Top 4 Ways to Fix YouTube Not Working on iPad

Quick Tips

• When YouTube starts misbehaving on iPad, you get loading indicators when streaming or reading the comments section.
• To fix this, ensure that you have a proper Internet connection and that both the YouTube App and your iPad are up to date.
• You can also try logging out or switching to Incognito mode on YouTube.

Basic Fixes:

• Check Wi-Fi Connection: While using the Wi-Fi-only iPad, make sure it is connected to a working Wi-Fi connection. Head over to Settings > Wi-Fi, and enable the Wi-Fi toggle. You can also use the Speedtest app on your iPad to check the Wi-Fi connection speeds
• Check YouTube Status: While YouTube servers hardly go down, there are chances that YouTube servers are having a rough day. You can use DownDetector to check for the same.
• Sign Out From YouTube Account: If you’re able to open the YouTube app but the videos are not playing, you can try to sign out from your Google account and sign back in using the same login details. This should do the trick for most users.
• Disable VPN: If you’re using a VPN to watch YouTube, try disabling it. The country you’re connected to may have banned YouTube. The VPN server itself might be down too, in which case turning the VPN off should help.
• Update YouTube: YouTube would not work on iPad if it is outdated. You can go to the App Store and update YouTube to the latest version to fix streaming problems.
• Update iPadOS: Whenever a major iPadOS version drops, the latest OS often develops incompatibility with the YouTube app. Thankfully, Apple is quick to resolve such glaring issues with iPadOS updates. Head over to Settings > General > Software Update, and download the latest iPadOS build on the device.

Fix 1: Check the Screen Time Limit for YouTube

YouTube videos can turn out to be a rabbit hole of streaming content for kids, family, and you. So, it’s always advisable to set a screen time limit for the YouTube app on iPad. Once the iPad reaches the screen time limit for the day, the app becomes inaccessible. You can either extend the screen time or remove it completely. Here’s how.

Step 1: On your iPad, navigate to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits.

Step 2: Inside, you shall find YouTube with a time limit on the list. Now, you’ll have two options – extend the time limit for YouTube or delete the time limit.

Step 3: To extend the time limit, tap on YouTube and select Time to increase the limit. Alternatively, from the same menu, you can tap on the Delete Limit option at the bottom and remove YouTube from the Screen Time menu.

Fix 2: Use YouTube in Incognito Mode

If you can access your account settings in the YouTube iPad app, you have an option to enable Incognito mode. It works similarly to Google Chrome in Incognito mode.

Step 1: Open YouTube on iPad and tap on the profile picture at the top.

Step 2: Now, tap on Turn on Incognito and start searching for your video.

Fix 3: Check iPad Storage

Are you running out of storage on your iPad? If the default storage is almost full, you will face problems using installed apps, including YouTube.

Step 1: On your iPad, navigate to Settings > General > iPad Storage. This will show you the remaining storage on your device.

Step 2: If you are indeed running out of storage on your iPad, delete media files, apps, and downloaded files.

Fix 4: Reset Network Settings

A setting tweak on your iPad may prevent YouTube from working as expected. Thankfully, you have an option to reset settings and network settings on the iPad. Here’s how you can use them.

Step 1: On your iPad, navigate to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad.

Step 2: Tap on Reset. Then, from the list of options, select Reset Network Settings.

Step 3: Confirm the reset and then restart your iPad. Once done, try checking if the YouTube is working properly or not.