Error Loading Media File Could Not Be Played: iPhone, Chrome, Safari

We all know it’s frustrating when you’re trying to play something and the error message “Error Loading Media File Could Not Be Played” error message pops up. Whether it’s a funny video you’re trying to watch on your phone or an informational file you need to load for a job or an assignment, not being able to access the content you want is always annoying.

Which is why we have compiled an easy guide on what to do when those media files won’t play, whether you’re using your iPhone, or your chrome or safari browser, we have the solution for you!

“The Internet browser is the most susceptible to viruses. The browser is naive about downloading and executing software. Google is trying to help by releasing the Chrome browser as open source”. – Vint Cerf

Chrome

If you’re encountering the problem on Chrome there are a few solutions you can try.

The first thing you have to do is make sure your version of Chrome is fully updated since some content will need a fully updated Chrome in order to play.

 

How to update Chrome

1. Click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of your Chrome toolbar.
2. If you are due an update. You will see an option to “Update Google Chrome”. If you don’t see it, don’t worry! All it means is that you are full updated.

The next thing you will need to do is delete your caches and cookies.

How to delete caches and cookies

1. Click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of your Chrome toolbar.
2. Click on “More tools”.
3. Then click on “clear browsing data”.

If after you are fully updated and you have deleted your caches and cookies, and it still won’t work. You can try viewing the video in an Incognito mode window. Incognito modes means that Chrome is not saving or keeping a record of what sites you are visiting, however, it won’t stop other sources from seeing a site you are visiting (such as your Internet Service Provider or employer if you are using a work computer).

Opening an Incognito mode window

1. Click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of your Chrome toolbar.
2. Click on “New Incognito window”
3. Copy and paste the link of the video you are trying to view into the new window.

If this still doesn’t work you, you can try turning off your hardware acceleration. Hardware acceleration is when your computer uses hardware to perform some tasks more efficiently than is possible in software running.

How to turn off hardware acceleration

1. Click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of your Chrome toolbar.
2. Click on “Settings”
3. Scroll right to the bottom and click on “Show advanced settings…”
4. Scroll down and under Systems, you will see a box with “Use hardware acceleration when available.”
5. Untick this box

If this still doesn’t work You can try and reset your chrome settings.

How to reset your chrome settings.

1. Click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of your Chrome toolbar.
2. Click on “Settings”.
3. Click on “Reset Setting”.

 

Safari

Similarly to Chrome, if you are experiencing problems loading media content the first thing you need to do is to delete your cookies and saved data.

How to delete cookies and saved data. 

1. Click on “Safari” in your toolbar.
2. Click on “Preferences”.
3. Click on the “Privacy” tab.

At this point, there are two options on how you can proceed. One option is to click “Remove all Website Data” this will delete your cookies and saved data from your Mac. However, this could log you out of sites that you would be normally logged into. If you would prefer this not to happen you can delete the data from the specific site you are trying to visit and load your media file on.

How to delete data from specific sites. 

1. Under the “Remove all Website Data” button there is a smaller button “Details”. Click this button.
2. A list of websites should pop up that have stored data. You can use the search bar in the right-hand corner to find the website from which you are trying to load your media file.
3. Once you have found the website, select it and click the “Remove” button below.

If this doesn’t solve your problem the second thing you need to do is to check your Safari extensions, since extensions commonly stop elements from certain pages from displaying. To see if it’s the extensions that are causing the issue you will need to turn off all your extensions one by one to check which one is the issue.

How to disable extensions.

1. First, you need to click Safari icon, then click “Preferences”.
2. Click “Extensions”.
3. Click on an extension you have and deselect the tick box”Enable… extension.”
4. Reload the page you are trying to load your media file on.

After disabling each extension you will know which one (if any) that are stopping you from watching your media content.

 

iPhone

Whilst trying to solve the problem of loading media files on your iPhone, you will also need to delete cookies and web history.

How to delete cookies and web history.

1. Open the “Settings” App.
2. Tap “Safari”.
3.  Tap “Clear history and website data”.
4. Tap “Clear” to confirm.

As well as deleting web history and cookies, you will also need to delete website data.

How to delete website data. 

1. Open the “Settings” App.
2. Tap “Safari”.
3. Tap “Website Data”.

From here you can either remove all your website data by scrolling to the bottom and clicking “Remove all Website data” however this will log you out from any websites you are currently logged into. If you would prefer not to be logged out of sites you can find the website you are experiencing trouble with and delete data from that site. To do this you…

1. Tap “Show all sites” at the bottom.
2. Tap “Edit” in the right-hand corner.
3. Tap the red sign to the left of the website.
4. Tap “Delete”.

Some Final Useful Tips…

If none of this work. It’s worth checking the video you are trying to view is available to watch in your country. A lot of website content is not licensed to be viewed in all countries. If you still want to watch that video you can download an extension called Hola, which will change your IP address to whichever country you use. However, it’s worth looking through the fine print if you are planning to download the free extension since the site has been accusing of selling bandwidth in the past. A lot of Internet Services Providers will also block websites because of their  “no piracy” or “fair usage” policy if the content you are trying to watch is from a website with a lot of pirated content.

I hope this has been useful to you and you have solved your issue with the “Error Loading Media File Could Not Be Played” media file If you having any other issues whilst browsing the internet maybe you can find the solution in our “Ultimate HTTP Error Code List”