Fix Chromecast Not Working Problem

Chromecast is an adapter that allows you to stream any online content like movies or videos on the television, where it is connected. The manufacturer of this device is Google. One of the main benefits of this device is that it can cast or duplicate your phone’s screen so that the videos taken with its camera can be seen on a larger screen.

Although the Chromecast has plenty of good features and allows you to watch your favorite shows or movies that are available in streaming sites. Even then, while using the Chromecast device you can get into some problems. One such issue that will be discussed here is the “Chromecast not working” issue.

Solutions to rectify the Google Chromecast not working Problem

Here, there will be various methods that will help you to get rid of this problem as soon as possible.

One: Check the Network Connection and Power Cycle the Router

Whenever the network connection does not work properly, then you can get this error. Now, to rectify this problem what you can do is power cycle the router device. In order to do it, follow the steps below.

• First, press the power button on the router and turn it off.
• After that, unplug the ethernet cable from its back along with the LAN  wire from the computer.
• Also, remove the power adapter from the wall socket and wait for a minute or so.
• Next, once the time is over, next, reconnect all the cables back into their original places and power button of the router.
• Finally, check whether you can connect to the internet or not.

Two: Perform a factory reset of Chromecast

If the Chromecast device has an internal glitch, then there is a possibility to encounter Chromecast audio not working problem. The correct answer to resolve this problem is to perform the factory reset of the Chromecast device. Get steps here on how can you do it as follows for second-generation Google Chromecast device.

• First, let the Chromecast device be connected to the television.
• At this time, on the side of the device locate a button and press it for some time.
• As soon as you do that, then an LED will start to blink in an orange color.
• Now, once the LED changes to white light, next, let go of that button.
• At last, the Chromecast will start the reboot process. This means that the device will clear all its settings and simply restart as a new device.

Three: Perform an Update of the Chrome Browser

If you use Chromecast to cast the computer screen on to your television, then you can get this error if the Chrome browser is not up to date. The only way to get rid of this problem is to update the browser on your computer. For that to happen, follow the steps below.

• First, go to your computer and open the Google Chrome browser.
• After that, within the browser go to the top-right corner of the screen and then click on the ‘three vertical dots’ to reveal a drop-down list of options
• Now, from that list, locate and click on the ‘Settings’ option. As you click on that button, then a new page with a heading ‘Settings’ will appear.
• Next, on that page go to the top left edge of the screen and tap on the ‘three horizontal lines’ and click on it. This will reveal a pane from the left side.
• On that left pane go to the bottom part and then click on the ‘About Chrome’ option.
• As soon as you click on that option, then a new page will appear with a heading ‘About Chrome’. Inside that page, the browser will automatically look for an update for itself.
• If there is an update available then that will be automatically updated.
• At last, once the update of the Google Chrome browser gets over, next you will get a message ‘Google Chrome is up to date’.

Four: Reboot the Chromecast Device

Sometimes, you can get the Chromecast not working error if there is any internal glitch. Now, the effective answer to solve this problem is to perform a normal reboot of the Chromecast device. To do that, follow these steps given below.

• First, disconnect the power cable from the Google Chromecast device.
• After that, leave it disconnected for a minute or so.
• Finally, put back the power cable into the Chromecast device and start it up.

Make sure to unplug the Chromecast from the power source, to perform the reboot process. One thing to note here is that only disconnecting the Chromecast from the HDMI port of the television or any device for that matter will not reboot the device.

Five: Restart the smartphone or the Computer

If either the phone or computer, with which you have connected the Chromecast device has any kind of issue inside them, then there is a chance to encounter this problem. The effective solution to resolve this error is to restart the computer or the smartphone. 

Smartphone reboot Procedure

Here, you will get steps on how to reboot an Android and iPhone smartphones. So, follow along.

• Press the ‘Power’ button for a few seconds until you see four options – ‘Airplane’, ‘Silent’, ‘Reboot’ and ‘Power off’
• Now, out of those four options given on the previous step, choose the ‘Reboot’ one.
• As soon as you click on that option, then immediately the device will start the reboot process.
• Wait until the device starts up. Next, check to see if you can connect to Chromecast.
• For the iPhone reboot process follow the substeps below.
  1. Press any volume and the side button together and hold them until the ‘Power Slider’ shows up at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Once you see the slider, next, swipe it from left to right side, in order to turn off the device. This power-off process takes thirty seconds.
  3. Now, to start the iPhone once again press the side button and hold it until the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Computer Reboot Procedure

You will get the reboot process here for the Windows computer.

