal settings for your internet speed. In the steps below, we’ll show you how to reduce the Youtube video quality so that it doesn’t take forever to load.

1) Go to Youtube.com and pick a video you like. (We know it is slow for you, but bare with us until we finish these steps.)

2) Once the video has started, hit PAUSE and continue with our instructions.

3) To change your Youtube settings, select the “Settings” icon at the bottom of the video player.

4) Select “Quality”.

5) Choose “480p or lower” from the drop-down menu.

5) Now, please press “play” on the video. Depending on the quality you selected, it may take a few seconds for the video to load.

6) The quality of your YouTube video is based on how fast your internet connection is.

If your internet connection is fast: Don’t worry about it; YouTube will automatically adjust the quality to match your speed. (4k or 1080P).

With an average connection speed to all of your local Internet service providers, we recommend that you stick with 720P video quality. If your internet connection is below average speed, we recommend choosing a video quality of 480P or lower.

7) Following these procedures should improve the speed at which your Youtube video loads.

Method 3: Change the YouTube URL

We know you might be thinking, “What does a URL change do to YouTube video speed?” Well, similar to all sites across the world, Youtube also runs on different server locations and connects to a location-based closest server near you. Therefore, choosing a different server might improve the speed issues you are facing. We will give you two less crowded locations to test and try your luck.

1) Open Google Chrome (or any) browser.

2) Visit Youtube.com

3) Select a video you wish to watch now.

4) Add “CA” or “IN” at the beginning of the Youtube.com link.

For example, you are visiting this URL “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYmgAOgz4Ag“

Now add a CA to it. “https://www.CA.youtube.com/watch?v=LYmgAOgz4Ag“

Or you can also add IN to it. “https://www.IN.youtube.com/watch?v=LYmgAOgz4Ag“

Method 4: Blocking Youtube CDN

Youtube CDN is a content delivery network that stores and serves user-requested content, such as videos. It improves the speed of the website by caching (or storing) a copy of frequently accessed data in multiple locations so it can be retrieved faster.

Now, this might sound contradictory to what we told you earlier about changing your Youtube server location; however, blocking Youtube CDNs has helped many users fix their slow loading problem. Therefore, if nothing else has worked for you, then follow these steps below on how to block Youtube CDNs.

1) Open your command prompt

2) Enter the command mentioned below. (You can copy-paste it.)

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

3) Hit enter and the firewall rule applies and blocks Youtube CDN.

4) If you notice nothing changed, don’t worry, we will walk you through reverting the changes you made using the above command.

5) Open the command prompt again, and type or copy-paste the command below.

netsh advfirewall firewall delete rule name=”Troubleshooter”

6) Once done, we suggest rebooting your PC to apply the above changes.