Media Extended

Fix YouTube "Sign in to confirm you're not a bot"

Steps to resolve YouTube showing a bot verification prompt instead of playing in Obsidian.

YouTube sometimes shows "Sign in to confirm you're not a bot" instead of playing the video. This happens when YouTube flags your request as suspicious.

Change your network connection

If you are behind a VPN or proxy, your shared IP may already be flagged by YouTube.

  1. Disconnect from your current VPN or proxy
  2. Try playing the video again on your regular network

If the video plays, your VPN or proxy IP was the problem. Try switching to a different server or region in your VPN app.

Switch to the web viewer

The embedded player uses a minimal YouTube interface that YouTube watches more closely. The web viewer loads the full YouTube website, so it is less likely to get blocked.

If you haven't set it up yet, follow How to Set Up Web Viewer Integration.

The web viewer requires the Obsidian desktop app with installer version 1.11.4 or later. If your installer is older, download the latest from obsidian.md and reinstall. Learn more about installer updates.

  1. Open Media Extended settings (Settings > Community plugins > Media Extended)
  2. Scroll to the Web viewer integration section
  3. Change Open hosted media in... to Webviewer
  4. Close settings and re-open the video

See also

Fix YouTube Error 153

Steps to resolve YouTube videos showing Error 153 instead of playing in Obsidian.

Fix YouTube "Playback on other websites has been disabled"

Steps to resolve YouTube refusing to play an embedded video in Obsidian.

On this page

Change your network connection
Switch to the web viewer
See also