Recently quite a few users have been complaining that they are getting the error message “Unable to play video, an error occurred” while trying to play a video on their Windows/MacOS. Nowadays, these online and offline destitute video playback issues are so common and trouble users in different ways.
However, the same issues may have different causes, but it is not difficult to solve. If you are also struggling with being unable to play video on your media player then you should go to the solutions listed below and play any video smoothly. Then let’s have a look.
Reasons – Video Not Playing Issue on Mac or Windows
There can be various reasons that cause poor video playback issues like unsupported codecs, outdated media players, corrupted files, incompatible formats, browser issues and more.
How to fix Video Not Playing on Mac/ Windows Issue
Fix 1: Restart Device
Before moving to any solution, you can restart your device and check whether the video plays smoothly on your system or not.
Fix 2: Update Media Player
Another solution you can try to fix the poor video playback issue is updating your media player. Make sure you have the latest version of media players running on your Windows/MacOS. You can update the media player in the Microsoft/Apple Store and check if the problem gets fixed or not.
Fix 3: Update Graphics Driver
Along with updating your media players, you need to update your graphics driver as well. Sometimes a corrupted or damaged graphics driver can cause issues loading videos in your media player.
Fix 4: Update Browser
In most cases outdated browsers may cause video not playing issues on your system. Here you can update the browser and check if the issue gets fixed.
In Firefox,
- Click on Menu button-> select Settings-> scroll down and find Firefox Update section, and click on Check for updates tab and complete the process.
In Chrome,
- Open Chrome-> click on More button->Help->About Google Chrome-> click on Update Google Chrome and complete the process.
In Microsoft Edge,
- Go to Settings and more->click on Help and feedback-> select About Microsoft and see any update is available. If yes, download and install it on the browser and see the result.
In Safari,
- Click on Apple menu->System Settings->click on General-> select Software Update->click on Upgrade now button and install it on your browser.
Fix 5: Clear Cache
Sometimes, along with updating browsers, you need to clear the browsing cache to allow you to play any video without any issue.
Fix 6: Change Video Playback Settings
You can also change video playback settings to play videos on your Windows system without any problem. To do so,
- Open Settings menu-> System->Troubleshoot-> Other troubleshooter-> click on Run from the newly appeared screen.
- Then click on Open video playback settings-> disable Save network bandwidth by playing video at the lower resolution.
- Now under the Battery option, choose Optimize for video quality and save the changes.
- Once done, you can play the video again and see the result.
Fix 7: Disable Hardware Acceleration
If you have issue playing videos in Google Chrome browser, you should disable the hardware acceleration feature in your browser settings. To do so,
- Open Chrome-> click on Settings (three horizontal dots)-> System-> turn off the Use hardware acceleration when available option and re-play the video and see the result.
Fix 8: Install Codec Pack
If you downloaded videos with HEVC or AV1 extension, they might not be allowed to play on your Windows without a newer codec. In this case, you need to install a new codec pack and try playing the video again.
Fix 9: Check Internet Connection
In case you are having trouble playing videos online, it might be due to poor internet connectivity. Here you should check and make sure you have a proper internet connection and then play the videos again.
These are the top solutions to resolve Video Not Playing Issue on Windows or MacOS. If you have any concerns related to the information given above, then you can list your doubts in the command box below.