Kodi Buffering Issue on Windows PC [Fixed]

Do you keep experiencing buffering issues while streaming content in Kodi? Kodi is one of the best media players for Windows and other platforms. It enables you to watch your locally saved videos as well as stream online movies, TV shows, and videos on your PC. While it works well for the most part, many users have experienced the buffering issue when streaming videos online. As a result, the video gets stuck, leaving you unable to watch your favorite online content. Now, if you are one of the affected users, this post is specially curated for you.

Kodi Buffering Issue on Windows PC [Fixed]

If you are experiencing a buffering issue on the Kodi media player on your Windows PC, you can use the below solution to fix the problem:

1. Reboot your computer.
2. Test the speed of your internet.
3. Troubleshoot network and internet connection issues.
4. Update your add-ons in Kodi.
5. Enable/ disable VPN.
6. Adjust your video scaling configurations.
7. Delete the Kodi cache.
8. Reset Kodi settings.
9. Reinstall Kodi.
10. Try a Kodi alternative.

1] Reboot your computer

Before trying your hand at advanced fixes, we recommend restarting the application or simply rebooting your PC. The buffering issue in Kodi might be a result of a temporary glitch with your application or system. Hence, in that case, a simple restart should enable you to fix the problem. So, relaunch Kodi and if that doesn’t work, restart your system and see if the problem is resolved.

If the problem still persists, you can use some other fix from this post to resolve the problem.

2] Test the speed of your internet

The buffering issues are mainly triggered due to your internet speed. If the speed of your internet is slow, you are likely to face buffering issues while streaming online videos on Kodi. It requires a stable and high-speed internet connection to stream high-quality movies and videos. Hence, check your internet speed and see if it is good enough to stream videos in Kodi.

You can use a free internet speed test app for Windows to check your internet speed. There are multiple free Internet Speed Test online services and websites that let you do the same. Apart from that, you can also test if your internet connection is capable of streaming 4K content or not. You can also use the One Nation Portal add-on in Kodi to test your internet speed. Here’s how to do that:

1. First, open Kodi and click on the Add-ons tab from the left-side panel.
2. Now, click on the One Nation Portal addon.
3. Next, select the (One Nation Portal) Internet Tools option.
4. After that, choose the Speed Tester option and let it run an internet speed test.
5. Once done, check the results and see if the internet speed is slow or not.

As per Netflix, the minimum speed needed for SD-quality content is about 3 Mbps, while recommended speed for Ultra HD quality content should be around 25 Mbps. So, check your internet speed and make sure that it is fast enough for streaming online videos without any issues.

If your internet speed is slow, you may consider contacting your ISP and upgrading your internet plan. Or, you can change the streaming video quality and set it to a low value to continue streaming videos with a slow internet speed.

In case you are experiencing the buffering issue with live TV streams, the problem might be caused due to a server issue. So, do check the server status of the respective service and ensure that the servers are not down.

If your internet speed is fine and you still get the same problem, try the next potential fix.

See: How to install Blue Magic Kodi Build?

3] Troubleshoot network and internet connection issues

You might be facing the buffering issue in Kodi due to some network and internet connection issues on your computer. Hence, if the scenario is applicable, scan and troubleshoot the WiFi issues and then see if the problem is resolved.

There are some other tricks that you can try. For example, there might be some DNS inconsistency issues, so you can flush the DNS cache and switch to a more reliable DNS server like Google DNS Server. Besides that, you also need to make sure that your network driver is up-to-date. You can also try using a wired connection.

If these tricks worked for you, great. However, if the problem remains the same, move on to the next potential fix to resolve the Kodi buffering issue.

4] Update your add-ons in Kodi

Kodi supports external add-ons. So, you can further enhance the functionalities of Kodi and customize it as per your requirements by using add-ons. However, the add-ons that you have installed in Kodi might be one of the reasons that you are experiencing the issue at hand. Outdated add-ons can also cause the buffering problem in Kodi. Hence, try updating the active add-ons and then see if the problem is gone.

Here are the steps to update your add-ons in Kodi:

1. Firstly, open Kodi and go to the Add-ons tab from the left-hand side panel.
2. Now, in the Add-ons manager, choose a category of add-ons or navigate to My add-ons and then choose All.
3. After that, choose the add-on you want to update and click on the Versions option.
4. It will start checking for available updates and install the latest version of the add-on.
5. Once done, restart the application and see if the problem is resolved.

To enable automatic updates for your add-ons, go to the Settings tab and navigate to the Add-ons category. After that, click on the Updates option and select Install updates automatically. This will ensure that your add-ons are updated automatically whenever a new update is detected.

Once you are done updating add-ons, see if you are able to stream movies and videos in Kodi without the buffering issue. If not, you can try the next potential fix to resolve the issue at hand.

Read: One or more items failed to play Kodi error.

