Trying to watch a video, but your browser throws an error code 102630 (This video file cannot be played.)? Don’t worry, you are not alone in this error code.
Several users have reported the same issue when playing videos on their browsers. Hence, this article helps you and them resolve this issue quickly with some straightforward, easy, and effective solutions.
Since the first step towards solving any problem is understanding it, along with its causes, let’s begin with an overview of the issue.
What Is This Video File Cannot Be Played (Error Code 102630)
Error code 102630 appears when a video cannot be played on your browser. In other words, this error is an indication that your browser or media player is experiencing problems when loading the desired video. It may happen due to a variety of factors, such as the ones we discuss next.
What Causes the Error 102630 (This Video File Cannot Be Played)
The error code 102630 may appear for many reasons, such as an unstable network connection, outdated or corrupted browser cookies and cache, unsupported video format, hardware acceleration, video file corruption, and interference from browser add-ons and extensions. Let’s understand these causes in a bit more detail.
While browser cache and cookies help load web pages faster, if these cookies and cache become outdated or corrupted, it interferes with video playback.
Unstable network connection
Often, users experience error 102630 when playing videos online due to sudden drops in the internet connection, high network congestion, and low bandwidth.
Video format is not supported
The video format you are trying to play may not be compatible with your browser. Sometimes, the older browser versions do not support new video formats, leading to issues like “This video file cannot be played. Error code: 102630.
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Hardware acceleration is on
Hardware acceleration is a browser feature that improves performance by offloading tasks to the computer’s GPU. However, it may interfere with video playback, causing error 102630.
Corrupted video file
If the video file itself is corrupted, it will not play, leading to error code 102630 (This video file cannot be played).
Browser extensions and add-ons
While add-ons and extensions enhance the browser functionality and experience, they may also interfere with your video player, causing an error 102630.
Since you are now familiar with the issue, let’s walk you through how to fix error code 102630.
How to Fix the Error Code 102630 (This Video File Cannot Be Played)
You can fix error 102630 by ensuring a stable internet connection, clearing your browser’s cache and cookies, updating the browser, disabling hardware acceleration, ending all browser processes, clearing the DNS cache, and deactivating the browser extensions and add-ons. Below are these solutions in detail. You can begin with the first fix and stop when the problem is solved.
Fix 1: Check your internet connection
Since internet connection problems may result in “This video file cannot be played. Error code: 102630. Below is what you can do to ensure internet connection stability.
- Restart the router.
- Connect to another network.
Outdated or corrupted cookies and cache may be a reason you experience error code 102630 when playing videos on your browser. Hence, below is how to delete cache and cookies on Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome (the two most popular browsers).
Note: While there may be a slight difference, the process to remove temporary files, such as cookies and cache, is the same across all browsers.
- First, click the three horizontal dots in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
- Second, choose Settings from the on-screen menu.
- In this step, choose Privacy, search, and services from the left sidebar of the Settings screen.
- Next, choose what to clear from the clear browsing data section.
- You can now select the desired Time range (we recommend selecting all time).
- Lastly, check the Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files box, and then click on the Clear now box.
- First, click on the three dots in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
- Second, hover over the History option in the on-screen menu and then choose Clear browsing data from the available options.
- In this step, select the time range for which you want to delete cache and cookies. We recommend selecting All time.
- Next, ensure the Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files boxes are checked.
- Lastly, click Clear data to confirm deletion.
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Fix 3: Update the browser
Old or outdated browser versions do not support many new video formats, leading to errors like error code: 102630 (This video file cannot be played). Hence, below is how to update the two popular browsers, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
Updating Google Chrome
- First, click the three top-right dots.
- Second, hover over the Help option and then click About Google Chrome.
- In this step, wait until Chrome installs the required updates.
- Lastly, restart the browser to complete the process.
Updating Microsoft Edge
- First, click the three horizontal dots in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
- Second, choose Help and feedback from the on-screen dropdown menu.
- In this step, select About Microsoft Edge from the submenu that appears.
- Wait until Microsoft Edge checks for updates.
- Next, download and install the available updates.
- Lastly, restart Edge to complete the process.
Fix 4: Turn off hardware acceleration
While hardware acceleration may improve the browser performance, it may also interfere with video playback. Hence, below is how to deactivate the hardware acceleration on Chrome and Edge to fix the error 102630.
Disabling hardware acceleration on Google Chrome
- In the first step, click on the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
- Second, choose Settings from the on-screen menu.
- Next, select System from the settings sidebar.
- In this step, toggle off Use hardware acceleration when available.
- Lastly, Relaunch Google Chrome.
Disabling hardware acceleration on Microsoft Edge
- First, click on the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner of the browser window.
- Second, select Settings from the on-screen menu.
- In this step, choose System from the available options.
- Lastly, toggle off Use hardware acceleration when available and then Restart Edge.
Fix 5: End browser processes
Certain browser processes can interfere with video playback, resulting in “This video file cannot be played (Error code:102630). Hence, below is what you can do to end these processes on your browser.
- First, open Task Manager using the Ctrl+Alt+Delete shortcut command.
- Second, locate your browser in the Task Manager window.
- Next, right-click your browser and select End task from the on-screen menu.
- You can now open your browser to begin a fresh session.
Fix 6: Try clearing the DNS cache
Clearing the DNS cache removes the outdated website addresses, which may have caused the error 102630, from your computer. Hence, below is how to clear the DNS cache.
- In the first step, right-click the Windows icon on the taskbar and then choose Windows PowerShell (Admin) from the on-screen menu.
- Next, copy-paste the following command in the on-screen window and press Enter.
Clear-DnsClientCache
- Lastly, refresh your browser’s webpage.
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Fix 7: Disable browser extensions and add-ons
Browser extensions and add-ons can conflict with video playback. Hence, below is how to disable them on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
Disabling extensions and add-ons on Chrome
- First, click the three dots in the upper-right corner.
- Second, hover over Extensions and then choose Manage Extensions.
- In this step, toggle off each extension one by one or click Remove.
Disabling extensions and add-ons on Microsoft Edge
- First, click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
- Second, choose Extensions from the on-screen menu.
- In this step, choose the Manage Extensions option.
- You can now toggle off extensions one by one to disable them temporarily or click remove to uninstall them permanently.
This Video File Cannot Be Played (Error Code: 102630) Fixed
That is how to fix the error code 102630 (This video file cannot be played). You can apply the above fixes sequentially and stop when the problem disappears. However, if none of these fixes work, the issue may be on the server side, and you cannot do anything about it, except wait and check again.
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