Kodi is a media center application that allows you to enjoy movies, TV shows, sports and music with your friends through the internet. Besides this, it also allows you to stream your favorite media directly from your mobile and desktop devices if you have a fast and stable internet connection. Kodi is highly customizable and allows you to install your favorite TV shows, sports, movies, music, and so on from different sources. So, if you are using a Kodi device and are facing any issue such as “Why is my Kodi not working? Common problems and fixes” then you should read this article to get an idea and some quick fixes.
There are some people out there that suggest that Kodi is not free and open source, but it is. Not everyone knows this, and if you are one of those people, you may be wondering why Kodi is not working for you. If you are having problems with Kodi, you may want to check out the Kodi forums, where you can find help and a lot of information.
In this article, we will discuss various Kodi problems and their possible solutions. If your Kodi is not working, it can have many causes. I’ve encountered a few problems with Kodi over the years and have often wondered – rather frustratingly – why Kodi doesn’t work? But I also learned that most problems with Kodi can be solved by relatively simple means.
Kodi is not working – general troubleshooting
I’m going to break down Kodi problems into two broad categories: local problems and server problems. Local problems are problems for which we can usually find a solution. But if there’s a problem with the server, there’s not much we can do. The developers have to deal with these issues, and we just have to wait and see.
Below are some common problems and solutions for the Kodi media player.
1. Always use a VPN with Kodi
Kodi not working? Your ISP may block streaming requests from Kodi. Yes, ISPs are known for these practices. But you don’t have to worry about that anymore. You can avoid this by using a VPN for Kodi.
A VPN simply hides all streaming requests from your device and your ISP won’t know about it. Since your ISP can no longer determine if a Kodi data transaction belongs to it, it cannot block it.
ExpressVPN has been my personal best solution for a long time. This is the fastest and most reliable VPN service I have ever used. ExpressVPN protects your internet connection from those who spy on your online activities, including your ISP. Express VPN also prevents the internet throttling that often slows Kodi down.
2. Kodi crashes often – get the latestupdate
If Kodi crashes too frequently, the first thing you should do is make sure you have the latest version. At the time of writing, Kodi 18.9 is the latest stable and officially released version.
To check the Kodi version on your device, do the following
#1. Go to the Kodi home screen and click on the Settings icon in the top left corner. Settings is the cog icon under the Kodi logo.
#2. Now click on System Information in the following window
#3. In the bottom right corner of the next window, you will see the version of Kodi. As you can see in the image below, the version of Kodi I am using is up to date (Kodi 18.9). If you don’t have the latest version, you need to update Kodi.
For some reason Kodi won’t allow you to update from within the application. There are also not many ways to update Kodi to the latest version. Side effect methods are often unstable and unpredictable.
So when a new version of Kodi is released, it is best to uninstall Kodi on your system and install the new version.
Yes, I understand that you may have added add-ons and changed the settings. That’s right, they will all be lost when you reinstall Kodi. But I’ve noticed that many add-ons don’t work with the new version, and the old settings are often no longer valid.
You can install Kodi on Android from the Google Play Store, on Windows from the Microsoft Store.
On the FireStick, you have to download Kodi because it’s not yet available on the Amazon Store. FireStick users can also upgrade Kodi to the new version without losing any data.
3. Kodi repositories are not working
Kodi repositories are libraries where addons and builds are stored. Kodi has an official repository called Kodi Add-on Repository. This repository contains many video addons, utilities and more. But it’s the third-party repositories like Kodi Bae and Fusion that are the most popular and widely used.
Third-party repositories are created by independent developers. There are dozens of repositories, and they are not all equally popular.
To get a Kodi repository, add a source to Kodi, then install a repository from that source. If any of the Kodi repositories are not available, you will not be able to install addons or builds.
So how do we solve this problem? Unfortunately, in most cases, there’s nothing you can do. Even if you install storage locally, the content is stored on the remote server. If you cannot install an addon or build through Kodi, it usually means there is a problem with the server. While popular repositories are well supported, less popular ones are not. You have to wait until the server is back online for the archive to work. If the storage unit has been out of use for several days, it may have been abandoned.
