YouTube Not Working on Vizio TV (QUICK & EASY Fix) in 2024!

If you are having troubles with YouTube app on your on Vizio TV, then worry no more because you are on the right page.

I am going to show you a step-by-step troubleshooting guide to fix this issue and get YouTube app to start working on your Vizio SmartCast TV in 2024.

Without any further ado, let’s dive right in!

YouTube Not Working on Vizio SmartCast TV

Below are proven ways to get YouTube app to work on your Vizio TV:

1. Check if Your Vizio TV is Still Compatible

Not all Vizio SmartCast TVs are compatible with YouTube app. Before anything, you need to be sure that your smart TV is actually compatible with YouTube. 

Some of the older Vizio TVs no longer support YouTube after an upgrade in the app, as seen in the table below. 

Any model with an asterisk (*) no longer supports YouTube
E241i-A1*	E241i-A1w*	E291i-A1*	E320i-A0*	E320i-A2
E322AR	E322VL	E390i-A1*	E3D320VX*	E3D420VX*
E3D470VX*	E3DB420VX*	E401i-A2	E420d-A0*	E420i-A0*
E420i-A1*	E422AR	E422VA*	E422VL*	E422VLE*
E423VL*	E470i-A0*	E472VL*	E472VLE*	E500d-A0*
E500i-A0*	E500i-A1*	E502AR	E550i-A0*	E550i-A0E*
E551d-A0*	E551i-A2*	E551VA*	E552VL*	E552VLE*
E601i-A3*	E650i-A2*	E701i-A3*	M220NV	M221NV
M261VP	M320KD*	M320SL*	M320SR	M320SV*
M370SL*	M370SR*	M370SV*	M3D420SR*	M3D421SR*
M3D460SR*	M3D470KD*	M3D470KDE*	M3D550KD*	M3D550KDE*
M3D550SL*	M3D550SR*	M3D650SV*	M3D651SV*	M420KD*
M420SL*	M420SR*	M420SV*	M421VT	M470KD*
M470NV	M470SL*	M470SV*	M470VSE	M472VL*
M550KD*	M550NV	M550SL*	M550SV*	M550VSE
M650VSE	SV422XVT	SV472XVT	VF552XVT	XVT323SV
XVT373SV	XVT3D424SV	XVT3D474SV	XVT3D554SV	XVT3D650SV
XVT423SV	XVT473SV	XVT553SV	VBR121*	VBR122*
VBR133*	VBR135*	VBR140*	VBR370*

• If your Vizio SmartCast TV is still compatible, then you can move to the next fix.
• Otherwise, if you have an older Vizio TV model that no longer supports YouTube, there are two alternative ways to get YouTube on your Vizio TV

Alternative Ways to Get YouTube on Unsupported Vizio TV

A. Couple a Supported Streaming Device

You can simply couple a streaming device that supports YouTube to your Vizio TV.

These streaming devices include Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 console, Chromecast and Apple TV.

You may even have any of this streaming devices already in your home. In that case, you are in luck. .

For Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and other supported USB stick streaming devices, you need to plug the streaming device to your Vizio TV’s HDMI port. Switch your TV source to the HDMI port you’ve plugged into and the streaming device should be running.

Depending on which of the streaming devices you are using, you can simply add YouTube channel on it under the apps/channel section either by using the search icon or voice search prompt (on Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV).

With YouTube app installed on the streaming device and the streaming device plugged into your Vizio TV, you can easily stream YouTube on your Vizio TV without any issue.

B. Connect Your Phone/PC to Vizio TV

This is also easy to set up.

Even more, you do not need to spend an extra dollar purchasing an extra streaming device if you already don’t have one.

All your need to do is share your screen from your phone/PC to your Vizio TV while streaming YouTube app on your phone.

You can do this either via wired connection using HDMI cables, or wirelessly via screen sharing. 

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2. Power Cycle Your Vizio TV

Power cycling can help fix a lot of streaming issues on your smart TV. It can help fix unresponsiveness, black screen, crash, lag while streaming.

It does this by removing corrupt cache files. 

Power cycle is also known as a ‘Soft reset’ (in case you are wondering, all your settings, installed channels/apps and configurations will still be intact).

Here’s how to power cycle your Vizio TV and fix this issue with YouTube app not loading:

• While the TV is on, unplug it directly from the power outlet
• Leave it unplugged for 60 seconds
• Plug the TV back into the power outlet
• Open YouTube app, and you should be good to go!

Alternatively, you can also perform a soft reset directly from the TV menu.

• To do that, click on the menu button on your Vizio remote controller and go to System > Reset & Admin > Soft Power Cycle

If that fixed the issue for you, great! Otherwise, move to the next tip.

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3. Troubleshoot Network Connection & Update DNS

A slow or unstable internet connection can cause YouTube app to not work on your Vizio TV. First thing you can do is restart your network router.

To do this, unplug your router, wait for 30 seconds and plug it back in. Once this has been done, connect your Vizio SmartCast TV to your router and try to access YouTube again.

