Microsoft Edge Not Playing Videos? Try These 7 Fixes

Edge has come a long way since its first versions, so more people are making it their default browser. But sometimes it surprises you with an unexpected glitch, such as not playing videos.

While it may take a few minutes, fixing this will be faster than settings a new default browser and importing your data. If this has happened to you, read on to find out how you can fix Edge.

1. Make Sure It’s Edge at Fault

If Microsoft Edge can’t play videos, there are a few steps you should take before blaming your browser. Start by verifying your internet connection and check if someone using the same network as you isn’t downloading a large file.

Additionally, try to play a video that you’ve saved on your computer to make sure you aren’t experiencing a graphic card or display driver malfunction.

If everything seems to be working fine on your system, let’s take a look at how you can twitch Edge settings, so it plays videos again.

2. Disable Edge Extensions

A corrupted or glitched browser extension might hinder Edge playback ability. To fix it, you should disable your browser extensions, but the process might be a bit slow, especially if you’ve installed numerous extensions.

The easiest way to test if one of your extensions stops Edge from playing videos, open an InPrivate window. Press Ctrl + Shift + N or click the three-dot menu and select New InPrivate window. This will open an Edge window without any extensions.

If Edge can play videos while using InPrivate mode, go to edge://extensions and disable all extensions. Then, use the toggles to enable them one by one to find out which one is causing you problems.

3. Delete Your Browser Cache

If the cache data gathered by your browser gets corrupted, it will interfere with its functionality. Try to delete Edge's cache and check if this fixes the problem.

1. Navigate to edge://settings.
2. Select Privacy, search, and services.
3. Head to Clear browsing data section and click Choose what to clear.
4. Set Time range to All time.
5. Select Cached images and files.
6. Click Clear now.

4. Disable Microsoft Defender SmartScreen

In Edge, Microsoft Defender SmartScreen scans websites before they load, so it ensures a safe browsing experience. However, this feature can be a bit too cautious and hinder Edge's ability to play videos. In this case, you should turn it off.

1. Open the browser settings menu.
2. Select Privacy, search, and services.
3. Scroll down to Security.
4. Turn off the toggle next to Microsoft Defender SmartScreen.

5. Reset Flags

Browser flags can improve the user experience by giving you more customizations options. However, flags are experimental features that are not enabled by default, and they can sometimes interfere with Edge functionality.

So if you’ve encountered browser malfunctions, such as the inability to play videos, you should reset your flags and see if this helps resolve the issue.

1. Navigate to edge://flags.
2. From the page top, select Reset all.
3. Click Restart, so the changes will take effect.

6. Turn Off Hardware Acceleration

If the Hardware Acceleration feature is enabled, graphics-intensive tasks will be managed by the GPU, instead of the CPU. While this may help avoid high CPU usage, it may stop Edge from playing videos.

1. Open the browser settings menu.
2. Select System and performance.
3. Turn off the toggle for Use hardware acceleration when available.
4. Restart Edge.

7. Reset Edge

If an inappropriate setting is stopping Edge from playing videos, resetting the browser should fix the problem. This way, Edge settings will be reverted to their default values. However, Edge will keep your history, passwords, and bookmarks.

Here is how you can reset Edge:

1. Go to edge://settings.
2. From the left-hand menu, open Reset settings.
3. Click Restore settings to their default values > Reset.

Play Videos in Edge

As we’ve discussed, sometimes Edge can’t play videos because of improper customization settings. Nevertheless, you don’t have to settle for the standard browsing experience. There are plenty of ways to personalize and improve Edge without breaking any of its functionalities.