Playing videos in Yandex Browser

You can view videos in a separate Yandex Browser window. For example, you can simultaneously launch an app and accompanying video instructions. The video player window is displayed on top of other windows so you can watch it regardless of the application you're using. You can resize the window or drag it anywhere on the screen. The video will continue even if you minimize Yandex Browser. If a video in HTML5 format contains subtitles (for example, videos on YouTube have the  icon on the control panel), they'll also appear in a new window.

Yandex Browser versions 23.3.0 and later support NVIDIA RTX Super Resolution. It increases the resolution of streaming video on the internet on displays with a resolution of 1440p.

Example.

Using Yandex Browser, you can stream videos to a TV that supports Chromecast technology.

Requirements

• A TV with built-in Chromecast.

  Note. Most modern TVs have a built-in Chromecast feature.
• The Google Chromecast media player (for TVs without built-in Chromecast). The TV must have an HDMI input.
• A Wi-Fi connection.
• A computer that meets the minimum system requirements:

  	Windows	macOS	Linux
  OS version	Windows 7 (or later)	macOS 10.13 (or later)	64-bit Ubuntu 14.04 (or later), Debian 8 (or later), openSUSE 13.3 (or later), and Fedora Linux 24 (or later)
  Processor	Intel Core i3 (or later)	Macbook Pro 2010, Macbook Air 2011, Macbook Air 2012	Intel Core i3 (or later)
  GPU	Intel HD3000 or equivalent		Intel HD3000 or equivalent

  	Windows	macOS	Linux
  OS version	Windows 7 (or later)	macOS 10.13 (or later)	64-bit Ubuntu 14.04 (or later), Debian 8 (or later), openSUSE 13.3 (or later), and Fedora Linux 24 (or later)
  Processor	Intel Core i3 (or later)	Macbook Pro 2010, Macbook Air 2011, Macbook Air 2012	Intel Core i3 (or later)
  GPU	Intel HD3000 or equivalent		Intel HD3000 or equivalent

Initial Chromecast setup

Set up Chromecast using your smartphone. After the initial setup, you can start streaming without a smartphone.

• A TV with built-in Chromecast
• A TV without built-in Chromecast

1. Make sure that your smartphone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your TV.
2. Install the Google Home app.
3. Open the app and follow the instructions.

   Note. If you can't find the instructions for setting up a TV with built-in Chromecast, click   → Set up device → Set up new devices.

1. Connect Chromecast to your TV via the HDMI input, and to the main power source via the USB port.
2. Install the Google Home app.
3. Make sure that your Chromecast and smartphone are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
4. Open the app and follow the instructions.

   Note. If you can't find the instructions for setting up a TV with built-in Chromecast, click   → Set up device → Set up new devices.

Start streaming

1. Make sure that all devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. Open Yandex Browser.
3. Click  →  Share screen.
4. Select the broadcast source: Active Tab, Entire screen or File.
5. Select the Chromecast TV from the list.

Manage video playback via Chromecast

To stop streaming, click in the SmartBox and select the device. Or close Yandex Browser.

The "Share screen" icon isn't displayed

1. Make sure that all devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. Update Chromecast.
3. Update Yandex Browser.

If you use the updated Chromecast and Yandex Browser in the same Wi-Fi network, but still don't see the icon in the SmartBox, contact support.

Chromecast isn't working

• Stop and restart streaming.
• Turn the Wi-Fi off and on again.
• Connect to another Wi-Fi network.
• Make sure that streaming from your smartphone is working. If streaming isn't working, check if the Chromecast initial setup was performed.

If the problem persists, contact support.

The Flash technology was used in browsers to play multimedia files and run games. Adobe stopped supporting and distributing it in 2021.

Most sites already use other content playback formats, such as HTML5 or WebGL. These open source technologies are faster and more stable, significantly safer than Flash, and use less power.

If you visit a site that uses Flash, contact its support.

Videos don't play; they download to my computer

If a site owner doesn't allow you to open a file in your browser, the file downloads to the user's computer. To open it in Yandex Browser, drag the downloaded file icon that appears to the right of the SmartBox to the browser, or use the Ctrl + O keyboard shortcut and select the file from your Downloads folder.

