Why Your Skillshare Is So Slow (And What To Do About It)

Skillshare – Overview 

Skillshare is one of the best online learning platforms where people from all over the world can access educational videos and increase their knowledge base. With over 27,000 video classes featuring expert instructors, the idea behind Skillshare is interactive learning. 

At Skillshare, students are encouraged to work on and complete projects for a hands-on experience and collaborate with over 8 million creators instead of a lecture style for teaching. 

Whether you want to learn more about lifestyle, technology, arts, design, photography and entrepreneurship, Skillshare has it all. Simply put, it is an education equivalent of Netflix that allows learners from all over the world to stream and learn from functional and high-quality classes. 

Some of the distinguishing features of Skillshare include 

• More than 27,000 educational classes (with around 3,000 new classes added every year)
• More than 2,000 free classes available. 
• Subscribe and access facility 
• Two-months free-trial 
• Small lesson size for enhanced learning experience 
• Recommended class based on your interest
• Easy access from multiple devices including mobile phone and desktop 

Unlike other digital learning platforms, Skillshare comprises in-house and community-driven instructors.

Anyone can create and share a video on Skillshare (see also ‘Is Skillshare Free?‘) and make money from classes so it is a great place for creators, inquisitive individuals, entrepreneurs, designers, bloggers, marketers, and anyone interested in personal development.

However, it is not a place for more professional learning that can lead to career progression. 

And while a lot has already been discussed on what is Skillshare (see also our article on cancelling Skillshare), now is the time to talk about two potential problems that the subscribers of Skillshare often face and how to deal with it.

In this post, you will find out the reasons why your Skillshare videos might not be playing at full speed or might not be playing at all.

And once you learn the reasons, we will share a few tips with you that can help you get your Skillshare videos back to normal speed. So without further ado, let’s get started. 

Reasons Your Skillshare Video Might Not Be Playing at Full Speed

There are several reasons why your Skillshare video might not be playing at full speed. 

Your Internet Connection is Not Stable

A stable, high-speed internet connection is the pre-requisite for all online learning platforms. Perhaps, the most common reason why your Skillshare videos may not be playing at full speed is a low speed, unstable internet connection. 

If that is the case, your device will buffer the data for the video but your video will start playing only when you have enough data to prevent the lag in streaming. As a result, with an unstable internet connection, it takes longer to stream a video  

System Configuration does not Support High Quality Videos

Just like you need a stable internet connection, you also need a functional system that can support digital learning. In case of an outdated or low performance system (such as a desktop or laptop), your Skillshare videos might not be playing at full speed.

This is because the outdated system and applications (such as flash player) may not fully support the high quality content you wish to view. 

Moreover, issues pertaining to your graphic card may affect the speed of your Skillshare videos. 

Windows Updates Can Interfere with Your Videos

Every new update on your system has a potential to slow your computer for a while. Since a new system update puts pressure on your hardware, and may enable features that were not enable previously, this can affect the speed of your Skillshare video. 

There can be several other reasons that can affect the speed of your Skillshare videos. However, the ones highlighted above are the most common ones. 

Reasons Your Skillshare Videos Might Not Be Playing at All

Again, there are several reasons that can interfere with your Skillshare videos. Some potential reasons why your Skillshare videos might not be playing at all may include the following. 

Missing Codec

For playing any video on your computer, you need a specific Codec, a program that facilitates streaming on a certain video player. In case you have a missing codec for your Adobe Flash Player, you may not be play to play a Skillshare video on your computer.    

Corrupt Video File 

Moreover, if the content file is corrupt (which is seldom the case on Skillshare), your Skillshare video may not play at all. 

Virus on the Computer

If you are planning to view your Skillshare videos on a laptop or desktop, make sure you have active and functional antivirus installed. Having a virus in your system inhibits the playing of a Skillshare video on your system. 

Tips on Getting Your Skillshare Videos Back Up to Speed 

Now that you are already aware of the reasons why your Skilshare videos might be playing slow, it’s time to learn a few tips that you can try at home so you can enjoy the right speed of your videos for a better learning experience. 

When Your Video is Taking a Long Time to Process 

Open a New Tab

When your videos are taking a long time to process (30 minutes or more), it is best to close the tab/window.

Now open a new window or tab in your browser. Once you have a new tab, go back to your class draft. You are likely to view your video within the Video Lessons tab.

Fix Your Internet Connection 

When you experience troubles when streaming videos, it is best to ensure that your internet connection is perfect. Make sure you have a high speed internet connectivity that is consistent. Make sure it meets the following speed requirements for playing online videos; 

• 1 Mbps or more for high resolution videos. 
• 500 Kbps for short online videos.   

If your internet speed is adequate and yet it takes a long time to process the video, it is best to go for Ethernet instead of a Wi-Fi connection. 

When You See a Video Error 

There are various reasons that can lead to a video error. In case you experience one, we recommend you try out the following steps to troubleshoot. 

Clear Your Cache and Cookies 

When you visit a website, some information from the website gets stored in the cache and cookies. When there is a lot of information in your cache and cookies, it can cause trouble in formatting and loading, which can lead to errors as you try to view your Skillshare video. 

Clearing the cache simply means you empty all the information that has been stored in your cache and cookies. This can help facilitate browsing. And cache and cookies is not always the problem but since it is a frequent one, it is best to start by clearing your cache and cookies. 

Make Sure Your Flash Player is Enabled and Up to Date 

If you are not sure whether your Adobe Flash Player is enabled or not, use the following steps to ensure that your Adobe Flash Player is toggled on. 

• Select the “…” (Vertically arranged) to open the browser setting. 
• Select the “settings” button. 
• Now select “View Advanced Settings”. 
• And check whether the Adobe Flash Player is toggled on or not.  

Disable 

Once you have ensured that your Flash Player is enabled, now is the time to disable the following.

• Firewall,
• Antivirus programs
• Browser extensions/add-ons.

By disabling the firewall, antivirus programs and browser extensions, you can boost your system performance that can facilitate in speeding up your Skillshare videos. 

Sign Out  

This is a step-4 process. Once you have cleared your cache and cookies, enabled Flash Player, disabled a few programs, now you need to sign out of your Skillshare account, quit the browser and then sign in again. You can also try signing in from a different browser. 

Final Words 

If you have already tried some or all of the tips highlighted above and the issue still persists, it is best to contact Skillshare Help Center.

Start by selecting a technical issue and you will be requested to submit your email address, along with some details of the problem you are facing. It is best to include the following in your request: 

• Browser type
• Link to the class
• A screenshot of the video error
• A screenshot of your console of the problematic page. To get started, simply press Ctrl+Shift+J (or Cmd+Alt+J on a Mac)on your Browser. 

When you provide this information, it will be easier for a customer representative from Skillshare to understand and fix your problem in no time. In case they need more information, they will contact you and help resolve your issue in no time.