Playing videos in the browser

Which video formats can be played in Yandex Browser?

Yandex Browser can open video files with the following extensions: mp4, webm, ogv, and m4v.

Video files with the swf, avi, mpg, mov, x-m4v, wmv, quicktime and flv extensions aren't supported.

View videos in a separate window

Note

The video appears in a separate window if you launched the video yourself or it plays with sound. Video pop-ups are unavailable in Incognito mode.

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 the other windows so you can watch it no regardless of the application you are 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.

Video in a separate window

By default, the video opens in a separate window when you switch to another tab or program. If this didn't happen, hover your cursor over the top of the video player and click .

Tip

You can drag the  icon over the video player anywhere you like.

Manage videos

Use keyboard shortcuts for quick control.

Pause / play

Space

Skip 5 seconds forward

→

Rewind 5 seconds back

←

You can also slow down or speed up the video. To do this, click  → Speed and select the speed from the list.

Manage videos in a separate window

You can hide the video pop-up button or disable automatic video pop-up:

  1. Click  → Settings → Tools.

  2. In the View videos on top of other tabs and programs section, disable the Show the pop out button on videos or Automatically open video in a separate window.

If you don't want videos to pop up in a separate window, disable both options.

Video summary

Harness the power of the YandexGPT neural network to summarize videos. It'll give you timestamped bullet points that you can use to jump to what you're looking for.

QR scanner for videos

Yandex Browser can recognize QR codes on videos and display their contents. Browser highlights the QR code with a colored frame and shows the options to follow or copy the link.

  • To follow the link, click the QR code. To copy the link to the clipboard, click .

  • To copy the QR code's text to the clipboard, click Copy.

  • To hide the frame on the QR code, hover over it and click .

Alert

Please be careful when following unknown links.

To disable QR code recognition:

  1. Click  → Settings → Tools.

  2. Disable Automatically recognize QR codes on video.

  1. Hover over the video player for a second and click .

  2. Disable Recognize QR codes.

NVIDIA RTX Super Resolution

Note

The technology is only available on devices with NVIDIA RTX 30-series and 40-series video cards. Support for RTX 20-series video cards may be added in the future. Drivers that support the technology are currently only available on Windows 10 and 11.

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:

1 — Original video in 1080p resolution

2 — Enhanced video on a 4K screen

Learn more

Features

  • No activity indicator.

  • Works when the Yandex Browser window is active:

    • In window and full-screen video modes.

    • On the second screen.

  • Enhances all running videos with the resolution from 360p to 1440p.

  • Videos with DRM anti-piracy protection, YouTube Shorts, and HDR videos might not be supported.

  • Resource-intensive. Reduces device performance.

  • Doesn't depend on internet connection speed.

Enable

  1. Download and install the latest drivers for your video card from the NVIDIA website. You need version 530 or higher.

  2. In the system tray, open NVIDIA Control Panel.

  3. In the Video section of the side panel, click Adjust video image settings.

  4. In the RTX video enhancement section, enable the Super resolution option.

  5. Select the quality: from 1 (lowest) to 4 (highest). The highest quality level is only supported by video card series XX70 and above, for example, 3070 and 4070 Ti.

Additional steps if you use a laptop

The technology doesn't work when the laptop is running on battery power. We also recommend enabling high performance mode for Yandex Browser:

1. Using search in the Start menu, find and open Settings → Display → Graphics.

2. In the application list, find Yandex.

3. If the application isn't in the list, add it. To do this, click Browse and set the path to the application. Default path: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Yandex\YandexBrowser\Application\browser.exe.

4. Under the application icon, click Options.

5. Select High performance.

1. Go to Start → Settings → System → Display → Graphics settings.

2. In the application list, find Yandex.

3. If the application isn't in the list, add it. To do this, click Browse and set the path to the application. Default path: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Yandex\YandexBrowser\Application\browser.exe.

4. Under the application icon, click Options.

5. Select High performance.

Using Chromecast

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 11 (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.

  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 → 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 → New devices.

Start streaming

  1. Make sure that all devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

  2. Open Yandex Browser.

  3. Click  → Advanced →  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 the 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.

End of Flash 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.

Video problems

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 the problem has disappeared, search through the extension that caused it.

  3. Disable the extension. You can also write to its developers 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 in the section Performance The Use hardware acceleration option is enabled, if possible — disable it. If this option is disabled, enable it.
  3. Close the Browser with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Q (on Windows and Linux) or ⌘+Q (on macOS).
  4. Launch the Browser again for the changes to take effect.
Update your video card drivers
  1. Click Start → Control Panel → Device Manager.
  2. Open Video Adapters: a list of video cards will appear.
  3. Right-click on the name of your graphics card.
  4. In the context menu, select Update the 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 → Sites.

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 Identifiers of protected content 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 23.3.0, update your browser.

3. Install GStreamer packages by running the following commands:

Mint
sudo apt install libgstreamer1.0-0 gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad-faad gstreamer1.0-libav
Ubuntu
sudo apt install libgstreamer1.0-0 gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-libav
Astra Linux
sudo apt-get install ffmpeg-plugin-browser libgstreamer1.0-0 gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad-faad gstreamer1.0-libav
Alt Linux
su -lc 'apt-get install gstreamer1.0 gst-plugins-base1.0 gst-plugins-good1.0 gst-plugins-bad1.0 gst-libav'
RED OS
dnf install gstreamer1 gstreamer1-plugins-base gstreamer1-plugins-good gstreamer1-plugins-good-extras gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free-extras gstreamer1-libav

yum install gstreamer1 gstreamer1-plugins-base gstreamer1-plugins-good gstreamer1-plugins-good-extras gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free-extras gstreamer1-libav
ROSA “COBALT” 7.9
dnf install libgstreamer1.0 gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-libav
AlterOS
yum install gstreamer1 gstreamer1-plugins-base gstreamer1-plugins-good gstreamer1-plugins-good-extras gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free-extras gstreamer1-libav
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install gstreamer gstreamer-plugins-base gstreamer-plugins-good gstreamer-plugins-bad gstreamer-plugins-libav

4. Restart Yandex Browser. If this didn't help, close it and run the following console command:

rm ~/.cache/gstreamer-1.0/registry.x86_64.bin
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 can recognize the camera.

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

    1. Click Start → Control Panel → Device Manager.

    2. Open Cameras: a list of cameras appears.

    3. Right-click the name of your camera.

    4. In the context menu, select Update drivers.

  • If they can, specify it manually in the Yandex Browser settings:

    1. Click  → Settings → Sites.

    2. Open Advanced site settings.

    3. In the Access to your camera section, select your camera and enable the Ask permission option.

    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 → Control Panel → System.

2. Find the Windows version in the About section. For example, “Windows 10 Pro N”.

Select the Windows version:

Not Windows N/KN

Write to us using the form.

Windows 7 N/KN

1. Close Yandex Browser. To do this, click  → Advanced → Close Yandex Browser or press Ctrl + Shift + Q.

2. Restart Yandex Browser and check whether the video plays.

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

Windows 8 N/KN

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

Windows 8.1 N/KN

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

Windows 10 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

You can enter search queries in the address bar — the browser will understand what you need.

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