If you think the memory problem is local and not server related, you can try some common troubleshooting methods.
Continue with the reinstallation of the archive. Sometimes this solves the problem. You can also reboot the device to see if the memory works. If nothing works, uninstall Kodi and reinstall it. This might help!
But remember that problems with local archiving are very rare. It is likely that there was a problem with the server.
4. Kodi suddenly doesn’t work anymore
I haven’t had this problem in a long time, so I can say with certainty that the problem is rare. But I remember Kodi suddenly stopping working, even though it was working a few hours ago. Every time I tried to start Kodi, it took a very long time to start, or there was some kind of error message.
After scratching the back of my head for a while, I came to the conclusion that at least one important file in the Kodi installation folder was incorrect, preventing the application from loading correctly. I reinstalled Kodi and it worked again.
If you encounter such a problem, the only solution is a reinstallation. However, note that you will lose the Kodi data and the installed add-ons will disappear. Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do about it.
You can also share the Kodi log file on the Kodi support forum and see if they can help you resolve your issue.
5. Kodi builds OR/EN add-ons do not work
First of all, I want you to determine if all addons are not working or just a few (or maybe just one).
If the Kodi build does not load, none of your addons will work. This sounds more like a build problem than an addon problem. It would be a good idea to search Google (or another search engine of your choice) and see if there is a known issue with that particular version.
Normally the build interface is loaded because it is stored locally on your machine, but the build cannot retrieve data from the server.
If the problem is related to the version of Kodi, the only solution is to uninstall and reinstall Kodi. Uninstalling the version of Kodi does not seem to be an easy task as it involves a very complicated process. That’s why I always reinstall the application.
If you are not using a build but the Kodi addons are not working, the first thing you need to do is check your internet connection. Make sure your device is connected to the Internet.
If the Internet is working properly, restart your device. This will update both the operating system and the application and may solve the problem.
If you only have problems with certain addons, it may be due to server issues. When Kodi addons don’t work, it usually means that they are not getting streaming links or the links they are viewing are not playing content. This problem occurs more often than we would like, and often affects the lesser known addons. My advice is to choose one of the most popular Kodi addons.
6. Kodi buffering problems
When my Kodi doesn’t work, I usually uninstall the app and reinstall it. This eliminates many problems. But if I’m having problems with Kodi buffering, I need to do more than that.
There are several ways to solve buffering problems, including:
- Cleaning the cover
- Increase the size of the video cache in Kodi
- Using the VPN
- Using the code
You can read more about this in our guide on Kodi buffering.
7. Reset Kodi to default settings
I’ve talked about uninstalling and reinstalling Kodi several times in this guide. This is a good idea because it ensures that all missing installation files are rolled out on your system. But I agree that not all problems with Kodi require a reinstall. You can even clear your Kodi data and reset the settings to default. This way you save yourself a lot of trouble.
You can reset Kodi to the system defaults using the Ares Wizard. Here’s how you can do it:
#1. Install the Ares wizard on Kodi
#2. On the Kodi home screen, go to Add-ons > Software Add-ons and start Ares Wizard.
#3. Click on the More tab in the top right corner of the Ares Wizard interface.
#4. Press the Delete/Resume button.
#5. Press Yes when the following prompt appears
#6. You will then see the following window. To save your favorites, sources, and addon settings, select the appropriate item. Once you have selected an item, the small grey ball will turn green (see figure below). Click Next at the bottom of this window to continue.
You can also reset your Kodi data on the FireStick and learn how to back up your Kodi data before resetting it.
Supplement
That’s about all you can do if Kodi doesn’t work at all, or doesn’t work as it should. As you can already see from this guide, most Kodi issues can be solved by either uninstalling and reinstalling the application or by deleting the Kodi data. Sometimes a simple action, such as restarting the device, can solve the problem. You can fix most local Kodi problems. However, server problems are beyond our control. I hope this guide helped you solve your problems with Kodi. If you have any suggestions or questions, please send us an email in the comment box below.
Related:
- Troubleshooting Home is currently unavailable on the FireStick
- To troubleshoot a problem when the FireStick remote control is not working
- To prevent buffering on the FireStick
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