How to Fix Opera Error Loading Media

Is Opera giving you that annoying “Error loading media: File could not be played” error message? If you can’t play videos on Opera because the browser failed to load media, we’re happy to let you know that we already dug for solutions to help you out.

Why is Opera not playing videos? There are several possible reasons as to why your browser fails to load videos:

The server hosting the videos is down, so make sure to check the service status page for information on known issues
You have an unstable or low-speed network connection
The video format is not supported by your browser
Add-ons or your browser cache and cookies are blocking the videos from playing.

Important Note: Make sure your OS and browser and up-to-date. Install any pending updates, restart your computer, and check if the error is gone.

Solutions to Fix Opera Media Loading Errors

1. Optimize your Internet connection

Playing video content uses more bandwidth than other tasks. As a result, you need to make sure you’ve got a stable Internet connection. Here’s what you can do:

Restart your modem/ router to refresh your signal and keep the connection strong
Check for updates and install the latest router firmware version
Disconnect other devices using the connection to optimize your bandwidth
Close streaming videos that you aren’t actively watching
Use a cable connection which is known to be faster and more stable
Change your WiFi channel especially if you’re living in a block of flats — the signal can become degraded if too many routers are connected to the same channel
Disable your VPN — while a VPN can help you to access geo-restricted video content, it could also slow down your connection
Consider upgrading your network devices if you own an old modem/router.

2. Disable hardware acceleration

Hardware acceleration is a feature that allows browsers to direct certain video and graphics-related tasks to your computer’s GPU in order to offload the CPU and speed up your machine.

But if you own an old or low-specs computer, you may want to prevent Opera from putting a strain on your graphics card so as to load content faster as this could lead to video playing issues and errors.

Click on the Opera logo and select Settings
Scroll down all the way to Advanced and click on this option
Then, scroll down to System and toggle off the option Use hardware acceleration when available.

3. Disable your add-ons and VPN

Some of your add-ons might be interfering with the videos you’re trying to play on Opera. To rule that out, turn off all your add-ons and check if the browser can now load media files. Enable your add-ons one by one to identify the culprit. Then, update or uninstall the problematic add-on(s).

If you’re using Opera’s built-in VPN (or a stand-alone VPN software for that matter), try disabling it and check if that solved the problem.

4. Delete your browser cache and cookies

As you visit various websites, Opera saves temporary files as a means to reduce server lag and load that website faster next time you visit it. Websites also use cookies to store information about your visit such as browsing behavior, the pages you visited in the past, your shopping cart items, and so on.

But as your browser cache and cookies gradually pile up that could end up clogging up your browser. And this can potentially lead to media playing errors.

Naturally, the easiest and quickest solution is to clear your cache and cookies. To do that:

Click on the Opera logo in the upper left-hand corner and select History
Click on Clear browsing data
Select the time range and check all the three options to clear the browsing history, cookies, and other site data, as well as cached images and files
Hit the Clear data button, close and restart Opera and check if you can now play the video that initially gave that media error.

5. Reset browser settings or reinstall Opera

If you’re still getting that error loading media message, try resetting Opera to default settings:

Click on the Opera logo and then select Settings → Advanced
Scroll all the way to the buttom of the page and click on Reset settings
Click on Restore settings to their original defaults and hit the Reset button.