Fix YouTube Error 153 in Obsidian

When embedding YouTube videos in Obsidian notes, you might encounter "Error 153" displayed instead of the video thumbnail or player. This error prevents videos from loading and is typically caused by cookie or privacy restrictions.

Solution

Clear YouTube Cookies (Troubleshooting)

1. Open the Command Palette with Ctrl / ⌘ + P
2. Search for and select "Clear YouTube cookies"
3. Wait for the confirmation notice

This command clears cookies from both youtube.com and youtube-nocookie.com domains. It should fix the issue after re-opening the note.

Manual fix

If you prefer to fix it manually, you can do the following:

1. Open Developer Tools
   • On Windows, you can open it with Ctrl + Shift + I
   • On macOS, you can open it with ⌘ + ⌥ + I
   • From the obsidian menu: View > Toggle Developer Tools
2. Open the Application tab
3. expand Cookies
4. right-click any YouTube cookies (https://www.youtube.com or https://www.youtube-nocookie.com)
5. select Clear.

Replace iframe Host with No-Cookie Variant

If you're using iframe HTML embeds in your notes, you can manually change the host from youtube.com to youtube-nocookie.com to avoid Error 153:

Before:

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIDEO_ID"></iframe>

After:

<iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/VIDEO_ID"></iframe>

This privacy-enhanced domain doesn't use third-party cookies, reducing the likelihood of Error 153.

Use Media Extended's Embed Feature (Recommended)

Media Extended uses YouTube's no-cookie variant (youtube-nocookie.com) for embeds by default, which significantly reduces the likelihood of encountering Error 153. To embed YouTube videos properly with Media Extended:

1. Use the standard image embed syntax with the YouTube URL:

![](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID)

Or with timestamp and other properties:

![](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID#t=10&loop)

For complete embed syntax and options, see the Media Embeds documentation.