• Click on the ‘Windows’ logo to open the ‘Start’ menu.
• Inside that menu, go to the left panel and click on the ‘Power’ icon.
• Once a popup menu appears, next, click on the ‘Restart’ option.
• Now, wait for the computer to boot up then connect with the Chromecast device and check if it works or not.

Six: Enable the Media Sharing Service

If the ‘Media Sharing Service’ within the Windows computer is not active, then due to that reason this error can come up. Now, the effective answer to resolve this glitch is, to activate the ‘Media Sharing Service’. Here is the process of how can you do it.

• Press on the combination of ‘Windows + R’ keys simultaneously. This action will launch a new ‘Run’ dialog box.
• Inside that dialog box, after the ‘Open:’ label type in the following text “services.msc” and tap on the ‘OK’ button.
• As soon as you tap on that button, then a new window with the title ‘Services’ will come up. Within this window, there will be a list full of all the services of every application.
• Next, from that list locate the ‘Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service’ and right-click on the same.
• After that, form the popup menu that appears, find the ‘Properties’ option and click on it.
• As you click on that option, then a new ‘Properties’ dialog box of the chosen service will appear.
• In that dialog box, go to the ‘Start type:’ field and then choose the ‘Automatic’ option from the drop-down menu. Now, navigate to the bottom section and hit the ‘Start’ button. This action will enable the chosen service.
• If the ‘Service status:’ shows that the selected service is active, then press the ‘Stop’ button and wait for a minute.
• Once the time period is over, next, tap the ‘Start’ button and then click the ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’ respectively.
• At last, restart the computer and then attempt to connect it with Chromecast and see if you can cast the screen or not.

Seven: Alter the sharing settings of the Computer

If the sharing settings of the computer are not correctly configured, then also you can face the “Chromecast not working” error. The right solution to resolve this problem is to change the sharing settings and set them correctly. The steps on how to can you do that is as follows.

• Hit both the ‘Windows + S’ keys together to open the default search space.
• Within that space, type the following text “control panel”. This will open up a search results section.
• From that section, tap on the ‘Control Panel’ option. As you click on that option, then a new window having a title ‘Control Panel’ will come up.
• Inside that window, locate the ‘Network and Internet’ category and click on it. Once you click on that category, next, a new page will appear.
• Inside that page, click on the ‘Network and Sharing Center’ option. Now, another page will come up, in it, go to the left panel and tap on the ‘Change advanced sharing settings’.
• At this time, a new page will come up with the name ‘Advanced sharing settings’. Within this page under ‘Private’ and ‘Guest or Public’ sections click the options ‘Turn on network discovery’ and ‘Turn on file and printer sharing’.
• Lastly, tap on the ‘Saving changes’ button and reboot the computer.

Eight: Update the Chromecast firmware via Windows

If none of the methods given above are unable to resolve Chromecast not working problem, then as a last resort what you can do is perform a firmware update for your Chromecast via Windows PC.

• First, be sure that both the computer and the Chromecast is connected to the same network.
• After that, right-click on the ‘Windows’ logo to open the ‘Options’ menu. Inside that menu, locate the ‘Windows PowerShell (Administrator)’ option and click on it.
• As you click on the same, then a window with the blue background and white text will come up.
• In that window, type the following command and hit ‘Enter’ – Invoke-WebRequest -Method Post -ContentType “application / json” -Body ‘{“params”: “ota foreground”}’ -Uri “http: // (IP address of Chromecast): 8008 / setup / reboot” -Verbose -UserAgent ” curl “.
• The above command allows the Chromecast to download and then install the firmware. This process can take some time to complete so wait patiently.
• Now, when the update process is complete, then inspect the firmware number with the support page of the Chromecast. If the firmware number is the same, then it means that the update is successful.
• Finally, connect your computer with Chromecast and then check if it is working or not.