100% Works! Fix YouTube Not Showing Videos/Thumbnails

October 31, 2018

I know how annoying this can be when you are excited about watching your favorite YouTube video but only find out it's not playing at all. Even the thumbnail goes missing and you have no idea what's going on. Well, you can take a break now because this blog is going to fix your problems. Five 100% workable approaches to tackle YouTube Not Showing Videos/Thumbnails are presented below. Just stay with us and follow the instruction steps by steps!

CONTENTS

Solution 1: Make Sure Your Network Connection is Smooth

Yup, this is probably the most common reason why YouTube video and thumbnail fail to load. But if this is the reason behind all this, you should be relaxed because it's also a piece of cake to fix the problem. Though several cases can result in poor network performance, we can start with the simple one.

1. Too Many Devices Connected to WIFI Network
You may notice that an over-connected network will affect the streaming speed as well as the download/upload speed. It will be harder for you to load YouTube videos and Thumbnails. If this is the case, you should connect your computer/mobile device to a faster network.

Too Many Devices Connected To Wifi Network

2. Downloading Something Else
If you're downloading something else, it would be quite normal that you fail to stream online videos. Well, don't be so greedy! Just one thing at a time. You can either stop downloading or stream videos after finishing the download task. The problem should be gone soon.

3. Unstable Network
It's impossible to stream YouTube videos and Thumbnails smoothly under the situation of the unstable network. In this case, you can reconnect your mobile data if you're using a mobile phone or go check the modern/router to secure your computer network. If you don't know how to do with your router, it's suggested to contact Internet Support specialists.

Solution 2: Clear Cache Data on Chrome/Firefox/Safari

Sometimes having too many caches may cause YouTube not showing videos/Thumbnails. Therefore, we need to clear cache data regularly to keep our browsers, like Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, functioning well. But should you notice that clearing your web browser's cache, cookie, and history may remove some data that you wish to keep. So, remember to check the details before you do that.

For Chrome Users:
STEP 1. Click the "Three Dots" icon in the upper right corner to open Menu.
STEP 2. Click "More tools" > "Clear browsing data".
STEP 3. In the pop-up Setting Window, tick all selections like pictured and set the Time Range to All time.
STEP 4. Click "Clear data" and it's done.

Clear Chrome Cache And Cookies to Fix YouTube Videos not Loading

For Firefox Users:

STEP 1. Click the "Three Lines" icon in the upper right corner to open Menu.

STEP 2. Click "Options".

STEP 3. Click "Privacy ＆ Security".

STEP 4. Click "Cookies and Site Data"

STEP 5. In the pop-up Setting Window, tick all selections like pictured and click "Clear" to wipe out all browsing data and history.

Clear Firefox Cache And Cookies to Fix YouTube Videos not Loading

For Safari Users:
STEP 1. Click "Safari" in the upper left corner and select "Preference".

STEP 2. In the new window, go to "Privacy" and then click "Remove All Website Data".

STEP 3. A pop-up window will inform you if you are determined to do the removal. Just simply click "Remove Now" and all cache and cookie should be gone.

Solution 3: Clear Cache and Force Stop YouTube App on Android

For those who are using Android phones, such as Samsung J7, Samsung Galaxy S7, and find out their YouTube App is not showing videos/Thumbnails, try to clear cache and force stop the YouTube App. Why? Well, sometimes YouTube App might misbehave and stop responding to certain events. Thus, Force Stop can shut down the misbehaving process and restart YouTube App. Moreover, together with cache removal, the problems that come from YouTube App itself will be killed off.

How to Clear Cache:

STEP 1. Open YouTube App and manage your account by tapping the icon in the upper right of the screen. And then tap on "Settings".

STEP 2. Tap on "History ＆ Privacy" and choose " Clear Watch History".

How to Force Stop:

STEP 1. Open "Settings" on your Android phone and go to "Application Manager".

STEP 2. Find YouTube on the list and tap on it.

STEP 3. Tap on "FORCE STOP" and reopen YouTube App after a few seconds.

Solution 4: Go Incognito and See Whether There is an Extension Incompatibility Problem

If you can't load YouTube videos and thumbnails while using Chrome, Firefox, or other browsers, you can switch to the Incognito mode to check if there is an extension incompatibility problem because most browsers will block extensions in Incognito mode. If the problem goes away after you open the Incognito mode, you should check every extension one by one and uninstall the incompatible one(s).

STEP 1. Go Incognito mode. You can usually find the menu in the upper right corner and choose to open "New incognito/private window". (Ctrl+Shift+N for Chrome or Ctrl+Shift+P for Firefox)

STEP 2. Refresh the YouTube page or reopen the YouTube video. If the problem is solved, congratulations! Please go on with the next steps to remove your incompatible add-on(s).

STEP 3. Check every extension in the toolbar and when you find the incompatible one(s), right-click the extension and select "Remove from Chrome" (if you're using Chrome).

Remove Incompatible Extension From Chrome

Solution 5: Restart Your Device

This is the most common solution for troubleshooting and it's very easy to restart devices even for the beginners. Probably the YouTube Not Showing Videos/Thumbnails problem will magically disappear after you just simply restart your device. If you're not sure why we need to restart our devices, check the benefits of restarting devices regularly.

Benefits of Restarting your Computer: Flush RAM

RAM is the most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on. When you restart your computer, you flush out all the random, unimportant, and temporary data which might slow down your computer. Therefore, your computer will fun faster and speed up its performance.

Benefits of Restarting your Phone: Improve Performance

A device restart can tackle many network issues like poor signal, calling problems, slow data speeds and messaging issues. Therefore, restarting your phone regularly will help improve device performance and it will also clear up RAM by totally closing all applications that may slow down your device.

This blog has no purpose other than to sincerely help you fix YouTube Not Showing Video/Thumbnails problem. You're welcome to bookmark the blog in case you encounter such problem again (hopefully you don't).

Published on October 31, 2018