This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Firefox is not playing videos on websites.

  • 8 replies
  • 7 have this problem
  • 4920 views
  • Last reply by FredMcD

more options

I am trying different add-ons from your suggestions hoe ever nothing is working. Youtube videos are not playing same as videos and audios from different other sites

I am trying different add-ons from your suggestions hoe ever nothing is working. Youtube videos are not playing same as videos and audios from different other sites

Chosen solution

Did you disable those add-ons?

Try disabling graphics hardware acceleration in Firefox. Since this feature was added to Firefox it has gradually improved but there are still a few glitches.

You will need to restart Firefox for this to take effect so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.,) and then perform these steps:

In Firefox 54 and below:

  1. Click the menu button New Fx Menu and select Options (Windows) or Preferences (Mac, Linux).
  2. Select the Advanced panel and the General tab.
  3. Uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
  4. Close Firefox completely and then restart Firefox to see if the problem persists.

In Firefox 55 and above:

  1. Click the menu button New Fx Menu and select Options (Windows) or Preferences (Mac, Linux).
  2. Select the General panel.
  3. Under Performance, uncheck Use recommended performance settings. Additional settings will be displayed.
    Fx55Performance-disableHWA
  4. Uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
  5. Close Firefox completely and then restart Firefox to see if the problem persists.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

If the problem is resolved, you should check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in these Knowledge base articles:

Thank you.

Read this answer in context 👍 1

All Replies (8)

more options

You have several YouTube add-ons. Disable them.


Make sure you are not blocking content.

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} by holding down the <Shift> (Mac=Options) key, and then starting Firefox.

A small dialog should appear. Click Start In Safe Mode (not Refresh). Is the problem still there?

more options

ok, that helped

more options

However, Problem is not solved because youtube is working only in safe mode. After restarting normally firefox is not playing any videos and all add-ons are off

more options

janis1 said

However, Problem is not solved because youtube is working only in safe mode. After restarting normally firefox is not playing any videos and all add-ons are off

In that case : would you please remove the Chosen Solution mark  ?

You can do so by clicking on the 'Undo' button to the right of that post.

When you say :

" Youtube videos are not playing same as videos and audios from different other sites "

Could you be a bit more specific - like : what exactly is the difference  ?

more options

for example https://videos.pexels.com/ not playing

more options

Chosen Solution

Did you disable those add-ons?

Try disabling graphics hardware acceleration in Firefox. Since this feature was added to Firefox it has gradually improved but there are still a few glitches.

You will need to restart Firefox for this to take effect so save all work first (e.g., mail you are composing, online documents you're editing, etc.,) and then perform these steps:

In Firefox 54 and below:

  1. Click the menu button New Fx Menu and select Options (Windows) or Preferences (Mac, Linux).
  2. Select the Advanced panel and the General tab.
  3. Uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
  4. Close Firefox completely and then restart Firefox to see if the problem persists.

In Firefox 55 and above:

  1. Click the menu button New Fx Menu and select Options (Windows) or Preferences (Mac, Linux).
  2. Select the General panel.
  3. Under Performance, uncheck Use recommended performance settings. Additional settings will be displayed.
    Fx55Performance-disableHWA
  4. Uncheck Use hardware acceleration when available.
  5. Close Firefox completely and then restart Firefox to see if the problem persists.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

If the problem is resolved, you should check for updates for your graphics driver by following the steps mentioned in these Knowledge base articles:

Thank you.

more options

disabling graphics hardware acceleration in Firefox helped. Thank you

more options

Glad to help. Safe Surfing.