Why is YouTube slow on my mobile and how to fix it

YouTube loading too slow on your mobile? Or do the videos never finish playing? Don't worry, it is a problem that frustrates more than one user and may have more than one cause.

So if you see messages like “Tap to try again”, “Server connection has been lost”, “Something has failed” or the playback cuts out all the time, try some of these tricks that you will see below.

Change the video quality

In this case, the first suspect of our frustration is always the internet connection. If it is unstable or too slow, neither YouTube nor any other media will load well. So take a look at some speed test to see if your connection has a problem. Or directly change the video quality.

Touch the menu of the three dots in the video you are playing, select Quality and try a lower resolution. It is not ideal, but you will be able to play the video at the moment until the problem with your connection is solved.

Close apps in the background

If you have too many applications open or running in the background on an old mobile or with little RAM, this may affect its function properly. So if after watching some videos on YouTube it has an error or closes, then it is time to restart the mobile and apply some changes.

Once you restart the mobile, take a look at the mobile settings and see how many applications are enabled to run in the background. Or check your settings for any processes or apps that are using more resources than usual.

Clear the YouTube app cache

Another option is to clear the cache of the YouTube app or try a different version.

To clear the cache and delete the data, you just have to search for Applications on your mobile and select the YouTube app. These steps may vary depending on your mobile device.

If you have the problem with YouTube from the last update then try uninstalling the updates. Perhaps there is a bug in the version or it is creating a conflict with some configuration of your mobile.

Try alternatives to the YouTube app

Another way to determine if the problem is the YouTube app is by using the mobile web version. Open a browser on your mobile, search YouTube and see if the playback of the videos continues to give you problems.

It is not comfortable to watch videos from the mobile browser, but it is a temporary solution if you have stayed in the middle of a video. Then you can try all the options we mentioned or try another internet connection.

Or you can directly search for apps that can be used to replace the YouTube application. There are many and very varied, so you can opt for a lighter version if your mobile does not have the ideal hardware or with functions that facilitate the playback of videos on slow connections.

These apps will not be found in the Google Play Store, so you will have to go through repositories such as APK Mirror. And of course, do not forget to try all those basic measures such as restarting the WiFi to rule out any errors, take a look at the power saving settings of the mobile or check if the YouTube app has any pending update that could correct the problem.