Key points in the following, are:
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“after performing Windows Update along with updates for various device drivers and software, then restarting and launching the Brave browser, I began consistently encountering errors whenever trying to play YouTube videos”
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“I turned off the built-in ad blocker, and YouTube videos started playing normally again.”
Translation:
“On May 23, 2026, after performing Windows Update along with updates for various device drivers and software, then restarting and launching the Brave browser, I began consistently encountering errors whenever trying to play YouTube videos. After every monthly Windows Update, I always run system checks via Command Prompt to verify there are no issues, so I can confidently conclude that the problem is not caused by the Windows OS itself. The OS is Windows 11 Home 25H2.
The Brave version is 1.90.124, and the Chromium engine version is 148.0.7778.179. I have not installed any extensions, and I have not changed any browser settings before or after the Windows Update.
As a test, I turned off the built-in ad blocker, and YouTube videos started playing normally again. Therefore, I believe the error is caused by a conflict between YouTube’s anti-ad-block measures and Brave’s ad blocker. I was already aware that Brave and YouTube have been engaged in an ongoing cat-and-mouse game regarding ad blocking, but if this is the limit of what can be done, then going forward I plan to disable the ad blocker on sites like YouTube where enabling it causes problems.
This may or may not be related, but I’ll report it additionally just in case: even during periods when YouTube videos could play normally with the ad blocker enabled, I observed an issue with some videos where ‘an error would occur partway through playback, causing the video to stop, and even after reloading, the same error would occur at the exact same point and playback would stop again.’”
Thanks for reporting.
cc: @Chiffon - above is probably related to your issue:
‘Youtube視聴における広告ブロック対策か不明のエラー’