How to fix YouTube when upload gets stuck

If you upload a new YouTube video and the ‘Uploading’ indicator gets stuck for a long time on the same percentage there are several things you can try. It’s most common that there’s a problem if it gets stuck on 0% or 1%.

Watch the video above for your options including what worked for me.

Potential fixes:

1. Just wait: sometimes YouTube’s servers are busy or you have a particularly slow internet connection and it just takes time. Go and get a drink and come back after 15-20 minutes to see if there’s any change. This is particularly true when you’re uploading a huge file. Consider reducing the file size if it’s more than a GB and you’re not on a great internet connection
2. Check your internet connection: if your connection is very slow or it has dropped completely, then this could be the issue. If it dropped completely, then try cancelling the upload and start again.
3. Re-upload it: cancel the upload, refresh your browser (even better, clear cache/cookies) and then re-upload it. Is it stuck at the same percentage? If so, go onto the next step.
4. Try another video: cancel your original video upload, re-upload a different video that has worked in the past (set to Private!) and see if that gets stuck as well which will give you an indication of whether it might be an issue with a particular video or more generally.
5. Change browser: on the rare occasion my upload has got completely stuck for 20 minutes plus, this is the fix that has worked for me. Open a different browser, clear the cache/cookies, sign in again and then re-upload it.
6. Re-format it: is your file huge? Try reducing the file size by adjusting your settings, e.g. resolution size, and re-uploading as above. While YouTube accepts a number of different formats, the default is MP4, so try converting it to MP4 and re-uploading it. However, YouTube will normally give you an error message if there’s a problem with the format, so it’s one of the ones to try last.
7. Other suggestions: please add any other suggestions and fixes in the comments below to help each other out.