How to Fix YouTube App Keeps Crashing, Closing, or Not Responding?

We all use YouTube several hours a day to watch the content, but in between, Youtube app crashing or when it keeps closing, restarting, or not responding can be an interruptance.

We all use YouTube several hours a day to watch the content of our favourite YouTube creators. It’s the most used video-sharing platform, but it still has a lot of issues. Previously users were facing issues with YouTube’s Shorts function.

Now, users are facing crash issues with the YouTube app, where the app keeps repeatedly crashing 🚫. While some users said, their YouTube app suddenly freezes ❄️ while watching videos. But they can still listen to the video’s audio when the app is stuck.

Therefore some users may even be shown an error message, such as the infamous “YouTube crashed” error message.

 

So, how does your YouTube app issue appear like? Feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

We know these issues are weird and irritating but don’t lose hope. If your device is also on the receiving end of these issues, we’ve some working solutions. 😁 Here in this article, we’ve shared 20 working solutions 🛠️ to fix the Youtube app keeps crashing. With that said, let’s read ahead. 🙂

Note: All the workarounds mentioned in this troubleshooting guide apply to all the devices where YouTube’s both app and website are easily accessible. These specific devices are Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows.

 

 

What Are The Reasons Behind The YouTube App Keeps Crashing, Closing, Freezing, Lagging or Not Responding?

Here are some of the most prevalent reasons behind the constant crashing, freezing, and stopping of the YouTube platform ⬇️:

1. YouTube Servers Facing Downtime (Step 1)
2. Slow Internet Connection (Step 2)
3. Malfunctioned Network Settings (Step 6)
4. Browser Extensions (Step 8)
5. Outdated Display Drivers (Step 10)
6. Enabled Hardware Acceleration Settings (Step 9)
7. Issues With Adobe Flash Player (Step 11)
8. Built-up or Corrupted Cache Files (Step 15)

 

 

20 Fixes For YouTube App Keeps Crashing, Closing, Freezing, Lagging or Not Responding Issue

Before moving to the more complex solutions, we’ll share some simple yet effective solutions that can resolve all the issues with YouTube in a few seconds. So the first quick fix is to restart the affected device 📱. Sometimes, restarting the device fixes the issue quickly.

Also, make sure to restart the YouTube app twice or thrice before rebooting the device. Once done, check if the issue is gone or still occurring. If the issue is still there, read ahead and implement the below-mentioned workarounds ⬇️.

 

 

1. Check YouTube Servers

It could be possible that the YouTube servers are going through scheduled maintenance 🛠️ or facing some issues in the backend, which is why you’re facing these issues with YouTube. In this case, we suggest you check the YouTube servers’ status. You can use Downdetector to confirm the servers aren’t causing the issue.

 

You can also visit YouTube Team’s Official Twitter Handle — @TeamYouTube, to get the latest updates about YouTube’s server downtime and other issues. If the servers are facing some issue or delay, you have no option but to wait until the servers are back live. 🥲 Until then, you can watch some shows on Netflix and stay entertained. 😀

 

 

2. Check the Internet Connection

Sometimes, a slow internet connection 📶 also leads to these kinds of issues. So, the first thing you should check is that you’re connected to a working internet. In addition, it’s a must to ensure the internet speed is good enough to let YouTube stream videos without buffering once.

You can simply check your internet connection speed at Speedtest.net. Once you get the final speed results, compare them with the average internet speed required to stream videos on YouTube. If the internet speed is as slow as a snail 🐌 and doesn’t match the required speed, we recommend resetting the Wi-Fi router.

 

This will format the router settings and ensure all the issues have been fixed. If this doesn’t improve the speed, contact your internet service provider ☎️ and ask them to do some workarounds to make it blazing fast.

Else you can also try the mentioned tips to improve your internet speed:

• Re-enable the Airplane Mode 
• Reboot the Device 
• Reset the Router’s Settings
• Re-enable the WiFi 
• Stops All Downloads 
• Reset the WiFi router
• Contact the ISP Provider 

 

 

3. Turn Off The VPN

When we keep a VPN service enabled while using YouTube, it starts suggesting content from the country server we’re connected to 🗺️. Doing this can indeed help you refresh your YouTube feed. But it can reduce your internet speed 📶, which can be a potential reason behind the constant crashing of YouTube.

