This issue is not specific to Brave – this is part of Youtube’s efforts to discourage users from using ad-blocking software (either built-into the browser such as with Brave, via browser extension, etc.). Out team is aware of these efforts and are always working to find ways around these types of de… Answer from Mattches on community.brave.app
Reddit
reddit.com › r/brave › youtube videos don't start, need to press the reload page button
r/brave on Reddit: Youtube videos don't start, need to press the reload page button
April 7, 2026 -
Since a few days I have an issue that Youtube video's don't start, the screen remains black, the time indicator flashes between 0:00 and length of the video, and the CC button also flashes between on and off. When I press the reload page button then the video starts playing.
Is anybody else also experiencing this?
Update: Cleaning the cache and cookies completely has fixed it for me. After the cleaning I needed to login again on Youtube and videos play again on first attempt.
Top answer 1 of 5
2
This is likely due to YouTube's ongoing battle against ad-blockers. Brave's Shields might be getting caught in a loop. Try updating your components by going to brave://components and clicking Check for update on Brave Ad Block Resources Library.
2 of 5
2
Yeah that’s likely a Brave issue, usually caused by shields/ad blocker or a buggy extension. Try turning shields off for YouTube or clear cache, that fixes it for most people.
YouTube won't load, just spins. Started this morning. Loads fine on all other browsers. Sep 23, 2025
r/brave_browser 11mo ago
Brave Community
community.brave.app › brave browser › mobile support
YouTube video not starting unless page refresh - Mobile Support - Brave Community
June 24, 2026 - Description of the issue: YouTube videos are not starting unless I refresh the page and potentially lower the resolution from 2160p to 1080p How can this issue be reproduced? Use Brave browser on iPhone Open YouTube Play a video Expected result: the video won’t start unless you refresh the bage, when it starts, if it’s 2160p it will start skipping parts of the video unless you lower the resolution to 1080p Brave Version( check About Brave):1.90.02 Mobile Device details: iPhone 13,...
Reddit
reddit.com › r/brave_browser › youtube wont load the next video without hitting refresh
r/brave_browser on Reddit: Youtube wont load the next video without hitting refresh
July 24, 2025 -
Hi guys, has anybody here encountered the problem where auto-play doesnt seem to work, and you have to press refresh everytime it moves on to the next video? The loading bar just stops as in the photo.
Is this another attempt by yt devs to annoy us into stop using Brave?
GitHub
github.com › brave › brave-browser › issues › 50218
YouTube videos show “Video unavailable” until hard reload (new player UI, Brave latest version) · Issue #50218 · brave/brave-browser
October 16, 2025 - Optionally, disable “Trackers & ads blocking” under Brave Shields → the video also loads normally. Videos show “Video unavailable” until a hard reload is performed.
Author: brave
Brave Community
community.brave.app › brave browser
YouTube videos aren't loading anymore - Brave Browser - Brave Community
March 25, 2026 - Description of the issue: For the past few days, whenever I try to watch a YouTube video, I get the error message “Your video is stuck—find out why.” It keeps looping like the video won’t load, and I have to press F5 for it to finally start playing. **Steps to Reproduce (add as many ...
Reddit
reddit.com › r/brave_browser › it seems youtube is not working anymore in brave browser ?
r/brave_browser on Reddit: It seems YouTube is not working anymore in Brave Browser ?
February 11, 2026 -
Updated Arch Linux and works fine now. [Solved]
I ran an update in Arch and I see gstreamer and gst-plugins got updated now works fine
GitHub
github.com › brave › brave-browser › issues › 52761
YouTube videos show “This content is not available” · Issue #52761 · brave/brave-browser
February 11, 2026 - Actual Behavior: The video fails to load and shows the “content not available” message until the page is refreshed.
Author: brave
Brave Community
community.brave.app › brave browser › desktop support
YouTube videos go into an infinite start loop - Desktop Support - Brave Community
June 27, 2026 - Instead of playing immediately, the player gets stuck in a perpetual loading loop. Refreshing the page is usually the only way to get the video to load. In some cases, if left alone, the video will eventually start playing after more than a minute.
