Google Chrome/Mozilla Firefox/Safari/Edge not playing video but only audio

Every user has a preference when it comes to the best browser to watch videos. Be it Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, or any other browser, you can play your favorite audio and videos in any browser.  

Although rare, sometimes, due to poor internet connectivity or player issues, you might face difficulty playing your videos. There could be many other reasons, such as issues with a web browser add-on, an outdated browser, accumulated cookies, and cache data, or a browser Hardware Acceleration.

This blog will help you learn how to fix videos not playing in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browser.

Methods to Fix Videos Not Playing Issues in Web Browsers

Now, let’s see various methods to fix this issue.

Method 1: Check your Internet Connectivity and PC

If your web browser can’t play videos, check your internet connection. You cannot play a video seamlessly if the internet connection is weak or unstable.

Next, try playing videos saved on your system to ensure nothing is wrong with your graphic card or display driver.

If your internet connection is fine and your system doesn’t have any problem playing the offline video, then your web browser might be at fault. Let’s take a look at how you can change the settings of your Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari web browser to “fix videos not playing” issues.

Method 2: Update your Web Browser

Keeping your web browser up-to-date ensures your computer is safe and secure, and protects you from phishing attacks, malware, virus attacks, etc. Moreover, browser updates are required for bug fixes, security updates, new features, and more.

Here’s how to update various web browsers:

Google Chrome:

• Open the Google Chrome browser and click on the three vertical dots at the top-right corner.
• Select Help and then click About Google Chrome.

• The Google Chrome browser will check for updates and if any new version is present, it will be automatically downloaded.

• Once the update process is completed, click Relaunch to start Google Chrome. Now, try playing a video and check if the videos won’t play in Chrome error is fixed or not.

Mozilla Firefox

• Open Mozilla Firefox and click on the Menu button at the right side of the toolbar.
• Click Help > About Firefox. Mozilla Firefox will automatically check for updates and if any new update is available, it is downloaded.

• Once done, click on Restart to update the Firefox button to update the browser.

Steps to Update Safari Browser on Mac

• Click the Apple menu at the top of the home screen and select System Preferences > Software Update.

• If updates are pending, click Upgrade Now to install them. The Safari browser will be automatically updated to the latest version along with the macOS update.

• Once done, check if the error ‘videos not playing in Safari’ is fixed or not.

Steps to Update Microsoft Edge

• Open Microsoft Edge on your PC, Click the three dots at the top-right corner.
• Click Help and Feedback and select About Microsoft Edge.

• Edge will automatically check for updates, if a newer version is available it will download and install the updates.

• Once the update is downloaded, you will see confirmation that ‘Microsoft Edge is up to date’.

Method 3: Delete Cache, Cookies, and Browser History

If cache, browser history, and cookies accumulate in your web browsers, they may tend to prevent videos from playing or any other browser issues. Clearing the browser history, cookies and cache will not only solve videos not playing or buffering issues in various browsers but also load them faster.

Steps to Delete Cache, Cookies, and Browser History on Google Chrome

• Open Google Chrome and go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Clear Browsing Data.

• Click on the Advanced tab and select the time range to delete your browsing data.

• Tick the checkbox next to Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, and other options. Then click Clear data. Now try playing your videos, to see if the error ‘videos not playing in Chrome Windows 10’ is fixed or not.

Steps to Clear Cookies, Cache, and Browsing History on Mozilla Firefox

• Open the Firefox browser on your PC and click on the Menu button.
• Click Settings > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data.

• Then tick the checkbox next to Cookies and Cached web content and click Clear.

Steps to Clear Cookies, Cache, and Browsing Data on Safari

• Open Safari browser on Mac and click History.

• Choose Clear History, then choose the time frame in the drop-down list beside Clear. Next, click Clear History to delete the cache, cookies, and history of the Safari browser.

• Next, try to play any video to verify if the issue of videos not working on Safari is resolved or not.

Steps to Clear Cookies, Cache, and Browsing Data on Microsoft Edge

• Open Microsoft Edge on your browser, and click on the three dots in the upper-right corner.
• Go to Settings > Privacy, Search, and Services > Clear browsing data > Clear Browsing data now and select Choose what to clear.

• Choose a Time range from the drop-down list and select the cached images and other data you want to delete. Then click Clear Now.

Method 4: Remove Add-ons, Plugins, and Extensions

Corrupted add-ons, plugins, or glitched browser extensions may hinder your web browser’s playback ability. To fix videos not playing on Safari/Chrome/Firefox/Edge browser, disable or remove unnecessary add-ons, extensions, and plugins from your web browser.

Steps to Remove Extensions in Google Chrome

• Open Google Chrome and click on three dots.
• Go to More Tools and select Extensions.
• Click Remove.