VPNs add extra layers to our connection, which strengthen the connection security by masking our IP address. But this increases the distance between your server and the end server. Due to this, the connection loses its strength 📶 until it reaches the end server.

Thus, we suggest users disable the VPN service while streaming content 🚫 on platforms like YouTube.

Therefore, simply reconnecting your VPN may configure it correctly again. For this, whether you’re using a premium service or have manually configured it, try disconnecting and enabling the VPN connection again.

 

Besides that, you can also try connecting to a different server or even one that’s in a different region.

 

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4. Change The Web Browser

We all use different browsers to access the YouTube site. But not all browsers can handle the scripts run by YouTube. This could be the same with your browser, and we have a solution for this too. In that case, we suggest changing the web browser 🌐 and checking if this resolves the issue.

There are several browsers to try, such as Google Chrome, Brave, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. You can choose the best web browser for yourself that fits your needs and continue watching videos on YouTube without such freezing issues.

 

 

5. Sync Your Date And Time

This solution might seem irrelevant to this issue, but the wrong date and time settings 🕰️ can also be a reason behind the ill-functioning of YouTube. In that case, we suggest ensuring that your device’s date and time settings are correct ✅. We’ve explained the whole process of doing the same in the below-mentioned steps:

 

For Mobile Users (Android & iOS)

For Android

1. First, open the Settings app (⚙️) and move to the General section.

 

2. In the General section, click on the Date and time.

 

3. Now, ensure the Automatic date and time option is enabled (🔛) to let the device automatically sync the date and time with Google’s servers.

 

For iOS

1. To start, open the Settings app (⚙️) on your iPhone and navigate to the General section.
2. Next, tap on Date & Time in the General section to open the date and time settings.

 

3. Lastly, ensure the Set Automatically toggle is turned on and the time zone is also correct.

 

Once the time and date settings are checked properly, check the status of the issue with the YouTube app.

 

For Desktop Users (Windows & macOS)

For Windows

1. First, open the Settings app (⚙️) on your system using the Windows + I keyboard shortcut.

 

2. Next, navigate to the Time & language section from the left navigation pane.

 

3. Then, click on Date & time and ensure the Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically options are enabled.

 

4. At last, click on Sync now to synchronize the current time with Windows’s time servers.

 

For macOS

1. To start, select System Preferences from the Apple Menu and then click on Date & Time.

 

2. In the Date & Time section, choose the Set date and time automatically option.

 

3. Finally, choose the network time server for your region (📍) and save the settings.

That’s it! You should now be able to use YouTube on your browser without such freezing issues.

 

 

6. Reset Network Settings

One of the most common causes of the non-functioning of YouTube is incorrect network settings. In that case, we suggest you reset the network settings 📶 and bring them back to the default state. Follow the below-mentioned steps and reset your network settings to ensure they are correctly configured:

 

For Mobile Users (Android & iOS)

For Android

1. First, open the Settings app (⚙️) and head to the Reset settings.

 

2. Now, tap on Reset network settings and then Reset settings to confirm resetting the network settings.

 

That’s it!

 

For iOS

1. To start, open the Settings app (⚙️) and head to the General section.
2. In the General section, tap on Transfer or Reset.
3. At last, tap on the Reset option and then Reset Network Settings to reset the settings.

 

Once the network settings are back to the default state, restart the device, and reopen the YouTube app to check if the issue still exists.

 

For Desktop Users (Windows & macOS)

For Windows

1. First, open the Settings app (⚙️) and navigate to the Network & internet section from the left-navigation panel.

 

2. From the Network & internet area, proceed to the Advanced network settings section and click Network reset.

 

3. Finally, click the Reset now option next to Network reset to reset your Windows PC’s network settings.

 

For macOS

1. Start with turning off the Wi-Fi (📶) by clicking on the Wi-Fi toggle in the top menu.
2. Now, open Finder and move to the Go section.
3. Next, select Go to Folder, type /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ into the text field, and click Go.
4. Then, remove the below-mentioned files from the System Configuration folder:

com.apple.airport.preferences.plist

com.apple.network.identification.plist or com.apple.network.eapolclient.configuration.plist

com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist

NetworkInterfaces.plist

Preferences.plist

5. Lastly, move to Trash (🗑️) and delete the same files from there also to delete them permanently.

Once done, reboot the system and check if the YouTube website is opening properly without crashing.

