Safari is a feature-rich, battery-friendly browser on Mac. Sometimes Safari keeps crashing on Mac, has performance issues, high memory consumption and other issues. However, one of the legitimate reasons people switch from Safari to other browsers is when videos aren’t playing properly.
While Safari has undergone drastic changes over the past few years, it still suffers from issues when playing videos on websites or streaming services. Safari not playing videos can be confusing and often results in switching to another browser. But it is not necessary. You can apply these best solutions when Safari not playing videos on Mac.
1. Check network connection on Mac
Videos require more bandwidth. It is therefore necessary to check the reliability of your Internet connection. If you’re working with sketchy connectivity, Safari won’t play videos and you’ll constantly have to witness the “buffering” message.
Step 1: Click the Wi-Fi icon in the upper right corner of the Mac menu bar.
2nd step: Disable the Wi-Fi toggle for a minute and re-enable it to connect to a stable network.
Then follow the steps below to confirm the connection status.
Step 1: Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the menu bar and open System Settings from the context menu.
Note: System Settings appear as System Preferences in macOS Monterey and earlier.
2nd step: Select Wi-Fi from the sidebar.
Step 3: Confirm the Connected status with a green indicator in the right pane.
You can also run internet speed tests to ensure better reliability and consistency of your Wi-Fi connection. After that, try watching a video with Safari.
2. Reload webpage on Safari
Sometimes Safari may not load the webpage properly. The browser may suffer from video playback issues due to a broken or corrupted webpage. You can reload the webpage and try streaming videos again.
Step 1: Open Safari on Mac and visit the site where you want to watch videos.
2nd step: Tap the reload icon in the address bar at the top.
If Safari won’t play videos on Mac, move on to other troubleshooting tips.
3. Disable iCloud Private Relay on Mac
iCloud Private Relay protects your browsing history from prying eyes. It hides your IP address from third-party services so that no one can see your browsing history and location. The option is enabled by default for Safari users. You need to turn off iCloud Private Relay and try again.
Step 1: Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the menu bar and open System Settings from the context menu.
2nd step: When System Settings opens, select your Apple account.
Step 3: Open iCloud.
Step 4: Select “Private relay”.
Step 5: Disable Private Relay in the next menu.
4. Disable Ad Blockers in Safari
Some websites may block video playback due to ad blockers. You should disable these extensions and try to stream videos again.
Step 1: Launch Safari on Mac.
2nd step: Click Safari in the upper right corner of the menu bar and open Settings.
Step 3: Switch to the Extensions tab. Select the disturbing extension from the sidebar.
Step 4: Click “Uninstall” and open it in Finder.
Step 5: Right click on Extension and move it to Trash.
5. Use Safari’s private mode
Safari may not play videos due to corrupted cache. You can simply visit the same webpage in private mode and try again.
Step 1: Launch Safari on Mac.
2nd step: Click File at the top and open New Private Window.
Step 3: Open the website where you want to watch videos and try to play some of them.
6. Clear Safari cookies and website data
If the above trick doesn’t work, clear Safari cookies and website data.
Step 1: With Safari open on your Mac, click Safari in the upper left corner of the menu bar and select Settings from the pop-up menu.
2nd step: When the Safari Settings window opens, navigate to the Privacy tab. Click on “Manage website data”.
Step 3: Click “Delete All” and you are good to go.
7. Check Streaming Service Status
Unable to play videos from Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ or YouTube on Safari? If your favorite service is experiencing an outage, Safari won’t play videos from it. You can head to Downdetector and search for the appropriate video service to confirm the issue.
8. Try Safari Alternative on Mac
Since Chromium is the most popular rendering engine, many websites are optimized for it. You should ditch Safari in favor of Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on Mac and try streaming videos again.
9. Update macOS
Safari is part of macOS on Mac. Apple regularly releases new updates to add features and fix bugs like Safari not playing videos. You must install the latest macOS update.
Step 1: Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the menu bar and open System Settings from the context menu.
2nd step: Select General from the sidebar.
Step 3: Open Software Update and install the pending macOS version.
Enjoy video playback on Mac
Sometimes websites delete videos due to unknown reasons. If you visit the same website again, Safari may load the webpage from cache and display an old video. You cannot play the video because it is deleted from the servers.
What trick worked for you to fix Safari not playing videos on Mac? Let us know in the comments below.