YouTube Not Working on Apple TV? Fix

BySerhat Kurt Posted on Reading Time: 4 minutes

You can watch YouTube on your Apple TV. However, YouTube may not always work perfectly, leaving you unable to watch videos. This article explains how you can fix if you experience issues with the YouTube app on your Apple TV.

YouTube app on Apple TV

You may receive one of the error messages:

  • An error has occurred.
  • Connection lost.
  • Something went wrong.
  • This video is unavailable.
  • YouTube is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

See also: Apple TV: An Error Occurred Loading This Content. Try Again Later.

This article helps you troubleshoot these issues. Please note that YouTube has two similar apps:

  • YouTube App (the standard YouTube) and,
  • YouTube TV App (YouTube’s premium service at a cost of $49.99 per month).

The tips described below will address both of the apps.

Most of the issues can be broken down into three basic categories:

  • A software glitch.
  • An update issue.
  • A network connectivity issue.

How to fix Apple TV YouTube problems

Please try each step below until your issue is fixed:

1. Restart the YouTube app. Please note that you can only close and open the app on the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD. If your device is the Apple TV first, second or third generation, then go to step # 2. Here is how:

See also: Apple TV App Store not working?

  • Using your Siri remote, double press the TV/Home button. This will open the app switcher.
  • In the app-switching view, swipe right or left to find the YouTube app.
  • Swipe up to quit the YourTube app.
  • Then you can return to the main screen by pressing the Home button.
  • Now try to open YouTube.

2. Restart your Apple TV. Here is how:

  • On your Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD, go to Settings > System > Restart.
  • On your Apple TV (3rd generation and earlier), go to Settings > General > Restart.

You can also manually restart your Apple TV:

  • Unplug the power cable.
  • Wait 10 seconds.
  • Plug the power cable back in.

And lastly, you can use your remote to restart your Apple TV:

  • Siri Remote or Apple TV Remote: Press and hold the Menu and Home buttons together until the Apple TV status light flashes.Apple TV remote
  • White or Aluminum Remote: Press and hold the Menu and Down buttons until the status light flashes.

See this article if your Apple TV remote is not working.

Then, try YouTube again.

3. Update your Apple TV. Make sure that your Apple TV is running the latest firmware.

  • Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD: Go to Settings > System > Software Updates > Update Software. This will check for updates and if there is an update, follow the onscreen instructions to download and install.Apple TV Update
  • Apple TV (3rd generation): Go to Settings > General > Software Updates > Update Software. Again if there is an update available, update your Apple TV.

You can also want to turn on Automatic Updates:

  • Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD: Settings > System > Software Updates and select Automatically Update.
  • Apple TV (3rd generation): Settings > General > Software Updates and select Update Automatically.

Once the update is complete, try YouTube again.​

4. Check your internet connection. Make sure that your Apple TV is connected to the Internet:

  • On your Apple TV, go to Settings > General > Network > Test Network and check to see if this test pass or fail. If fails, follow the next steps:
  • Make sure that your Apple TV and your wireless router are close.
  • Restart your router. Simply unplug, wait 1 minute and then replug.
  • Make sure that your account with your cable/internet company is active and also make sure that there are no outages in your area.
  • Also, check your network settings on your Apple TV: Go to Settings > General > Network > Wi-Fi or Ethernet. And ensure that everything is correct. Also, make sure that Configure IP and Configure DNS settings are set to Automatic.

See this article if you want to troubleshoot Apple TV Wi-Fi problems.

5. Reset your Apple TV. Please note that this will erase everything currently stored on your Apple TV. For example, your saved Wi-Fi passwords, etc will be gone. This will restore it to the factory settings. Here is how:

  • Apple TV 4K or Apple TV HD: Go to Settings > System > Reset > Reset.
  • Apple TV (3rd generation) or earlier: Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings.

See also: How to watch Disney Plus on your Apple TV.

Dr. Serhat Kurt worked as a Senior Technology Director specializing in Apple solutions for small and medium-sized educational institutions. He holds a doctoral degree (or doctorate) from the University of Illinois at Urbana / Champaign and a master’s degree from Purdue University. He is a former faculty member. Here is his LinkedIn profile and Google Scholar profile. Email Serhat Kurt.

