YouTube TV is a live television programming streaming service that is offered by YouTube. It also streams on-demand content. You can watch popular cable and network channels like ESPN, NBC, and Fox as well as local broadcast channels. YouTube TV is available on various devices including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, web browsers, and gaming consoles. In this guide, we show how to fix when YouTube TV is not working on PC, Phone, TV, Roku, Firestick, etc.
Fix YouTube TV not working
If YouTube TV is not working on your on TV, Roku, Firestick, PC, Phone, or other devices, you can use the following methods to fix it.
- Restart your device
- Check your internet connection
- Make sure YouTube TV is not down
- Make sure the device limit is not reached
- Close and re-open the YouTube TV app
- Check for YouTube TV app updates
- Sign out and sign in using YouTube TV credentials
- Check your location permissions
- Power cycle your Game console
- Uninstall and reinstall the YouTube TV app
Let’s get into the details of each one and fix YouTube not working issue.
1] Restart your device
One of the basic fixes for everything is restarting the device you are watching YouTube TV on. This has a better chance to fix the issue, whether you are watching YouTube TV on your TV, Smartphone, or any other device. Restart and see if it fixes the issue.
2] Check your internet connection
Make sure your device is connected to the internet and the connection is working fine. YouTube recommends at least 3 Mbps speed for a better viewing experience. Run a speed test on your network and see if there are any problems. If you are watching on a mobile phone, turn off and on your mobile data connection. Also, try to lower the video quality to see if it changes anything. If you find any issues with your internet, fix them.
YouTube recommends the following speeds for various tasks on YouTube TV:
| Download speed | What you can do on YouTube TV |
|---|---|
| 25 Mbps + | 4K Plus subscribers: View 4K quality on available programs. |
| 13 Mbps + | Reliably stream HD video, even with other devices using the same network. |
| 7 Mbps + | Stream one-HD video. If many devices are streaming videos or using the network at the same time, you may run into some buffering issues. |
| 3 Mbps + | Stream standard definition video. |
| Under 3 Mbps | YouTube TV may load slowly or rebuffer. |
Read: How to reduce YouTube Data Usage on a Windows PC
3] Make sure YouTube TV is not down
If there are any issues with YouTube TV you may see it not working. YouTube makes sure the servers of YouTube TV are up and running. To check if there is any downtime associated with YouTube TV you can check on websites that track downtimes of services. If there is any downtime wait until it is fixed.
4] Make sure the device limit is not reached
YouTube lets you play YouTube TV on a limited number of devices. If you are already playing on three devices at a time, you cannot play on another device. It is a policy of YouTube TV to make sure their services are not misused. Log out of devices you don’t recognize and fix the problem.
5] Close and re-open the YouTube TV app
If you using YouTube TV on a smart TV or a gaming console, close and open the YouTube TV app and see if it helps. If you are watching YouTube TV on a web browser, close the YouTube TV, then close the browser and try watching YouTube TV.
6] Check for YouTube TV app updates
Each update of an app comes with fixes to bugs of previous updates and new features. If there is a bug in the last update, you might see YouTube TV not working. Check if there are any updates of the YouTube TV app pending installation. Update the YouTube TV app on your devices to the latest version and check if it fixes the issue.
7] Sign out and sign in using YouTube TV credentials
Just signing out and signing in fixes most of the issues with online services. Sign out of YouTube TV on the device you are using and sign in again using your YouTube TV credentials. It might fix your problem.
8] Check your location permissions
If you are using YouTube TV on a web browser, make sure you have given location permissions to the browser.YouTube recommends users give location permissions on their browser when using YouTube TV. If you blocked the location permission, clear all the cookies and cache and restart the browser, and open YouTube TV. It will again ask for location permission. Allow it. Then, sign in with your credentials and start watching YouTube TV.
9] Power cycle your Game console
If you are seeing YouTube TV issues on a gaming console, you can fix it by power cycling it. To power cycle, a console, hold down the power button to turn off your device, wait for 30 seconds, and then restart your device. Then, launch the YouTube TV app and see if it has fixed the issue.
10] Uninstall and reinstall the YouTube TV app
If no method has worked to fix your issue, you need to uninstall the YouTube TV app on your devices and reinstall it. Then, log in using your YouTube credentials and see if it helps fix the issue.
Read: How to enforce YouTube Restricted Mode in Chrome
These are the different methods you can use if YouTube TV is not working on any of your devices.
Why is my YouTube not working on my TV?
There might be many causes for YouTube to not work on your TV. There might be an issue with the servers of YouTube, there might be an issue with your internet connection, or the quality of the video you’ve selected is too high to stream using your internet speeds. Or the YouTube app might be outdated. You need to check your internet connection and update the YouTube app to fix the issues.
How do I reset YouTube TV on my TV?
To reset YouTube TV on your TV, you need to uninstall the YouTube TV app and reinstall it and then sign in with your credentials to start watching. There are no separate options to reset YouTube TV.
Related read: How to fix No Sound on YouTube on Windows.
