11 Proven Ways to Speed Up YouTube on Any Device

Make YouTube videos load fast and stop excess buffering

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: January 2, 2025 Fact Checked

This wikiHow guide teaches you how to improve YouTube video loading speeds on your computer, phone, or tablet. While there is no way to guarantee faster performance after a certain point, there are a few things that you can do to decrease the amount of time that YouTube videos take to load.

Get YouTube to Load Faster: Quick Fixes

Close background programs and unneeded browser tabs.
Switch to ethernet or move closer to your Wi-Fi router.
Decrease the video quality.
Change your DNS servers to Google's free DNS.
Clear your cache and cookies.
Stop streaming or downloading on other networked devices.
Restart your router.

1

Close background apps or programs.

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While your computer's, phone's, or tablet's performance doesn't directly affect your internet speed, it will affect your browser's speed, ultimately slowing down your YouTube videos' load times. Close apps and/or programs that you don't need to increase your videos' load speeds.

2

Pause your downloads and streaming services.

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Whether you have Netflix running elsewhere in the house or you're downloading an update on your phone, having information downloading over your network will increase load times for any other streaming services, including YouTube.

3

Close extra browser tabs.

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If you don't absolutely need other windows or tabs open in your current browser, close them. The fewer items you have open in your browser, the faster your videos will load.

4

Open one YouTube video at a time.

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Ironically, loading YouTube videos in advance will slow down the videos you're trying to watch in the meantime. Stick to one video at a time, and you should notice a difference.

5

Lower the video quality.

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Choose a lower resolution if your connection is slow. YouTube video quality directly correlates with buffer speed: The higher the quality, the longer the video will take to load. If your internet connection or computer feels slow, you can get YouTube videos to load faster by switching to a lower resolution. To lower the quality of a YouTube video, do the following:^{[1]
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- Click or tap the gear on the video (you may have to pause it first).
- Select Quality.
- Choose a lower quality. For a very slow connection, choose 480p or lower.

6

Strengthen your internet connection.

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Your home network might be the culprit. Move closer to your router and make sure that your computer, phone, or tablet has a direct line of sight to the router itself.
- If you have a computer with an ethernet port, connecting it directly to your router with an ethernet cable will speed up your connection.
- You can also connect to the 5.0 GHz band on your router's network (if the router has more than one band) to increase your Wi-Fi network speed amount of data that you can use. You will need to remain close to the router while doing so.

7

Use Google DNS.

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Switch your DNS settings to YouTube's free servers. Your device is likely using your ISP's DNS (Domain Name Service) servers to convert domain names into IP addresses—a process that happens constantly while you use the internet. Google offers public DNS servers anyone can use, and YouTube (which is owned by Google) often runs faster when you use them. You'll just need to change the default DNS servers to Google's:^{[2]
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- 8.8.8.8
- 4.4.4.4

8

Clear your cache and cookies.

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Clear your browser's cookies. If you let your browser's temporary files, history, and other information build up for long enough, your browser will begin acting sluggish. Clearing your browsing history and cookies will cause your browser to run faster, though you'll also need to sign back into any sites you were signed into.

9

Try a different web browser.

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Give another browser a try. These days, there are many web browsers to choose from. According to benchmark tests, Opera and Google Chrome are faster than Safari for Mac, so if you're using a Mac, try one of those browsers. On Windows, Microsoft Edge is a little faster than Chrome, and Opera is much slower than both.^{[3]
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- Even if you don't switch your browser, make sure that you're using the most up-to-date version possible. This will also ensure that your browsing is as secure as possible.
- If you're on mobile, make sure that the YouTube app is up to date.

10

Restart your router.

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A quick router reboot can help speed up your network. Just unplug your router's power cable (and your modem, if it's a separate device), leave it unplugged for about 10 seconds, and then plug it back in. Wait a few minutes for the router to come back up after the network reset before trying YouTube again.
- If resetting the router doesn't fix this problem, you should call your Internet service provider to report the problem.

11

Get rid of YouTube ads.

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The easiest and most legitimate way to get rid of YouTube ads is to pay for YouTube Premium. If you're not ready to commit, you can try an ad-blocker like uBlock Origin, or a web browser like Brave that blocks ads by default.

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Tips

You should check your Internet's speed before contacting your internet service provider to report slow internet. This will give you and the provider an idea of how severe the slowdown is, which may help pinpoint the problem.

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Ultimately, your YouTube buffer speed will depend on your Internet plan. You may need to increase your plan's speed to achieve your desired load times.

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