Now, close the Google Chrome browser and see if the video not playing on Chrome error is fixed.

Steps to remove the extension in Mozilla Firefox

• Open Mozilla Firefox, go to the Menu icon, and select Add-ons and Themes > Extension.
• Click three dots next to the extension you want to delete and click on the Remove option.

Steps to uninstall Extensions in Safari browser

• Open Safari browser and go to Preferences > Extensions.
• Navigate to extensions. Click on the Extensions on the left pane you want to remove and then click Uninstall to remove it.

Steps to remove the extension in Microsoft Edge

• Open the Edge browser, click on three dots, and select Extensions from the Menu.

• Now, select Manage Extension, and then you will see a list of extensions you have installed. Next, choose Remove under the Installed Extension you wish to remove or disable.

• Now, again click Remove in the confirmation pop-up to completely uninstall the extension.

Now, check to play any video to check if the error video not playing in the Edge browser is fixed.

Method 5: Disable Hardware Acceleration in the web browser

Hardware Acceleration helps improve web browser performance by distributing graphic-intensive tasks to your system’s GPU. Often, hardware acceleration prevents online videos from streaming. Try disabling hardware acceleration to check if it resolves the video not playing error in Safari/Edge/Chrome/Firefox.

Steps to Disable Hardware Acceleration in Google Chrome

• Open Google Chrome, click on three dots > Settings > System.
• Next, toggle off the ‘Use hardware acceleration when available’ option.
• Close the browser and reopen it again. Play the video to see if the error videos not playing in Chrome, is solved or not.

Steps to Disable Hardware Acceleration in Mozilla Firefox

• Open Firefox, go to Menu > Settings > General > Performance.
• Then uncheck the boxes next to ‘Use recommended performance settings’ and ‘Use hardware acceleration when available.’

Steps to Disable Hardware Acceleration in Safari

Apple doesn’t allow users to enable or disable the hardware acceleration in the Safari browser on Mac.

Steps to Disable Hardware Acceleration in Microsoft Edge

• Open the Edge browser and click three dots > Settings > System and Performance.
• Turn off the toggle for Use hardware acceleration when available. Restart the browser.

Method 6: Reset web browser settings

If all the above methods fail, you can completely reset your web browser. This way, the browser will be reverted to its default state; but it will still keep your bookmark history and passwords.

Steps to Reset Google Chrome

• Open Google Chrome, click on three dots and go to Settings > Reset and Clean up > Restore settings to their original default.

• Click Reset Settings.

Steps to Reset Mozilla Firefox to Default Settings

• In Mozilla Firefox, go to Menu button > Help > More Troubleshooting Information.
• Click Refresh Firefox.

• In the pop-up window, click Refresh Firefox.

Now, check if the Firefox not playing media or video error is solved or not.

Steps to Reset Safari to Default Settings

Apple devices do not have any ‘Reset Safari’ button or option to reset their Safari browser. However, resetting Safari includes resetting the Website Data, Cache, and History. Check out the steps mentioned above in this blog.

Steps to Reset Microsoft Edge to Default Settings

• Click on the three dots at the top-right corner of the Microsoft Edge browser and select Settings.
• Select Reset settings from the left-hand menu > Restore settings to their default values.

• Click Reset to confirm.

How to Fix Videos Not Playing on Mac or Windows?

If the videos saved on your system are not playing video but only audio, you need to use video repair software to fix this error. We recommend Stellar Repair for Video – as it is one of the efficient software that can fix unplayable, out-of-sync, and corrupted videos. This tool can repair inaccessible and damaged videos of 17+ file formats saved on camera memory cards, Windows, Mac, SD cards, and other storage drives.

Conclusion

This post has shared 6 workable solutions that ensure fixing the problem of videos not playing in Safari, Edge, Chrome, or Firefox browsers.

So, what are you waiting for? Apply these methods to get rid of video not playing errors in various web browsers.

FAQ

Why is Firefox not playing media files?

Often using outdated browser versions, specific content-blocking extensions or an abundance of cookies and cache data can stop Firefox from playing media files.

How to fix the Safari video player not working error?

Check the internet connection, clear cache, and cookies, and disable extensions to fix the video player or YouTube not working on Safari.

Can I fix the ‘Chrome won’t play video’ error by updating the Chrome browser?

Yes, if your videos are not playing in Chrome due to an older version of the browser, then it’s best to update it to the latest version.

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About The Author

Vishakha Singh

Vishakha Singh is a Senior Writer at Stellar Data Recovery with half a decade of experience in writing content in diverse verticals. She's a tech enthusiast who loves creating photo/video recovery & repair tutorials. Vishakha also specializes in writing full-blown iPhone and Android guides.