YouTube fixes annoying CAPTCHA loop that blocked video playback

YouTube users who were stuck solving CAPTCHA tests again and again can finally move on. The platform has confirmed that the issue causing repeated “are you human” checks has now been fixed. Also Read: Google Lyria 3 Pro launched: How to create 3-minute AI music tracks in seconds

Over the past day, many users in the US, Germany, and the UK reported that they were unable to watch videos without going through multiple verification steps. Instead of clearing after one attempt, the CAPTCHA kept reappearing, making it difficult to even open the homepage. Also Read: Google starts fixing Android Auto issues after users report connection problems

What exactly was happening

Users were seeing a warning about “unusual traffic” from their network. They were first shown a basic CAPTCHA test that asked them to type distorted text. Also Read: Epic Games cuts over 1,000 jobs as Fortnite returns to Google Play Store

The issue started when this didn’t end after one attempt. Even after entering the correct answer, the same CAPTCHA kept coming back, which meant users couldn’t move ahead and watch videos.

As mentioned in reports by 9to5Google and user posts on Reddit, this created a loop where people couldn’t move past the verification screen.

Not limited to one browser

At first, some users thought the issue was linked to specific browsers. Firefox users were among the first to report it, but similar complaints later came from people using Google Chrome as well.

The bug also affected embedded videos on platforms like Discord, where users had to complete CAPTCHA checks before playback.

Another thing to keep in mind is that this issue was mainly seen on the web version of YouTube. The mobile app continued to work fine for most people.

Common fixes didn’t work

Many users tried the usual fixes, but nothing worked properly. Some turned off their VPN, others switched to public DNS like Google DNS or Cloudflare. A few even disabled ad blockers. But in most cases, these only worked for a short time or didn’t help at all.

Because of this, a lot of users assumed something was wrong on their end. Some even thought their accounts had been hacked or their system had malware.

What caused the issue

As per reports, the issue was not on the user’s side. YouTube’s system ended up flagging normal traffic as suspicious. That’s what kept triggering the repeated CAPTCHA checks.

A YouTube representative later confirmed that the issue was on their end and not because of anything users did on their devices.

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Issue now resolved

YouTube has now fixed the problem, so the repeated CAPTCHA loop should not show up anymore. If you were facing this earlier, things should be back to normal now. You should be able to open and watch videos without getting stuck in those repeated checks.