How to fix YouTube videos that stop, pause or freeze after a few seconds ...

Have YouTube videos suddenly started stopping, pausing or freezing after a few seconds in your favourite browser? Here's how to fix the problem and get the YouTube videos working again.

Many people are frustrated that YouTube videos stop playing - or freeze or pause - after 7 or 14 seconds or another short time. The videos also play for a short time without sound, no matter what you do to your volume settings.

Here's how to fix YouTube videos that stop playing early on.

There are a few fixes for different browsers - Firefox, Safari, Chrome, IE, etc - so try them all and see if any of the fixes work.

First, let's re-install Flash.

On a Mac go to System Preferences > Other/ Flash Player > Advanced > Delete All

Press the 'Delete All' button

Now re-install Adobe Flash Player, using this link.

Go through the install process, which will entail you having to quit all open browsers.

Now relaunch your browser, and see if the YouTube videos are working properly.

Not fixed, read on...

Safari YouTube tips

In Safari you might need to enable Plug-Ins.

Go to Safari > Preferences > Security

Go to Internet Plug-ins > 'Allow plug-ins'

And Enable it.

You can press ' Manage Website Settings' button for more options.

Try again. Fixed?

Safari users can also Reset Safari. Click Safari in the menu bar, and from the dropdown select 'Reset Safari'.

Uncheck the boxes beside all items.

Check the box beside 'Remove all website data'.

And click 'Reset'.

YouTube HTML 5 trial to blame?

It's also worth checking whether you are currently in the YouTube HTML 5 trial. This can cause problems.

At the bottom left of the page you should uncheck the box beside 'You are currently in the HTML5 trial'.

Has this fixed the YouTube problem? No?

Turn off all the Extensions or Add-Ons in your browser. See if that fixes the problem and then start adding them back one by one, checking each time if the problem re-occurs. If it does then that's the culprit.

In Safari you'll find Extensions in Preferences.

To view which add-ons you have installed In Firefox go to the Tools dropdown on the menubar.

Click on the Tools menu, and then click Add-ons. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.

Now select the Extensions, Appearance or Plugins panels.

Fixed? What? Use Firefox?

Firefox YouTube tips

Go to Options > Advanced > General. In the second section called Browsing.

Uncheck 'Use Hardware Acceleration when available'.

Unchecking this doesn't seem to have any big impact on Firefox or video performance.