YouTube buffering is one of the most annoying features of watching videos online. When your device has to download a video file while you are watching it, this process becomes annoying. It does not matter whether your device uses mobile data or Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet. There are many reasons why YouTube buffering occurs. In order to become comfortable watching videos, it is necessary to know the causes of YouTube buffering and how to fix it.
Reasons of YouTube Buffering
YouTube buffering occurs due to the lack of bandwidth for downloading a video file fast enough to watch it at your desired quality. These are the main reasons of this problem.
- Slow Internet Connection: you do not have enough speed to stream videos.
- Network Crowding: there are many people using the same network and it reduces the bandwidth per user.
- High Resolution: the streams of 1080p and 4K videos require much more bandwidth than low resolution ones.
- Problems with App Cache: it slows down the application.
- Outdated Version of the Application: the outdated version of YouTube has bugs.
- Other Applications in the Background: other applications interfere with your video and take bandwidth or other resources.
Fixes for YouTube Buffering
Most of the problems with YouTube buffering can be easily solved by using simple methods which do not require any extra efforts from you and will not take more than a few minutes.
- Lower the Video Resolution: change the resolution to 480p or 360p.
- Restart the Router: it will clean your connection and solve any possible issues.
- Close Other Applications: close applications that run in the background and use your network.
- Clear Cache of YouTube: open Settings->Apps->YouTube and press “Clear Cache”.
- Update the Application: update the latest version of YouTube via Play Store.
- Change the Network: change the type of connection and see the results.
- Restart Your Device: it will reset your memory and network connection.
YouTube Buffering Fix Using YouTube Vanced
YouTube Vanced improves your experience and helps to prevent YouTube buffering in ways the official app cannot. The fact is that Vanced blocks all ads on YouTube and it saves the amount of bandwidth and time required to load and play the ads. Thus, the video is playing smoothly.
With YouTube Vanced, you can choose the video quality yourself and lock it so that YouTube cannot override it. Due to Vanced MicroG, your preference about quality will remain active until you change it.
Additional Network Settings for YouTube Buffering Fix
- Change DNS Providers: try to use Google DNS or Cloudflare DNS services to improve the speed of your connection.
- Disable Your VPN: it increases the buffering.
- Use 5GHz Wi-Fi: connect your device to 5GHz band of your router to increase the speed.
- Check Your ISP Throttling: some ISPs throttle the traffic of YouTube. However, your VPN will also add overhead.
- Get Closer to Your Router: the farther you are from the router, the worse your connection.
Tips to Prevent YouTube Buffering in the Future
- Adjust Video Quality Preferences: set the default video quality depending on your connection speed.
- Download Videos Offline: download videos before watching them offline using Wi-Fi with YouTube Premium or other software.
- Monitor Bandwidth Usage: check the apps that use the most bandwidth and monitor them.
- Update the Applications: update them in order to avoid possible bugs.
Who Experiences YouTube Buffering the Most?
- Rural Users: the users from rural areas have poor internet infrastructure and fewer bandwidth options.
- Mobile Data Users: the users of mobile data connections face varying speed and network crowding.
- Crowded Networks Users: the users of crowded networks have this problem.
- HD Streamers: the people who watch HD videos on YouTube with the connection that cannot support it.
Conclusion
YouTube buffering is really annoying, but it is easy to fix most of it. Simple tricks like changing the video quality, clearing cache and restarting the network help to fix most problems quickly. Also, using YouTube Vanced, you can block all ads and set your own preferences about video quality.