 

 

7. Clear Cookies And History of Your Web Browser

Many users accessing YouTube from their browsers said clearing the browser cache and history files can also help resolve the issue. Browsers collect a lot of cache files when we visit different websites, which helps the browser offer a great experience. But it’s not good to keep the cache files for so long, as it can hamper the experience rather than improve it.

In that case, we suggest clearing the cache files 🗑️ and checking if it resolves the issues. Below are the steps to do the same in a few simple steps:

 

For Desktop Users (Windows & macOS)

For Windows (Google Chrome)

1. So first, open the Google Chrome app on your Windows PC and press the Ctrl + H keyboard shortcut to open the History section.

 

2. Now, click on Clear browsing data and tick all the checkboxes in the dialog box, including Cookie and other site data.

 

3. At last, click the Clear data option to clear the browser cookies (🍪) and cache.

 

For macOS (Safari)

1. First, with Safari launched, from the Menu Bar, click Safari and select “Preferences…”

 

2. At the following window, choose Advanced from the top bar, and tick the box next to “Show Develop menu in bar.”

 

3. Subsequently, from the Menu Bar, click Develop, and select Empty Caches.

 

4. After that, you can clear your search history and even more Site Data and Cookies. To do this, from the Menu Bar, click Safari, and choose “Clear History…”.
5. Lastly, click Clear History at the following window.

 

You should now be able to use YouTube properly, for sure.

 

 

8. Disable Browser Extensions or Add-Ons

We all add extensions to our browsers and know what they’re made for. When we add an extension to our browser, it’s important to ensure the extensions are compatible with the browser and receive regular updates. If the extensions bring some issues, they can prevent the websites from loading or responding properly.

This could be the same in your case. Thus, we suggest you disable all the extensions 🧩 and check if disabling the extensions fixes the issue. So, here are the steps to do the same with ease:

 

For Desktop Users (Windows & macOS)

For Windows (Google Chrome)

1. First, launch Google Chrome on your PC and click on the Puzzle icon (🧩) in the ribbon menu.

 

2. Then, click on Manage extensions in the dialog box.

 

3. Next, start disabling all the extensions one by one by clicking on the toggle next to them.

 

For macOS (Safari)

1. To start, click Safari in the Apple Menu and then select Preferences from the dropdown menu.
2. Lastly, click on Extensions and uncheck the checkboxes beside the extensions you want to disable.

 

 

9. Disable Hardware Acceleration

These days, most browsers come with a Hardware Acceleration feature that uses the system’s graphic powers to offer an exceptional user experience. But many users said this option could also be the reason behind the improper working of YouTube. If the Hardware Acceleration feature is enabled in your browser, we suggest disabling it 📴 and checking if this resolves the issue.

Here are the steps to disable the Hardware Acceleration option in Google Chrome:

 

For Desktop Users (Google Chrome)

1. Firstly, open Google Chrome on your system and move to Settings (⚙️).

 

2. Now, type Hardware Acceleration in the search bar and press Enter.

 

3. Then, disable the use hardware acceleration when available toggle by clicking it.

 

4. Lastly, click Relaunch next to the toggle to relaunch Google Chrome and apply the changes.

 

For many users, disabling the Hardware Acceleration feature fixed the issue. You can open the YouTube website and check the status of your issue.

 

 

10. Update Your System’s Display Adapters

Sometimes, outdated display drivers also cause these types of playback issues with YouTube. You can try updating the display drivers and check if updating them resolves the issue. Below are the steps to update the display adapters in Windows:

 

For Desktop Users (Windows)

1. To start, open the Device Manager using the Windows Search Box (🔎).

 

2. Double-click on Display adapters to expand the section and view all the display drivers installed on the PC.

 

3. Next, right-click on any display drivers and select the Update driver option from the contextual menu.

 

4. In the end, select the Search automatically for drivers option (🔎) and let the system scan for new updates for the selected display adapter.

 

Once the latest updates are installed for the selected display adapter, reboot the PC, and check if the issue is resolved.

 

 

11. Run Network Troubleshooter

As mentioned above, network issues 📶 in the system can also make the YouTube website crash and freeze again and again. Thankfully, Windows has an integrated Network Troubleshooter that can help you find and fix issues with the system’s network settings with ease. So, we’ve mentioned the steps below to use the Network Troubleshooter. Check them below:

 

For Desktop Users (Windows)

 

For Windows

1. To start, press the Windows + I key combination to open Settings (⚙️) on your Windows PC.

 

2. Next, proceed to the Troubleshoot section from the System section to get access to all the built-in Windows troubleshooters.