There are a couple of other things you can do to fix any potential network issue, you can find some of them below:

• Restart your network router: Unplug your network router, leave it unplugged for 30 seconds and plug it back in. Wait for the router to be back online and ensure that your TV is connected back to it. Finally, open the YouTube app again and you should be good to go!
• Reduce activity on your network connection: If there are other devices connected to your network router, these devices may be using up a large amount of the network bandwidth, thereby slowing down your network. Therefore, try disconnecting other devices that are connected to your network and see if that fixes the issue.
• Connect to a different network router: If YouTube stops freezing or buffering after switching to a different network connection, then you know for sure that the issue is with your network connection. On the other hand, if nothing changes, then the issue likely has nothing to do with your network connection or (maybe the alternative network connection is also not fast enough).
• Try an ethernet cable: Some users have reported that switching to an ethernet cable has fixed the freezing or buffering issue for them. This is not surprising since hardwired connections are generally faster than Wi-Fi connections. 

• Update DNS Server to Google DNS: Google has one of the fastest DNS servers. By switching your DNS, YouTube app should start working on your Vizio TV.

How to Update DNS Server on Vizio TV:

• Click on the Menu button on your TV remote and go to Network > Manual Setup.

• Under Pref. DNS server, enter 8.8.8.8
• Under Alt. DNS server, enter 8.8.4.4

• Click on ‘Save’.
• Wait for it to be reconnected to the new DNS server and then restart your Vizio TV.
• Finally, open the YouTube app again and it should work without any issue. 

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4. Update Vizio SmartCast TV Software

If your Vizio SmartCast software is outdated, you might experience issues like YouTube or other apps crashing or showing a black screen when you try to open it.

What you need to do is simple: update the software version to the latest one. 

Here’s how to update your Vizio TV software:

• Click on the Menu button on your Vizio TV remote
• Under TV settings, scroll down to ‘System’, select it.

• On the system settings menu, click on ‘Check for Updates’

• You will see a prompt asking if you want to check for update. Highlight ‘Yes’ and click enter button.

• If there is an available software, your TV will proceed to download and install it (as long as it is connected to the internet)

Now, open the app and it should start working.

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5. Check If YouTube Server Is Down

At this point, before we continue looking for other potential causes of the issue on your Vizio SmartCast TV, it’s about time we looked at a potential cause from YouTube.

Although not common, YouTube streaming server can be down sometimes In such instances, the issue is a general one from their servers and is not specific to you or your Vizio SmartCast TV.

When this happens, you could experience a number of things like YouTube app crashing suddenly, you may be logged out of your account out of nowhere and being unable to log back in or the app might just show a black screen on your Vizio TV.

• In some cases like this, the support team may post an update on their social media handle like the one below:

So, go ahead and check if there’s any such update on their social media handles (Twitter and Facebook).

• In other cases, the server could be down and no such update will be posted. So, how do you know in such cases?

There is an online tool you can use to check if YouTube server is down (whether globally or only in certain locations). Click here to check it on down detector.

You can also check if YouTube app works on other devices like mobile phone, PC or other streaming devices other than you Vizio TV. If it doesn’t, that’s another proof that it could be a general issue.

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6. Reset TV to Factory Settings

If you have done all of the above and YouTube is still not working on your Vizio TV, then you should hard reset the TV (i.e restore factory settings).

Here’s how to reset your Vizio TV to factory defaults:

• Press the ‘Menu button’ on your TV, select ‘Admin & Privacy’

• Then, select ‘Reset TV to Factory Settings’ or ‘Clear Memory’

NOTE: On some older Vizio TV models, you will find this under the ‘System’ settings and not under ‘Admin & Privacy’.

• You will get a prompt asking you to confirm the reset, click on ‘Reset’ to confirm it

Once the reset has been done, proceed to set up your TV from afresh while selecting all the appropriate options. Open up YouTube app and the app should work. 

Alternatively, you can reset it without your TV remote by following the steps below:

• Look for the buttons on your Vizio smart TV (could be behind your TV or at the lower edge depending on the model of your TV)
• While your TV is on, press and hold the Volume down + Input/Source buttons simultaneously until you get a memory/factory reset prompt on your TV.

• nce you see the prompt, press and hold the INPUT button alone for 10 seconds (you will see another prompt on your TV showing that it is being reset/memory is being cleared if done right)

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7. Contact Vizio for Support

If you have followed all the tips stated above, your YouTube should be working by now.

However, if YouTube app is still not launching, crashing or showing a black screen on your Vizio TV after following the troubleshooting tips above, your next move is to contact Vizio for support.

You can find the contact details below.

Chat & SMS:

• For SMS support text 205-301-3729.
• For Chat, click here.

Monday-Friday 8am-8pm CST

Saturday-Sunday 9am-8pm CST

Phone:

For phone support dial (844) 254-8087

Monday-Friday 8am-11pm CST

Saturday-Sunday 9am-8pm CST

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Bottom Line

If YouTube is not working on your Vizio TV, whether it crashes when you try to open it, shows a black screen or doesn’t even open at all, do the following to fix it:

• Make sure your Vizio TV is compatible with YouTube
• Power cycle your Vizio TV
• Troubleshoot the network connection and update DNS
• Update Vizio SmartCast TV system software
• Check if YouTube server is down
• Reset TV to factory settings
• Contact Vizio support for further assistance

If your TV does not support YouTube app, you can couple a streaming device, install YouTube app on it, plug it into your Vizio TV and you are good to go.

Let know which of these tips worked for you in the comment section. Also, kindly share the content with others by using the share buttons.