You tap a video, scroll down to see what everyone's saying — and there's nothing. Just a spinning circle where the comments should be, or a blank gap under the description. The video itself plays perfectly, which makes it even more confusing. If your YouTube comments aren't loading on Android, you're dealing with one of the app's most common quirks, and it's almost never serious.
The cause sits in a small set of usual suspects: the creator disabled comments, your app cache went stale, the app version is too old to talk to YouTube's servers properly, or your connection dropped the comment feed while the video stream kept going. Work through the six fixes below in order — the quickest one often does the trick.
Open two or three videos from other channels — if comments load there, the original video simply has comments disabled and nothing is broken. If comments fail everywhere, force-stop YouTube and reopen it, switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data, clear the app cache (Settings > Apps > YouTube > Storage > Clear cache), update the app in the Play Store, and sign out and back in. The steps below walk through each one with the exact button paths. Covers Android 10 through 14.
Fix 1: Make sure comments aren't simply turned off
Before touching any settings, check whether there's actually a bug. A large share of "comments not loading" cases turn out to be deliberate: the uploader disabled comments, or YouTube did it for them. Videos marked "Made for Kids" have their comment sections permanently switched off by YouTube policy — no setting on your phone can bring those back.
- Open the video that's giving you trouble and scroll below the description. If you see the line "Comments are turned off," that's your answer — nothing is broken.
- Open two or three videos from well-known channels (official music, sports, or news channels almost always allow comments). If comments load fine there, your app is healthy and the original video is the odd one out.
- If you just posted a comment and can't find it, tap the sort option at the top of the comment panel (it usually reads "Top comments") and switch to "Newest first." Fresh comments can be buried under thousands of top-voted ones, or held briefly by the channel's moderation filters.
If comments are missing on every video, move on to the fixes below.
Fix 2: Force-stop YouTube and restart your phone
Comments are loaded by a separate background request from the video stream. When that request gets stuck, the video keeps playing while the comment panel spins forever. Killing the app's process clears the stuck request.
- Swipe YouTube away from your recent apps screen so it's fully closed.
- Go to Settings > Apps, find YouTube, and tap Force stop, then OK.
- Reopen YouTube and check any video's comments.
- If the spinner is still there, restart the phone itself: hold the Power button and tap Restart. A reboot flushes temporary memory glitches and resets the network stack, which resolves more app weirdness than people expect.
Fix 3: Check your connection (the video can play while comments fail)
This one trips people up. YouTube serves the video stream and the comment feed through different requests, so a flaky connection can deliver the video fine while the comments time out. Don't assume your internet is fine just because the video plays.
- Switch networks: if you're on Wi-Fi, turn it off and try mobile data — or the reverse. If comments suddenly appear, your usual network is the culprit.
- Toggle Airplane mode on for about 10 seconds, then off. This forces your phone to re-establish its data connection from scratch.
- On home Wi-Fi, restart your router: unplug it for 30 seconds and plug it back in.
- Run a quick speed test. Comments need barely 1 Mbps, but repeated dropouts — not raw speed — are what kill the comment feed.
- If the problem follows you across every network, reset your phone's network settings: Settings > System > Reset options > Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth. Note this forgets saved Wi-Fi passwords, so only use it when nothing else helped.
Fix 4: Clear the YouTube app cache
The YouTube app stores temporary files — bits of interface layout, feed data, scripts — to load faster. When that cache corrupts, entire sections of the app stop rendering, and the comment panel is a classic casualty. Clearing it is safe: it doesn't sign you out or delete your downloads.
- Open Settings > Apps (on some phones it's Apps & notifications), then tap See all apps if your list is collapsed.
- Scroll to YouTube and tap it.
- Tap Storage & cache (Samsung One UI calls it just Storage; on Xiaomi HyperOS go through Settings > Apps > Manage apps > YouTube, then tap Clear data at the bottom and choose Clear cache).
- Tap Clear cache. Do not tap Clear storage / Clear data — that signs you out and wipes offline downloads.
- Reopen YouTube and scroll to the comments on any video.
Fix 5: Update the YouTube app
YouTube changes its server-side code constantly, and older app versions sometimes can't parse the new comment format. The app usually updates itself, but a stalled or skipped update is a real cause of a dead comment section.
- Open the Play Store, tap your profile picture, and go to Manage apps & device.
- Tap Updates available. If YouTube is listed, tap Update next to it.
- To stop this happening again, open YouTube's Play Store page, tap the three-dot menu, and make sure Enable auto update is checked.
- While you're at it, check Settings > System > System update on your phone. An outdated Android version can clash with the newest YouTube builds.
YouTube is a system app on most Android phones, so if the Play Store shows no update button at all, use Uninstall on its Play Store page — that only removes updates, not the app — then update it again for a clean slate.
Fix 6: Sign out, disable VPN, and check Restricted Mode
If the comment section is blank across every video even after the fixes above, the problem may sit with your account session or a network-level filter.
- Re-sign in: in the YouTube app, tap your profile picture, tap your channel name at the top, and choose Sign out. Wait about 30 seconds, then sign back in with the same Google account. A stale session token can silently block personalized elements like comments.
- Disconnect your VPN: VPNs route your traffic through another region, and regional routing hiccups can stop the comment feed loading. Turn the VPN off, force-close YouTube, and reopen it.
- Check Restricted Mode: tap your profile picture, go to Settings > General, and look at Restricted Mode. It can filter what appears under videos in some setups. If it's on and you didn't turn it on, it may be enforced by Family Link, a school, or a workplace admin — in that case you can't change it yourself.
- Check Private DNS: ad-blocking DNS providers can interfere with YouTube's feeds. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Private DNS and set it to Automatic or Off temporarily to test.
One more honest note: if your Google account is less than a day old, YouTube applies temporary visibility restrictions as spam protection — comments may appear blank regardless of what you fix. Give it a day and they'll show up.
Watch: YouTube Comments Not Showing Fixed Step by Step
Prefer a walkthrough? This video covers YouTube comments not showing step by step:
Video by Trevor Nace — full credit to the creator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do YouTube comments load on my computer but not on my phone?
That split almost always points to the phone side: a stale app cache, an outdated YouTube build, or a mobile-network quirk. The desktop browser uses fresh site data, while the app may be running on weeks-old cached files. Clear the app cache and update YouTube on your phone — that combination resolves this exact split for most people.
I cleared the cache and comments still won't load. What next?
Remove the app's updates for a truly fresh start: open YouTube's page in the Play Store and tap Uninstall (on a preinstalled YouTube this only removes updates), then tap Update to reinstall the latest build. If that still fails, test with a different Google account in the app — a broken session on one account will sometimes follow you through every other fix.
Can comments be missing because of my ad blocker or DNS settings?
Yes. Private DNS services that block ads or trackers can also block the requests YouTube uses to fetch comments, since the filtering happens at the DNS level. Temporarily switch Private DNS to Automatic or Off under Settings > Network & internet > Private DNS and reload the video. If comments appear, your DNS provider was the blocker.
By Sameer Zehri | App Fix Guru Editor | Last updated: October 2026