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19 Comments

  1. When I try to watch a video on YouTube it says Whoops something went wrong. This just started happening. I’ve tried all the above with the exception of factory reset.
    Is anyone else having this problem?

    Reply

  2. I have the same issue. Youtube stops responding after pausing a video. We need to get out of youtube and then restart the apple TV to make it work again. This happens after watching few videos on Youtube.

    Reply

  3. Reinstalling YouTube app or updating the app to the latest version is also worth being tired. if the third-part Apple TV repair tools are acceptable, then related software such as TunesKit iOS System Recovery, Joyoshare UltFix, etc to fix YouTube app not working on Apple TV.

    Reply

  4. Well at least I’m not alone with my 3rd gen freezing YouTube. Has anyone else been able to fix this problem with reinstalling older version?

    Reply

  5. This issue has creeped in for many users below apple 4k device after the latest tvOs update. The only solution is to revert to an older version that has been posted in the trailing thread by Mano piyapume

    Reply

  6. Same issue. It is a pain because that is the only reason I bought my AppleTV to be able to watch YouTube on my TV.

    Reply

  7. Everything was fine on my third generation Apple TV until I updated the software to 7.6 a couple of days ago. Now, it freezes when I hit pause when watching a YouTube video and then nothing works, not even using my iPhone remote app will get it back online. After a force re-start, I’ve gone into settings to unpair and re-pair my remote to no avail. Using another remote – same thing, using my iPhone remote app, same problem – hitting pause when on YouTube will freeze the Apple TV. I have another 3rd gen ATV and its working normally with software 7.5
    Is there a way to go back to software version 7.5. I tried a restore and even though it restores to factory settings it then re-applies the software update so its back to version 7.6.
    I can confirm that the remote is functioning normally with all other apps.

    Reply

    3. You can go back to 7.5 using usb cable connect your Apple TV with Itunes on your PC. I have same problem like you and already fixed it.

      Download tvos 7.5 ipsw file fron this sites ” https://ipsw.me/product/AppleTV ” .Go to Itunes and restore your apple tv with this file .

      Reply

    4. I am having this same issue and it has become extremely annoying and is testing my patience at this point. I did everything you have done and it does not work whatsoever if you pause during a video.

      Reply

    5. Same here. I own three of these and the only one working fine was the one that didn’t get the update (I disabled it as soon as I realized this). It’s the 7.6 update for sure. I haven’t spoken to Apple support since I don’t have time to sit one hour by the phone right now. Restoring won’t fix anything as it deletes everything but will install update 7.6 again anyway as a default. We need to let Apple know about this.

      Reply

  8. Similar issues to others. Lose ability to move between videos or back to the menus using scroll pad. Clicks to start video are not working.

    Reply

    1. Possible fix:

      In the AppleTV YouTube app, go to settings -> linked devices, then link all ios devices that you own.

      I think that maybe(and this could be completely wrong) using a service/app associated with your Google account on devices that aren’t linked somehow kicks you out of your Google account on AppleTV.

      Maybe the explanation isn’t right, but the fix worked for me. Interested to see if it work for others and, if so, if someone else can explain why, that would be smashing

      Reply

  9. Youtube does not work with apple tv HD remote anymore. Unresponsive after opening a few videos, it just stops working until a restart or close-open youtube again. Will NOT pause videos from remote, although iphone app seems ok. All other apps ok like netflix, prime etc. Only youtube has issues on this lame remote. Wish apple offered a roku type without a sliding trackpad, just direction buttons. I only keep it for siri, being neurologically disabled it helps a lot to reduce typing. apple seems to not care about these known issues, for years…

    Reply

    1. I have the same issues. I can watch a few videos fine but then whenever I click on a video to open, nothing happens. I have the hard close the app and relaunch it.

      Reply

  11. Youtube keyboard support is not working for the app recently especially for the Magic Keyboard. Which is ridiculous. I hope they update the app to fix it.

    Reply

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