Brave Community
community.brave.app › brave browser › mobile support
YouTube playback issue: 10-20 seconds delay before playback begins - Mobile Support - Brave Community
March 15, 2026 - Description of the issue: YouTube videos no longer start instantly, instead they display a blank loading animation for 10-20 seconds before playback begins. Refreshing the page during this delay bypasses the wait and sta…
Brave Community
community.brave.app › brave browser
YouTube - Video Not Available, needs to refresh (F5) for video to start - Brave Browser - Brave Community
October 23, 2025 - **Description of the issue:YOUTUBE WONT PLAY ANY VIDEO UNTIL Y HIT F5 TO REFRESH DE PAGE **Steps to Reproduce (add as many as necessary): 1. GO TO YOUTUBE 2. CLICK ANY VIDEO *Actual Result (gifs and screenshots are we…
Brave Community
community.brave.app › brave browser › mobile support
Have to refresh before every youtube video - Mobile Support - Brave Community
June 17, 2026 - Description of the issue: While on youtube.com on the brave browser (1.90.2) on ios, as of a few days, everytime i try to watch a new video, the video section goes black and i have to refresh the tab for the video to start. This used to be the case sometimes, i would say one in every 20 videos, ...
Reddit
reddit.com › r/brave_browser › youtube fix?
r/brave_browser on Reddit: Youtube fix?
February 20, 2026 -
Youtube is not working anymore on the browser any fix?
Top answer 1 of 6
4
"Not working anymore..." Well, with specifics like that, we should get this one sorted out in no time.
2 of 6
3
I think I know what you mean. Is it when you click from one video to another and it wont load unless you refresh the page?? If so, what i do is i keep one tab on the home page of youtube and just open a video in new tab with my scroll wheel click. Pretty sure this has happened before. just bear with it until brave can counter. Remeber this is a constant cat and mouse game between brave and google,
GitHub
github.com › brave › brave-browser › issues › 53049
Youtube requires refresh to play videos Does not hover play thumbnails either · Issue #53049 · brave/brave-browser
February 21, 2026 - Description I have cleared cache, cookies, etc. I have enabled/disabled Shields. I have to refresh every video; there are no exceptions. Steps to reproduce Open YouTube Click on Video Black screen where video should be -- only refreshing...
Author: brave
Reddit
reddit.com › r/brave_browser › youtube killed brave
r/brave_browser on Reddit: youtube killed brave
May 23, 2026 -
just tried to watch something on youtube using brave, welp its broken, youtube now detects whatever brave was running and now getting errors. 1st time ever having this happen so yeah youtube can kiss the dark side of the moon. hope brave fixes this very soon.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/brave_browser › this started happening today on youtube, on any video i click. anyone know any fix?
r/brave_browser on Reddit: This started happening today on YouTube, on any video I click. Anyone know any fix?
February 11, 2026 - Me, I'm just gonna use Freetube until this gets sorted. You know it will sooner or later. ... Hm, worked for me too. Thanks for the workaround. ... Checked, everything is up to date. Still doesn't work. ... I had the same problem as you and updating the components fixed it. ... No extra adblockers. Just using brave. ... OK, just realized that the video works after I reload the page.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/brave_browser › youtube issue: videos won't play and switches between full video run time and 0:00
r/brave_browser on Reddit: Youtube issue: Videos won't play and switches between full video run time and 0:00
March 20, 2026 -
v1.88.134 (Mar 19, 2026)
Occurs intermittently. No issue on Chrome or Edge.
EDIT: Turning off the Brave shield for Youtube as u/tbfl suggested is a successful, but not ideal, workaround.
PiunikaWeb
piunikaweb.com › 2026 › 05 › 23 › brave-browser-youtube-playback-error
Brave browser users report YouTube playback error saying 'An error occurred. Please try again later.' [U: Fixed] - PiunikaWeb
June 10, 2026 - Update [May 23, 2026]: Brave has now acknowledged the YouTube playback issue affecting some users and says it has already released a fix through its adblock lists. To get the fix as soon as possible, Brave is advising users to manually update the browser’s ad blocker, then reload their YouTube ...
Brave Community
community.brave.app › brave browser
Browser appears to randomly refresh itself while I’m watching YouTube videos - Brave Browser - Brave Community
September 10, 2025 - Description of the issue: Steps to Reproduce (add as many as necessary): Pull up a YouTube video (one that’s at least 30+ minutes, just to be sure) and hit play. Wait for a sudden unexpected browser page fresh to take place, which will start the entire video over from the beginning Actual ...
Brave Community
community.brave.app › brave browser › desktop support
An Error Occurred on Youtube during PlayBack - Desktop Support - Brave Community
May 23, 2026 - YouTube gives me an error like this when I play the video “an error occurred please try again later playback” the id is hqxdh3krcrjw_5qk and requires me to reload the playback page. Can this problem be patched or is it i…
GitHub
github.com › brave › brave-browser › issues › 6712
Youtube occasionally requires refresh to play videos · Issue #6712 · brave/brave-browser
November 1, 2019 - Have you searched for similar issues? Yes. Description I'm positive this is as a result of Shields as I've noticed it for over a year now. The issue is when entering a link manually or clicking on another video on youtube sort of goes to...
Author: brave