5] Enable/ disable VPN

You can try using a VPN client to stream content on Kodi. There are multiple free VPN software that help you browse anonymously with high-speed servers worldwide. You can use a VPN client for your PC like ProtonVPN, NordVPN, Betternet, Globus Free VPN, and many more.

On the other hand, if you are already using VPN software and experiencing the issue at hand, try disabling your VPN and see if the problem is resolved. In case you are using a proxy server, you can try disabling the proxy and check whether it works or not.

If the problem still persists, you can move on to the next potential solution to resolve the issue.

6] Adjust your video scaling configurations

The buffering issue might occur if you have set up a higher video scaling configuration in Kodi. A higher video scaling setting basically improves the quality of streaming content like movies, TV shows, etc. However, if you are streaming with limited or low bandwidth, it is recommended to keep a lower video scaling setting.

Here are the steps to lower your video scaling setting in Kodi:

1. Firstly, open your Kodi media player and navigate to its Settings tab.
2. Now, move to the Players section.
3. After that, in the Videos tab, scroll down to the Enable HQ scalers for scaling above option in the right-side panel.
4. Next, set the value of the Enable HQ scalers for scaling above option to a lower percentage value. Or, you can also disable this option by setting its value to 0%.
5. When done, try streaming content in Kodi and see if the buffering issue is resolved.

You can try the next potential fix if the problem is still there.

Read: How to set up a Kodi Remote Control on PC using Android and iOS devices?

7] Delete the Kodi cache

You are likely to experience issues like buffering and others if there is a corrupted cache associated with the Kodi application. Hence if the scenario is applicable, you should be able to fix the problem by clearing the accumulated cache for Kodi. You can use an add-on like One Nation Portal or SIMTECH Maintenance Tools to clear the Kodi cache on your Windows PC.

Here’s how to clear the Kodi cache on your PC:

1. First, open Kodi and select the Add-ons tab from the left-hand side of its home screen.
2. Now, select the One Nation Portal add-on and then choose the Maintenance option.
3. Next, press the Cleaning Tools option and then click on the Clear Cache option.
4. After that, follow the prompted instructions to complete the process.
5. Once finished, close Kodi and reopen it to check if the issue is gone or not.

You can also try clearing all your temporary files accumulated over time to fix the problem. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Firstly, evoke the Run command box using the Windows + R hotkey.
2. Now, enter %temp% in the Open box to open the Temp folder on your computer.
3. Next, select all the files and folders using Ctrl+A and then delete them all.

Hopefully, the Kodi buffering issue will be resolved now after deleting the Kodi cache. If not, there are more fixes that you can use to get rid of the issue at hand.

8] Reset Kodi settings

Some of your configurations in Kodi that you have customized over time might be impacting the performance of the application. So, in that case, you can try resetting the Kodi configurations to their default and check whether the problem is fixed. Here is a sorted procedure to do that:

1. First, open your Kodi app and go to its Settings.
2. Now, move to the System section.
3. Next, look for the Reset above settings to default option in the Display tab and click on it.
4. After that, repeat step (3) for all other settings to restore the default configurations.
5. Once you are done resetting all the settings, restart Kodi and check if the problem is resolved or not.

If you still experience the same issue, there is one more fix you can use.

See: Kodi no sound on Windows 11/10.

9] Reinstall Kodi

If the above solutions didn’t work, the last resort is to reinstall the app itself. The Kodi application won’t perform as intended if its installation files are corrupted or damaged. As a result, you might face buffering issues and many other problems in the app. Now, if the scenario is applicable, you can try uninstalling Kodi completely from your computer and then reinstalling its clean version to fix the problem.

To uninstall Kodi, you can open the Settings app using Win+I and then navigate to its Apps > Installed apps section. After that, select the Kodi app and then click on the three-dot menu button present next to it. Next, choose the Uninstall option and follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process. Once done, remove its main installation directory from your PC to completely uninstall the application.

After uninstalling Kodi, download its latest version from the official website and then install it like any other third-party app. When done, open Kodi and see if the buffering issue is resolved.

10] Try a Kodi alternative

If nothing works, you can try an alternative to Kodi. There are multiple free Kodi alternatives that you can use.

How do I speed up buffering on Kodi?

To get rid of the buffering issue in Kodi, make sure you are connected to a stable internet connection with a good speed. If your internet is not a problem, you can try enabling/ disabling your VPN and see what works for you. Besides that, you can clear the cache in Kodi, adjust your video scaling setting, reset your configurations to default, etc. We have discussed all these fixes in detail, so check out.

How do I make Kodi run better?

You can enhance the performance of Kodi by testing your internet speed and troubleshooting network and internet problems. Apart from that, you can use a VPN service to avoid ISP throttling, clear the Kodi cache, uninstall broken add-ons, etc.

Now read: Kodi won’t install or open on PC.