Do you see This video is not available error message when trying to load a YouTube video? While this error could be triggered if the said video is deleted by the owner or removed by YouTube, it could also occur on videos that are still present on the platform. Now, there can be multiple reasons why this happens.
Why does YouTube say This video is not available?
This video is not available error on specific YouTube videos could be triggered due to several reasons. The video might have been deleted or be blocked in your country which is why you keep getting this error. A slow internet speed can be another reason for this error. Apart from that, web browser settings like installed web extensions, clogged up browser cache and cookies, and enabled JavaScript and hardware acceleration can also cause this error. The message can also appera if YouTube has set the Restricted Mode for that video for some reasons.
This video is not available on YouTube
If you see This video is not available error message on YouTube when trying to watch a video, here are the methods you can use to fix the error:
- Refresh the page
- Check your internet speed.
- Modify the video quality.
- Try using a VPN service.
- Disable hardware acceleration in your browser.
- Enable Javascript.
- Clear browser cache and cookies.
- Check for suspicious extensions.
- Reset/reinstall the browser.
Before you begin restrt your PC and router and see if it helps
1] Refresh the page
It could be a temporary issue causing the error. You can try refreshing the YouTube page a couple of times and check if the error is fixed. You can even hard refresh the page using Ctrl+F5 to see if the problem is resolved.
2] Check your internet speed
Generally, you need an internet speed of 500+ Kbps to play YouTube videos without any hassle. This speed varies based on the quality of the videos. For example, if you are trying to play HD 720p videos, you need a minimum of 2.5 Mbps internet speed. In the case of SD 480p videos, 1.1 Mbps internet speed is required. 4K UHD videos require at least 20 Mbps internet speed to play.
Now, if your internet speed is slow or doesn’t meet the minimum requirements, you are likely to experience errors and issues while playing videos, like This video is not available. Hence, test your internet speed in your web browser and make sure it is good enough to play online videos on YouTube.
Read: Fix An error occurred, please try again later on YouTube.
3] Modify the video quality
If you are trying to play a video in high quality, change its video quality to a lower resolution and then check if the error is fixed. Open the YouTube video you are facing the error with and then click on the Settings button. After that, go to the Quality option and choose a lower quality. See if you can now play the video without this error.
4] Try using a VPN service
This error might be facilitated due to geoblocking or some other network restrictions. It might be the case the that video owner has made the video available only in specific locations. Or, the content might be blocked by YouTube with respect to local laws.
Now, if the scenario is applicable to you, no need to worry. You can still play the video without this error. For that, you can use a VPN client on your computer. VPN enables you to stay anonymous on the internet and bypass network restrictions. There are several free VPN software available for Windows 11/10. Download and install a VPN of your choice, enable it, then connect to a different location, and see if the YouTube error is resolved.
See: How to fix No Sound on YouTube on Windows.
5] Disable hardware acceleration in your browser
As per some user reports, This video is not available error on YouTube could be caused due to hardware acceleration. If you enabled this feature in your web browser, disable it and check if the error is fixed.
Disable hardware acceleration in Chrome:
- First, open Chrome and click on the three-dot menu button from the top-right corner.
- Now, press the Settings option and move to the System tab from the right-side pane.
- Next, disable the toggle associated with the Use hardware acceleration when available option.
- Once done, restart Chrome and check if the error is resolved.
Disable hardware acceleration in Firefox:
- Firstly, open Firefox, click on the three-bar menu button, and choose the Settings option.
- Now, locate the Performance section in the General tab.
- After that, untick the Use recommended performance settings checkbox.
- Next, deselect the Use hardware acceleration when available checkbox.
- Finally, relaunch Firefox and see if the error is gone now.
Similarly, you can disable hardware acceleration in Edge and other web browsers to resolve the error. In case you still see the same error on YouTube, use the next fix.
Read: How to Turn on Dark Theme for YouTube?
6] Enable Javascript
The next thing you can do to fix this error is enable JavaScript in your web browser. If disabled, it might cause the This video is not available error on YouTube. So, enable it and check if the error is fixed.
Here’s how to enable Javascript in Google Chrome:
- First, click on the three-dot menu button in Chrome and press the Settings option.
- Now, go to the Security and privacy tab and click on the Site settings option.
- Next, scroll down and click on the JavaScript option.
- After that, make sure to select the Sites can use Javascript option.
See if the error is fixed after enabling Javascript. If not, you can use the next solution to resolve it.
7] Clear browser cache and cookies
Old and bulked-up browser cache and cookies can also cause the “This video is not available” error on YouTube. Hence, you can delete the browsing data from your web browser and then try playing your videos to check if the error is resolved.
Delete cache and cookies in Chrome:
- First, open Chrome and click on three-dot menu button.
- Now, go to the More tools option and choose the Clear browsing data option.
- Next, set the Time range to All time and tick the Cookies and other site data and Caches images and files options.
- Lastly, tap on the Clear data button.
Delete cache and cookies in Firefox:
- Firstly, open Firefox, tap on the three-bar menu button, and choose the History option.
- After that, press the Clear recent history button.
- Now, tick the Cached and Cookies checkbox and set Time range to clean to Everything.
- Finally, click on the OK button to clear the browser cache and cookies.
Read: YouTube Video not Processing or Uploading.
8] Check for suspicious extensions
It could be problematic extensions installed in your web browser triggering this error. To check if the main culprit is your extension, you can open an incognito tab using Ctrl+Shift+N or Ctrl+Shift+P and open YouTube to see if the error still persists. If the error is resolved, it is likely to be caused due to some extensions. In that case, you can disable extensions and see if the error is fixed.
Disable extensions in Chrome:
- First, open Chrome, press the three-dot menu button, and go to More tools > Extensions.
- Now, disable the suspicious extension or click on the Remove button to uninstall it.
Disable extensions in Firefox:
- First, launch Firefox, click on the three-bar menu button, and select the Add-ons and themes option.
- Now, disable the problematic add-on/theme or uninstall it from your web browser.
If you use some other web browser, you can disable or remove extensions using similar steps to fix the error.
See: YouTube Audio renderer error, Fix Please restart your computer.
9] Reset/Reinstall the browser
If none of the above solutions worked, you can reset your web browser to its default state and see if the error is fixed. It might be browser corruption causing the error. So, resetting should fix the error. If that doesn’t help, you can uninstall the web browser and then reinstall it on your computer. Hopefully, you won’t face this error anymore now.
Is My video restricted on YouTube?
You can easily check if your video is restricted on YouTube through YouTube’s Restricted Mode. To do that, first enable the Restricted Mode feature on YouTube. Open the YouTube app on your phone and click on the profile picture. Now, select the Settings option and tap on General. After that, enable the Restricted Mode toggle. You can then try searching your video or directly visiting the URL of the video and see if the video shows up or not. If not, you can be sure that your video is restricted on YouTube.
