Whether you’re binging vlogs or learning how to put a cabinet together, it’s terrible to have a technical issue interrupt yourYouTubeviewing. If things aren’t working quite right in the mobile app or the desktop website, clearing your cache is often a good place to start. Don’t worry – it won’t remove your preferences or permanent data. It’s just wiping temporary files used to speed things up, and the cache will rebuild itself automatically.
In this guide, we’ll take you through the process of clearing your cache onAndroidor your web browser. Unfortunately, theiPhoneand iPad app doesn’t allow you to clear the cache, but you can get similar results by reinstalling it, so we’ll walk you through that process too.
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How to clear the YouTube app cache on Android
Before we begin, note that the exact steps may vary between phone brands, since they all use their own variants of Android. But the general process should look like this:
Once all this is done, try reopening YouTube to see if your issues are resolved.
How to clear the YouTube cache on desktop
On desktop, things work a little differently. You can’t typically clear the cache of a specific website, so you’ll have to clear the cache for all websites at the same time. We’ve got instructions for some of the most popular web browsers listed below:
Google Chrome
Apple Safari
Mozilla Firefox
How to clear the YouTube app cache on iPhone and iPad
As we mentioned earlier, there’s no way to clear the YouTube app cache in iOS or iPadOS, but deleting the app and reinstalling it may achieve similar results.
Here’s what you need to do:
Other YouTube troubleshooting tips
If you’re still having problems with YouTube, there are a few other things you can try. Here are some solutions that might help.
Check your network
Are you sure that your internet is working end-to-end? If you’re reading this, we’d imagine so, but if you’re trying to watch YouTube on a separate device, then a good first step is to ensure that it’s connected to Wi-Fi or Ethernet, or else has an adequate cellular signal. If your network has a filter that blocks adult content, this could potentially cause issues, too.
Check for updates
Make sure the YouTube app and/or your web browser have the latest updates applied. This is a good practice in general, but may specifically fix bugs and compatibility issues, which could be at the root of your trouble.
Sign into YouTube
Some content on YouTube is age-restricted, so if you aren’t signed in, it might not allow you to watch. You’ll want to do this anyway to improve recommendations and create playlists.
Restart your device
The classic troubleshooting advice parroted by every IT worker for decades still holds true today. If you’re experiencing weird issues, it’s always worth turning your device off and back on again. This will clear some system-level caches and force all apps to launch fresh.
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