Video playback problems

If Yandex Browser displays a black screen instead of a video, the image shakes in online games, or the video takes a long time to load, freezes all the time, or stops when you switch to full-screen mode, try one of the following methods:

Check Yandex Browser extensions

1. Open   → Extensions and turn off all extensions.
2. If this solves your problem, go through your extensions and turn them back on until you find the one that caused the problem.
3. Disable the problematic extension. You may want to let the developers know about the problem.
4. Clear your cache so that Yandex Browser doesn't load an incorrect copy of the page that was saved earlier.

Change your hardware acceleration settings

Try turning the hardware accelerator on or off:

1. Click   → Settings → System.
2. If the Use hardware acceleration if possible option is selected in the Performance section, deselect it. If the option is deselected, select it.
3. Close the Browser with a keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Q (on Windows and Linux) or ⌘ + Q (in macOS).
4. Restart the browser to apply these changes.

Check whether this solved the problem.

Update your video card drivers

1. Click Start → Dashboard → Device dispatcher.
2. Open Video Adapters: a list of video cards will appear.
3. Right-click the name of your video card.
4. In the context menu, select Update drivers.

Check whether this solved the problem.

If the problem persists, write to us. In the email, indicate that the drivers were updated.

Protected content is not played

Note. Protected content is not played in Incognito mode.

If a video that has content protected by copyright doesn't play:

Update and restart Yandex Browser

An outdated version of Yandex Browser may not support the technology required for fast video loading. Install the latest update of Yandex Browser .

When you launch Yandex Browser for the first time, some of the plugins required for the content encryption system to work properly may not connect. To fix this error, restart Yandex Browser and the plugins will connect automatically.

Allow protected content to play

1. Click   → Settings → Websites.
2. At the bottom of the page, click Advanced site settings.
3. Under Protected content, enable the Allow protected content to play option.
4. Some services use unique device identifiers to protect content. To activate them, go to Protected content identifiers and enable Allow sites to use identifiers to play protected content (Windows only).

NPAPI and Unity not supported

Yandex Browser no longer supports the NPAPI plugin that powers the Unity Web Player. This technology is outdated. Unity has also stopped supporting that plugin.

On Linux, video doesn't work in Yandex Browser

If an HTML5 video or a video that has protected content doesn't play:

1. Check your browser's version.
2. If the version is lower than 20.4.3, update your browser.
3. If you have the current Yandex Browser version, run the sudo /path to the browser folder/browser/update-ffmpeg command in the console. By default, the browser is installed to opt/yandex/browser.

I can't disable video autoplay when going to a site

When you go to certain sites, videos start playing automatically. Unfortunately, there is no way to prohibit video autoplay on sites in Yandex Browser.

Browser doesn't see the webcam

Check if other programs recognize the camera.

• If not, make sure that your camera driver is installed correctly, and reinstall it if necessary:

  1. Click Start → Dashboard → Device dispatcher.
  2. Open Video Adapters: a list of video cards will appear.
  3. Right-click the name of your video card.
  4. In the context menu, select Update drivers.
• If they can, specify it manually in the Yandex Browser settings:

  1. Click   → Settings → Websites.
  2. Open Advanced site settings.
  3. In the Access to your camera section, select your camera and enable Ask permission.

  If this doesn't help, contact Yandex Browser support.

“Required video codecs not found” error in Windows

If a video does not play on the site and the “No video codecs detected” message appears, this means that you have a Windows N/KN version that does not have the necessary video codecs.

Check your Windows version:

1. Click Start → Settings → System.
2. Find the Windows version in the About section. For example, “Windows 10 Pro N”.

Select the Windows version:

Not Windows N/KNWindows 7 N/KNWindows 8 N/KNWindows 8.1 N/KNWindows 10 N/KN

Write to us using the form.

1. Close Yandex Browser. To do this, click   → Advanced → Close browser or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Q.
2. Restart Yandex Browser and check whether the video plays.

If it didn't help, write to us using the form.

Download and install Media Feature Pack for Windows 8 N/KN.

Download and install Media Feature Pack for Windows 8.1 N/KN.

Download and install Media Feature Pack for Windows 10 N/KN.

Sound is quiet or there's no sound at all

To find solutions to problems with sound in videos, see Sound problems.

Contact support