 

3. In the Troubleshoot section, click on Other troubleshooters and search for Internet Connections in the Most frequent section.

 

4. Now, click on Run next to Internet Connections and click on Help me connect to a specific web page.
5. Then, type https://www.youtube.com/ in the text box and click on Next.

If the Internet Connections troubleshooter finds some issues accessing the site, it’ll report them to you. In addition, it’ll also suggest some tips to resolve the issues.

 

 

12. Update Your Browser

It could be possible that the browser you’re using has some issues, like bugs or incompatibility issues, which are stopping you from accessing the website. Most browsers get updated automatically, but it’s still necessary to ensure the web browser is updated. Follow the below-mentioned steps to update your web browser:

 

For Google Chrome

1. To start, launch Google Chrome on your Windows PC.

 

2. Next, click on three dots in the top right corner of the tab to open the dropdown menu.

 

3. Then, hover the arrow on Help in the dropdown and select About Google Chrome from the sub-menu.

 

4. In the About Google Chrome section, check if Google Chrome is updated. In case it’s not, click on Update to update it.

 

For Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox

1. First, launch the web browser.
2. Then, click on the main menu button in the top right corner.
3. Next, select Help (Firefox) or Help & Feedback (Edge).

 

4. After that, click About Mozilla Firefox or About Microsoft Edge.

 

5. From there, the browser will automatically check and download the available updates.

 

For Safari (macOS)

To update the Safari web browser on macOS you just have to make sure you’re running the latest macOS updates. So, the latest version of macOS will also include the most recent version of Safari.

 

Once the browsers are updated, don’t forget to relaunch the web browser to configure the updates

That’s it. Now, all the issues must be resolved with the web browser. You can try accessing YouTube again to know the status of the issue.

 

 

13. Force Restart the YouTube App

If the YouTube app crashes again and again, then the best solution is to force restart the app. Force restarting the app closes all the current operations of the app and refreshes the entire process. In most cases, this resolves all the issues with the app, and you can try the same by following the below-mentioned steps:

 

For Mobile Users (Android & iOS)

 

For Android

1. Launch the Settings app (⚙️), move to the Applications section, and search for the YouTube app.

 

1. Lastly, click on Force stop to stop all the operations of the YouTube app.

 

For iOS

To force restart the YouTube app on iOS, simply remove it from your Recent Applications tab. Then, reopen the app to restart all its operations again.

 

 

14. Clear the YouTube App Cache

Like web browsers, applications also create cache files, which contain media and script files that help offer the best user experience to the users. It could be possible that the cache files got corrupted and leading to this issue. In that case, you can try clearing the YouTube app’s cache data by following the mentioned steps to check if this resolves the issue:

 

For Mobile Users (Android & iOS)

For Android

1. First, open the Settings app (⚙️) on your smartphone, and navigate to the Applications section to view all the apps installed on the device.

 

2. Next, look for the YouTube app in the Applications section and open the properties of the app by tapping on it.
3. Now, navigate to the Storage section from the app properties and click on Clear cache to remove all the cache files from the device.

 

For iOS

Unfortunately, iOS users don’t have the option to clear the cache of the YouTube app. The only alternative way to do this is to reinstall the YouTube app. Doing this will automatically remove the existing YouTube app cache from the smartphone.

 

 

15. Free Up Some Storage Space

Insufficient phone space can also be the reason for the improper functioning of the YouTube app. All apps, including YouTube, require sufficient storage to work seamlessly. It’s likely the phone is low on storage, and the YouTube app isn’t getting enough space to function properly.

Therefore, you can try clearing some redundant phone data, such as photos, videos, cache, etc., to check if this improves the situation.

 

 

16. Use the Web Version of YouTube or a Different Device to Access YouTube

Using the web version of YouTube can be a great alternative if you’re experiencing issues with the app. This is because updates can be easily integrated with the YouTube website, compared to the app, which may require the end-user to manually install them. Therefore, the YouTube website, is often seen as a stable version of the service.

Therefore you can access the YouTube website, www.youtube.com, from your mobile or desktop web browser.

