YouTube is a global phenomenon and a juggernaut in the video platform world, but it is not infallible. Certain bugs affect it, hitting certain users in particular situations. Sometimes you may have problems with YouTube comments not loading or showing up.
When watching a YouTube video you may be curious as to the opinions of others or to get the extra contexts that the video may not have offered or clearly relayed.
But without the comments, you’re deprived of this opportunity. Luckily there are multiple methods to employ in order to troubleshoot this annoying issue.
The problems with YouTube comments can vary. Some may just show a blank page under the video, while others see a blue spinny wheel.
Sometimes, a few comments will be visible, but when the “more replies” link is clicked, the spinny wheel appears again.
Further reading: 12 Best YouTube to MP3 converter tools (for safe download)
Fixing YouTube Comments Not Loading
Fixing YouTube comments loading issues isn’t a clean cut-and-dried process, though. There’s not a definitive way to know for sure why your YouTube comments won’t load. It could be YouTube itself, or maybe your browser cache.
To troubleshoot your YouTube comments loading problems, follow the steps below and cross-reference your results.
- Sign Into Your Google Account
- Reload YouTube
- View a Different Video
- Change Comment Sorting Format
- Open YouTube in Incognito
- Clear Browser Cache
- Disable Browser Extensions
- Clear App Cache and Data (Android/ iOS)
- Disable Ad Blockers
- Disable Proxy Settings and VPNs
- Reset Your Browser
1. Sign Into Your Google Account
While YouTube video comments should be able to be viewed regardless of whether you are signed in to your Google account or not, sometimes this turns out to be the most basic solution, and certainly the simplest.
Simply clicking the “Sign In” prompt at the top right corner will offer you the possibility of logging on with any of your Google accounts that you have previously used on the device.
If you are already signed on and still not seeing comments, you can try signing out and then signing back in.
Are Youtube comments still not showing? Try signing in with another one of your google accounts and navigate back to the video.
If you don’t have more than one, feel free to create a spare, if for no other reason, but to address these types of issues.
2. Reload YouTube
Another very basic troubleshooting step is as easy as refreshing the page. To reload YouTube, click the rounded arrow icon on your browser header.
Or right-click on any white portion of the YouTube page and select the “Reload” option from the popup menu.
Either option will preload the page. This is usually a quick and easy method to address the “YouTube comments not loading” problem.
Oftentimes, a temporary glitch with the particular video page or a temporary problem on YouTube could have caused the problem. If your first attempt to reload does not work, give it another shot a couple of minutes later.
3. View a Different Video
If you have signed in and reloaded the page a few times, yet still not seeing the comments of a particular video, try selecting a different video to view. Did the comments show up here? If the other video’s comments also do not display, try a third video.
In case those have no comments, there is a possible problem with YouTube or some type of permissions-based bug in play with your particular setup.
If only one video seems to be affected, it might be that the video owner has chosen to review the comments before they are posted.
It is also possible that the page’s owner simply opted to turn the comments off, making any viewer unable to leave comments. This is typically depicted with a message in place of the comments denoting the video owner’s choice.
4. Change Comment Sorting Format
If the blue wheel is plaguing your YouTube experience, consider re-sorting that YouTube page’s comments.
There might be an issue with loading certain older comments, but that should not hang up your experience with viewing them.
In case you choose to re-sort by choosing “Newest First” you are essentially reversing the load of the comments in reverse chronological order. If the newest comments have no issue, you will likely see them appear.
If you are interested in seeing the most popular and most liked comments instead, you can also sort to put Top Comments first.
5. Open YouTube In Incognito Mode
When the comments don’t display, there is a chance that the problem could be with your browser or some latest update that caused the ability to load the comment components to be affected.
This will be reported to YouTube quickly enough, and they will work on sorting it out. Many of these issues are due to cached data or settings (retained from previous accesses to the site), or due to certain aspects of site data, cookies, extensions, or plugins.
If you suspect this to be the case, you can use your browser’s incognito mode. Because this mode uses no plugins or extensions, they won’t get in the way of comments loading.
Google Chrome has an incognito mode that’s easy to access for instance. In the top vertical ellipsis menu, you will see it at the top of the menu, right under the “New window” option.
Don’t forget to look into what extension or a plug-in for your browser caused the problem in the first place at some point later.
6. Clean Browser Cache
Speaking of cached data’s role in preventing websites from working properly, this is another important angle to consider.
Data is cached locally to leave some of the images, thumbnails, and settings from prior visits to the site to speed up loading time during future visits.
Unfortunately, sometimes the restrictions from prior uses remain too. And if your last visit to YouTube included site data that could prevent comments from displaying, the settings may be operating from a local cache rather than being reloaded fresh.
You can clear the cached data and cookies through regular window maintenance routines, or perform a “Hard Refresh”. Most Windows-based browsers can do so by hitting Ctrl + F5 at the same time while on the YouTube page.
7. Disable Browser Extensions
When a YouTube page loads, its various parts load as separate, fragmented components, though they appear as one unified page to the viewer.
If you have installed a recent browser extension or updated one, something about it may be affecting the proper load of certain components on the page.
If you can disable your browser’s plugins, extensions, or recent add-ons, you might be able to regain your ability to view and post comments on YouTube. In Windows, you can select the vertical ellipsis menu and select More tools then Extensions.
From there you can explore all of your currently set extensions and experiment with disabling certain ones that could be causing the problem.
8. Clear App Cache and Data (Android/iOS)
Mobile devices are not immune from YouTube comment problems either. If you are not seeing or are not able to enter comments on an Android device, you can remove the cache for the app as well.
To do this, select Apps from the Apps & Notifications menu, then select the YouTube app from the list.
Look for the Storage & cache section, which will tell you how much space is currently occupied by cached data on this app. If you drill down into it, you will see a couple of options, one of them being Clear cache.
Use this option to allow a video to reload its components entirely rather than basing it on prior preferences or videos.
In the iOS platform, clearing the cache is a bit more challenging, and essentially requires the deletion and reinstallation of the app.
9. Disable Ad Blockers
Ad Blockers are notorious for causing these types of page loading deficiencies. While useful at blocking ads, sometimes the extension goes overboard with blocking components that it may suspect as spam but is really just a function aspect of the page.
Disabling or tweaking the ad blocker restrictions, or perhaps white-listing the particular video page could allow you to see the comments.
10. Disable Proxy Setting And VPNs
Improperly configured VPNs and certain proxy settings could also be the cause of the YouTube comment viewing issues. The fix for these problems is actually relatively simple.
The VPN settings reconfigure when the VPN is restarted, so if you simply log off the VPN connection and log back on, most configuration hiccups are elevated.
If that doesn’t work, you may need to try shutting the VPN off completely and reloading the YouTube page.
In Windows, the proxy settings can be disabled by pulling up Internet Options from the Start Menu, and navigating to Connections, then to LAN settings.
There will be several checkboxes on the pop-up that follows, all of which are recommended to be unchecked.
11. Reset Your Browser
If you have determined that the web browser you are using is the source of the issue, there is one more, a bit more drastic step, that you can take. This involves resetting your browser.
This is the same basic idea as restoring a piece of electronic equipment to factory settings. During the use of a browser, it undergoes many changes and tweaks.
One of those, among the potential hundreds, can be the source of the YouTube comments issue but tracking down which one can be quite a feat.
If you are ok with taking your browser back to its default state, it will revert to all the initially recommended settings, and you will likely get your comment viewing and writing ability on YouTube back.
I have tried all 11 ways the comments will still not load. 🙁 Is there any other way to fix this?