Are you getting a “Something went wrong Tap to retry” error on YouTube?
A lot of YouTube users have encountered this error before when they tried playing a video.
It can be frustrating because you might not have done anything to cause the error.
Video streaming errors are quite common on YouTube, but they can be easily fixed.
However, some errors can’t be fixed because the issue might be caused on YouTube’s end.
If that’s the case, there’s nothing you can really do about it except waiting.
In this article, you’ll learn why you’re getting a “Something went wrong Tap to retry” error on YouTube, and how to fix it.
By the end of the article, you should be able to pinpoint the cause of the error and eventually fix it.
- Why does my YouTube say “Something went wrong Tap to retry”?
- How to Fix “Something went wrong Tap to retry” on YouTube
- Conclusion
Why does my YouTube say “Something went wrong Tap to retry”?
YouTube says “Something went wrong Tap to retry” because it’s either down, or you’re having a network issue.
If YouTube is down, you won’t be able to watch any videos until YouTube fixes it on their end.
On the other hand, if you’re having a network issue, you have to fix the issue on your own.
If YouTube is down, you’ll encounter the “Something went wrong Tap to retry” error whenever you try playing a video.
Otherwise, you might be having a network issue (which can be fixed).
To begin with, the first thing that you want to do is to check whether YouTube is down.
You can do so by visiting the DownDetector website and Twitter.
If YouTube is down, there will be a huge spike on the DownDetector graph.
If there are minor spikes, it means that the “Something went wrong Tap to retry” is not a global issue.
However, if there’s a huge spike, there’s a high chance that YouTube is actually down.
On 12th November 2020, YouTube was down on a global scale.
YouTube had a global outrage on 12th November 2020 where videos were unable to play.
The YouTube app, music, TV, desktop site, and community forum were all experiencing interruptions.
Here’s what the graph looked like on that day:
When that happens, the media will be the first ones to cover it.
Thus, doing a quick Google search for, “YouTube down” will provide you with all the information you need.
In conjunction with visiting the DownDetector graph on YouTube, you can check Twitter for updates as well.
Typically, when a major platform like YouTube is down, there will be people tweeting about it.
On November 12, 2020, the hashtag #YouTubeDOWN was trending on Twitter.
You can search for this hashtag on Twitter and see whether people are aggressively tweeting it.
You can also search for “YouTube down” on Twitter to check whether people are actively discussing it.
If you see a lot of tweets with the hashtag, #YouTubeDOWN, there’s a high chance that YouTube is currently down.
If the issue is persistent, YouTube will tweet about it on their official Twitter account(s).
YouTube is known to have a close to 100% uptime, so a global outrage is quite unlikely.
However, other major social media platforms like Instagram happened to be down a few times in a single year, so this isn’t atypical.
These outrages are bound to happen, and the best thing to do is to spread awareness about it.
You can do so by reporting it on various down detectors and posting it on other social media platforms using the appropriate hashtags.
At 9:13 PM EST, YouTube tweeted that the interruption is fixed across all of their services:
The outrage lasted for more than two hours after it was finally fixed.
Users managed to play videos on YouTube after restarting the app or refreshing the page.
How to Fix “Something went wrong Tap to retry” on YouTube
To fix “Something went wrong Tap to retry” on YouTube, you can either try force restarting your device, resetting your network settings, or waiting until YouTube fixes it on their end (if YouTube is down).
If YouTube is down, you need to wait for them to fix it on their end.
However, if YouTube isn’t down, you can try force restarting your device or resetting your network settings.
If YouTube is down, you won’t be able to use their services until they fixed it on their end.
However, if YouTube isn’t down, the “Something went wrong Tap to retry” error is most likely caused by a network issue.
iPhone users tend to encounter this issue more than Android users.
If you’re using YouTube on a desktop, you’ll encounter a different error message.
If you’re having issues with the YouTube app, you can try force restarting your device and see whether that solves the issue.
Alternatively, you can reset your network settings to fix any connectivity issues.
Here’s how you can use these methods in detail.
1. Force restart your device
The first method is to force restart/hard restart your device.
Force restarting your device can help to solve common issues that you might face.
According to a discussion thread on Reddit, most users managed to solve the, “Something went wrong Tap to retry” error on YouTube after force restarting their device.
Force restarting your device is straightforward.
Here’s how you can force restart an iPhone without a home button:
- Press the up button, then press the down button consecutively.
- Hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.
Here’s how you can force restart an iPhone with a home button:
- Hold the home button and the side button.
- Release the buttons once you see the Apple logo.
Here’s how you can force restart an Android device:
- Hold the volume down button and the power button.
- Release the buttons once the device has powered off.
After you force restarted your device, open YouTube and try playing a video.
The video should be able to play without any interruptions.
2. Reset Network Settings
The second method is to reset your network settings.
However, you should only use this method if the first one does not work.
This is because resetting your network settings will delete all of your existing Wi-Fi passwords.
It’ll also delete your VPN, APN, and cellular settings.
So, you’ll have to reconfigure them again after you’ve reset your network settings (which can be a pain).
Here’s how you can reset your network settings on an iPhone:
- Go to your Settings.
- Navigate to General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
Here’s how you can reset your network settings on an Android device:
- Go to your Settings.
- Navigate to General management/System.
- Tap on Reset/Reset options > Reset Network Settings.
- Confirm the reset.
According to a discussion thread on Reddit, the vast majority of users managed to solve the, “Something went wrong Tap to retry” error on YouTube after resetting their network settings.
This is because resetting your network settings will help to fix any Wi-Fi connection issues that you might be experiencing.
So the next time you connect to your Wi-Fi, you should be able to play videos on YouTube again.
3. Wait for YouTube to fix it
In the event that YouTube is down, you have to wait for them to fix it.
As mentioned earlier in the article, you can check YouTube’s status by visiting the DownDetector website or Twitter.
You can also look for any media mentions.
If YouTube is down, there isn’t anything that you can do on your end to fix the “Something went wrong Tap to retry” error.
So don’t bother force restarting your device or resetting your network settings because they are redundant.
You’ll end up wasting your time if you do.
The last time YouTube was down, it took them slightly over 2 hours to fix the issue.
Until then, you have to be patient and wait for the updates on YouTube’s official Twitter account.
Conclusion
In the present, YouTube has grown into one of the largest social media platforms in the world, entertaining nearly 2 billion people every month.
An outrage like the one on November 12, 2020, has attracted a ton of attention which led many users to vent their frustrations on other socials like Twitter.
Unfortunately, social media giants aren’t immune to server issues, so it’s not uncommon to experience interruptions while you’re using the platform(s).
In a nutshell, if you’re getting the “Something went wrong Tap to retry” error on YouTube, it’s likely that YouTube is down.
If that’s the case, you have to be patient until it’s resolved on their end.
Otherwise, you might be experiencing network issues which can be solved by force restarting your device or resetting your network settings.
These couple of solutions have fixed the error for most users (as extrapolated in the article).
Further Reading
What Does “Join” Mean on YouTube?
How to Fix “Comment failed to post” on YouTube
What Does “Clear Cache” Mean on TikTok?
Author: Lim How Wei is the founder of Followchain. Feel free to follow him on Instagram.