 

 

17. Try Using a Different Device to Temporarily Access YouTube

If you’re experiencing issues with the YouTube app crashing, closing, or not responding, another fix you can try is using a different device to access YouTube. Therefore, open the YouTube app on a different device you have around you or have easy access to, such as a different smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

This can help you troubleshoot whether there is an issue with the previous device you were using to stream YouTube videos, and can focus your efforts in resolving those device-specific issues, such as factory resetting the device settings.

 

 

18. Update the YouTube App

YouTube regularly releases new updates to the YouTube app to keep it bug-free and compatible with all kinds of devices. The YouTube app may have some bugs, which is why you’re facing this issue. If you haven’t updated the YouTube app for a long time, we suggest updating it from the native app stores.

Here are the steps to update the YouTube app:

 

For Mobile Users (Android & iOS)

For Android

1. Firstly, open the Play Store app and search for the YouTube app.

 

2. Now, tap on the Update button next to the YouTube app to update it.

 

For iOS

1. To start, open the Apple App Store and tap on the Profile at the top-right corner.
2. Now, scroll down, search for the YouTube app, and tap on Update next to it.

 

 

19. Upgrade The Operating System to The Latest Version

In some cases, the operating system itself carries bugs and interrupts applications from working properly. You can update the operating system to the latest version and see if this fixes the issue. The process is pretty simple, and the mentioned steps demonstrate the same:

 

For Mobile Users (Android & iOS)

For Android

1. Move to Settings (⚙️) of the smartphone.
2. Next, move to the Software Update section.

 

3. Lastly, check for new device updates and install them on the device.

 

For iOS

1. To start, open the Settings app (⚙️).
2. Now, navigate to the General section and then the Software Update section.
3. Next, let the device automatically search for pending iOS updates. If there are any new updates, tap on Download and Install to update the device.

 

 

Once the device is updated, open the YouTube app again and watch a few videos to check if it crashes while watching videos.

 

 

20. Reset the Device

If none of the above-mentioned solutions helps you bring YouTube back to its working state, then the last solution is to reset the device. Here are the steps to reset the device and resolve all the issues with the device:

 

For Android

1. Start by opening the Settings app.
2. Head to the Backup and reset section.

 

3. Then, tap on Erase all data (factory reset) and then Erase all data to format the device.

 

For iOS

1. Firstly, navigate to the Settings (⚙️) of your iPhone and open the General tab.
2. Then, tap on Transfer or Reset iPhone to open the reset settings.
3. In the end, tap on Erase All Content and Settings to delete everything stored on your iPhone.

 

Voila! You’ve now fixed all the issues with the YouTube app.

 

 

Conclusion

We all love watching the content of our favourite creators on YouTube. But the issues with YouTube never let us enjoy them free of mind. It’s difficult to watch videos on YouTube when it keeps freezing or crashing again and again.

Thankfully, in this guide, we shared 20 possible solutions that can help you resolve all the platform issues with YouTube causing it to keep crashing. You can try these solutions and see if these solutions help you cool down the situation. You can also share your experience with this troubleshooting article by answering the below-mentioned questions in the comments:

1. Did we help you resolve the freeze and crash issues with YouTube?
2. Which of the above-mentioned workarounds solved the issue for you? 🤔
3. Also, do you have any additional workaround that can help other readers resolve these issues with YouTube?

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions About the YouTube App Keeps Crashing, Closing, Freezing, Lagging or Not Responding Issue

How Do I Get YouTube To Stop Freezing?

If the YouTube app is freezing again and again, we recommend restarting the app and device (Step 13), as this will start all the operations of the YouTube app again.

 

What Causes YouTube To Freeze Up?

In some cases, it’s found that corrupted cache files caused this issue. In that case, you can try clearing the YouTube app cache files (Step 14) to resolve the issue.

 

Why Does YouTube Keep Freezing and Buffering?

Sometimes, YouTube keeps freezing and buffering because of network issues (Step 2). It could be possible that your internet connection is slow, leading to this issue.

 

What Do You Do if Your YouTube Isn’t Responding?

In this kind of situation, we always suggest users restart the device. If this doesn’t fix the issue, you can also try updating the YouTube app (Step 17) from the native application store.

 

How Do I Reset My YouTube?

Here are the steps to reset and clear all the data of the YouTube app:

1. First, launch the Settings app on your Android device.
2. Next, proceed to the Applications tab and search for the YouTube app.
3. Lastly, navigate to the Storage section and tap on Clear data to clear all the data of the YouTube app.