Encountering a white screen while trying to watch YouTube can be frustrating, especially when you’re unsure what’s causing it.
This issue can result from a variety of factors, including browser extensions, hardware settings, corrupted cache, or outdated browsers as you can sometimes experience issues playing YouTube on Firefox.
Fortunately, there are several methods you can try to resolve the problem. Follow the steps below to troubleshoot and fix the YouTube white screen issue on your web browser. Let’s get started!
What To Do When You Get a White Screen on YouTube?
Follow the methods explained below when you experience a white screen on YouTube.
1. Disable Ad Blocker in Web Browser
If YouTube shows a white screen, first check your internet connection and restart your system. If the issue persists, try disabling ad blocker extensions in your web browser. Here’s how:
- For Google Chrome, open the browser.
- Click on the three-dots menu in the top-right corner to open the Chrome menu.
- Navigate to Extensions.
- Click on the Manage Extensions option. Find the ad blocker extension you want to disable in the list.
- Toggle the switch next to the extension to turn it off. You can also remove the ad blocker if you want.
- Confirm your action.
- For Firefox, click on the Extensions icon from the top right corner.
- Select Manage Extensions.
- Turn off the toggle for the Add Blocker. Once done restart the browser and then launch YouTube and check.
If you want to download YouTube videos on Mac or Windows for free, then you can follow this guide for details.
2. Disable Hardware Acceleration in Web Browser
To disable hardware acceleration in Google Chrome, follow these steps:
- Open Google Chrome.
- Click the three dots in the top right corner.
- Select Settings.
- Select System on the left side.
- Find the setting called Use hardware acceleration when available.
- Toggle the switch to turn the feature off.
- You should restart the browser to apply the changes.
- To disable hardware acceleration in Firefox, type about:preferences in the address bar.
- Scroll down to Performance and uncheck Use recommended performance settings.
- Uncheck the Use hardware acceleration when available option.
3. Clear YouTube Cache and Cookies
Next, you can clear cache and cookies from your web browser. This can remove corrupted data that might be causing the issue. Here’s how to do it:
- To clear cache and cookies in Chrome, open Chrome.
- Click on the three dots Menu at the top right corner.
- Select Delete browsing data.
- Choose a time range, preferably All time.
- Select the types of information you want to remove
- Then click on the Delete data option. You can restart Chrome and then open YouTube and check.
- For Firefox, click on the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
- Go to Settings then Privacy & Security then Clear Data.
- Set the time to Everything.
- Check Cookies and Site Data and Temporary Cached files and pages, then click Delete Data. Then confirm.
4. Update Your Web Browser
The next thing you can do is, try updating your browser.
- For Google Chrome, click on the three dots in the upper-right corner.
- Go to Help then select About Google Chrome.
- Chrome will check for updates and install them automatically.
- Once updated, restart the browser and check if the YouTube video loads properly.
- To update Firefox browser, click on the hamburger menu then select Help. Then select About Firefox. Now Firefox browser will update itself. Once done, launch YouTube and check.
Wrapping Up
A white screen on YouTube can stem from browser extensions, hardware acceleration, cached data, or outdated software.
By following the troubleshooting steps outlined above you should be able to resolve the issue and restore proper video playback.