How to fix Youtube lag on Windows 11

by

YouTube videos are usually available with varying streaming quality. Videos can be played at resolutions up to 240 pixels. You usually won’t play videos this low unless your internet connection is exceptionally slow. YouTube automatically chooses a lower resolution so the video plays smoothly even if the internet is slow.

Fix YouTube lag on Windows 11

If you have a stable and fast internet connection and YouTube is slow, your desktop OS may be to blame. Windows 11 users reported YouTube video lag issues. This usually happens exclusively when loading YouTube and other sites without any problem. You can run a speed test of your connection, but if YouTube is streaming smoothly on devices other than Windows 11, try the fix below.

1. Update your drivers

Windows 11 can work with older drivers, that is, the ones you used for Windows 10. However, you should update your drivers to newer ones if available. In some cases, outdated drivers can cause lag.

  1. Open Device Manager.
  2. Expand Display Adapters.
  3. Right click on the integrated graphics cardand select Update Drivers.
  4. Search the Internet for driver updatesand install the ones that are available.
  5. Repeat this for the GPU.
  6. Expand Network Adapters.
  7. Right click on the network cardand select Update Driver.
  8. Find driver updates online.
  9. After installing the drivers, reboot the system.

2. Roll back drivers

The new drivers are perfect, but Windows 11 may not always work well with them. This is more of a problem with Windows 11 than with drivers, but you should nonetheless downgrade to an older version if you can.

  1. Open Device Manager.
  2. Expand Network Adapters.
  3. Double click the network adapter.
  4. Click the Driver tab.
  5. Click the Rollback button.
  6. Let the driver uninstall and install the older one.
  7. Reboot your system.
  8. Check out streaming on YouTube.

3. Replace the graphics card you are using.

Make sure your browser is using the built-in graphics card. You don’t need a GPU to play YouTube videos. In fact, the GPU can cause lag.

  1. Open the Settings app with the keyboard shortcut Win + I.
  2. Log in to the
  3. Select
  4. Select graphicsoptions .
  5. Add your browser.
  6. Select it and click Options.
  7. Select the built-in graphics card for the browser.
  8. Restart your browserand play the YouTube video.

4. Disable hardware acceleration.

Hardware acceleration can cause problems with all kinds of websites. All modern browsers support hardware acceleration, but it might be better to turn it off.

Disable hardware acceleration in Chrome;

  1. Open
  2. Click the ” More options”button in the upper right corner and select “Settings”.
  3. Click ” More” in the column on the left.
  4. Select
  5. Turn off hardware acceleration.

Disable graphics acceleration in Firefox;

  1. Open
  2. Paste this about: preferences # generalinto the address bar and press Enter.
  3. Go to the “Performance” section.
  4. Disable the use of hardware acceleration, if available.

Conclusion

One or more of these fixes should fix YouTube lag in Windows 11. Make sure your browser is up to date and you have no pending updates for Windows 11. If your system is waiting to restart, restart it and wait for the updates to complete.

Leave a Comment