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How to Fix "An error occurred, please try again later"?

How to Fix "An error occurred, please try again later" YouTube Error

YouTube services are generally reliable and stable. However, the message "An error occurred, please try again later" sometimes prevents users viewing videos. In this article, we will show you how to resolve this error.

An error occurred please try again later

The "An error occurred, please try again later" error is not always down to YouTube - there could be a number of problems with your system, although the exact causes are often difficult to ascertain.

Your Internet service provider (ISP) might have trouble connecting to YouTube, or settings on your system might be preventing you from watching videos on YouTube.

In the guide below, we are outline several different causes and possible solutions to "An error occurred, please try again later" error on YouTube. These will hopefully make YouTube videos accessible to you once more.

Video Showing How to Fix "An error occurred, please try again later" YouTube Error:

Table of Contents:

Try a Different Browser

First, try to watch a YouTube video on a different browser. It is always a good idea to have more than one browser installed if something goes wrong with the primary browser. The Youtube "An error occurred, please try again later" error is one of those cases when a different browser could be helpful.

If another browser can play YouTube videos without problems, the problem is clearly with your default browser - we recommend that you update your browser first and see if this fixes the problem. If that does not solve the problem, and another browser can access YouTube, we suggest you switch to another browser (at least when you wish to watch YouTube videos).

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Use Google DNS

If there is a problem with the DNS server, you can change your DNS server to Google's Public DNS, a free alternative Domain Name System (DNS) service offered to Internet users worldwide. The public DNS service and servers are maintained and owned by Google.

The server functions as a recursive name server providing domain name resolution for any host on the Internet. You need to change the DNS server manually, as shown here.

To change your DNS server to Google's DNS server, go to Network Connections settings. Right-click the Start menu and select "Network Connections", or go to Settings and click "Network & Internet".

use google dns step 1

In the Network & Internet settings window, select your connection type (in our case, "Ethernet") on the left pane and then click "Change adapter options" on the right pane.

use google dns step 2

Right-click on your connection and select "Properties" from the drop-down menu.

use google dns step 3

Select "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and click "Properties".

use google dns step 4

In the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties window, select "Use the following DNS server addresses", enter 8.8.8.8 as the "Preferred DNS server" and 8.8.4.4 as the "Alternate DNS server". Click "OK" to save changes.

Open YouTube again, and check if this solves the problem with the "An error occurred, please try again later" YouTube error.

use google dns step 5

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Flush DNS

This method includes entering and executing the "ipconfig" command into Command Prompt. Ipconfig is a command-line tool that displays the current configuration of the installed IP stack on a networked computer. Using this tool, you can flush and reset the contents of the DNS client resolver cache and renew the DHCP configuration.

This command requires an elevated Command Prompt opened with administrator privileges. To open elevated Command Prompt, type "command prompt" in Search and right-click on the "Command Prompt" result. Choose "Run as administrator" to run it with administrative privileges.

flush dns step 1

When you select "Run as administrator", a User Account Control prompt will appear asking if you allow the Command Prompt to make changes to your computer. Click "Yes".

flush dns step 2

Elevated Command Prompt will appear. In the Command Prompt window, type this command and press Enter to execute it: "ipconfig /flushdns".

flush dns step 3

Restart the computer, go to YouTube, and see if this fixes the "An error occurred, please try again later" YouTube error.

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Clear Browsing Data

Browsing data consists of a record of web pages that you have visited in your past browsing sessions and typically includes the name of the website and its corresponding URL. Other private data components such as cache, cookies, saved passwords, etc., are also saved during your browsing session.

Clearing this browsing data can fix the "An error occurred, please try again later" YouTube error.

To clear Google Chrome's browsing data cache, click the three dots in the top-right corner, select "More tools", and click "Clear browsing data...".

clear browsing data step 1

In the Clear browsing data window, select the data you wish to remove from the Google Chrome cache and click the "CLEAR DATA" button. Close Chrome and open it again. Go to YouTube and see if this fixes the "An error occurred, please try again later" error.

clear browsing data step 2

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Update Audio Drivers

Outdated, incompatible, or corrupted sound card drivers may cause audio problems such as no sound, volume icon missing, etc. Some users have reported that updating audio drivers also helped them fix the "An error occurred, please try again later" YouTube error.

To update, type "device manager" in Search and click on "Device Manager" result to open it.

update audio drivers step 1

In Device Manager, find "Sound, video and game controllers", expand it and right-click the audio device, and then select "Update driver" from the drop-down menu to update it. You will be asked if you want to search for updated driver software automatically or to browse your computer for driver software.

If you select the first option, Windows will search the computer and the Internet for the latest driver software for your device. If you choose to browse your computer for driver software, you must have the correct driver on your computer or USB drive (you can find it on the sound card manufacturer's website).

update audio drivers step 2

Another way to update or install a new driver for a sound card is to use third-party software such as Snappy Driver Installer. Snappy Driver Installer (SDI) is a powerful free driver updater tool for Windows that can store its entire collection of drivers offline. You can download Snappy Driver Installer from here.

update audio drivers step 3

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Change the Video Quality

Some users have reported that changing YouTube video quality solved "An error occurred, please try again later" problem. To change the video quality, open any YouTube video and click the gear icon, select different video quality (lower or higher than the current quality).

This, however, is only a temporary workaround, and you might need to repeat these steps every time you receive the error.

change video quality

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Allow Third-party Cookies

The "An error occurred, please try again later" error might occur due to third-party cookies being blocked in your browser. If your browser is blocking third-party cookies (they are not allowed), try to enable this option. In this guide, we show how to check if cookies are blocked when using the Google Chrome browser.

Open Google Chrome and type this line into the address bar: "chrome://settings/content/cookies". Press Enter to open Cookies settings and see if the "Block third-party option" is disabled. If it is enabled, disable it by toggling the switch next to it.

Open YouTube again and see if you still receive the "An error occurred, please try again later" error.

allow third party cookies

We hope that this guide helped you fix the "An error occurred, please try again later" YouTube error, and you can watch videos on YouTube without any problems.

If you know of other solutions to this problem that are not mentioned in our guide, please share them with us by leaving a comment in the section below.

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About the author:

Rimvydas Iliavicius

Rimvydas is a researcher with over four years of experience in the cybersecurity industry. He attended Kaunas University of Technology and graduated with a Master's degree in Translation and Localization of Technical texts. His interests in computers and technology led him to become a versatile author in the IT industry. At PCrisk, he's responsible for writing in-depth how-to articles for Microsoft Windows. Contact Rimvydas Iliavicius.

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