YouTube error 400: Your client issued a malformed or illegal request [FIX]

by Vlad Turiceanu

Editor

May 13, 2019

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YouTube is the most popular video sharing site in the world. It’s accessed by millions of users every day that upload and search all sorts of video content. Thus, we can say it’s one of the biggest search engines, too.

YouTube was created in 2005, and in October 2006 Google acquired it and transformed it in the giant that is today.

Even though the site is constantly being developed and improved, sometimes some unexpected errors can show up. That’s the case with the Error 400: your client has issued a malformed or illegal request and today we’ll take a look at it.

A lot of users reported the Error 400 in YouTube, and although is an old and known issue, the cause is still a a mystery to Google. Let’s find out how to fix it.

How can I fix YouTube error 400: Your client has issued a malformed or illegal request? You can quickly solve the issue by clearing all the cookies. Usually, the error is caused by shared cookies between YouTube and other extensions. If this doesn’t solve the problem, clear the specific faulty cookies from Developer tools or use Incognito mode.

How to solve error 400 in YouTube

1. Clear the cookies from Chrome’s settings
2. Clear cookies using Developer Tools
3. Other general fixes

It seems like the main issue, as users stated, is caused by an extension called The Great Suspender. This extension shares the cookies with YouTube and sometimes alters them, leading to the appearance of the Error 400.

Solution 1 – Clear the cookies from Chrome’s settings

First of all, you’ll have to erase the faulty cookies that are causing the problem. To do that, follow the steps:

1. Open Chrome.
2. Go to Settings > Advanced > Content settings.
3. Click on Cookies > See all cookies and site data.
4. In the top-right you will see a search bar. Type youtube.
5. All the cookies related to YouTube should appear. Click on Remove all shown or choose only the faulty ones called gsScrollPos-[4-digit number].

Alternatively, you can do the same process by opening a new tab in chrome and typing chrome://settings/siteData in the adress bar.

• READ ALSO: Chrome enhances browsing privacy via new cookies handling process

Solution 2 – Clear cookies using Developer Tools

If you don’t want to use Chrome‘s setting or cannot access them, try the Chrome‘s Developer Tools. Here’s how to do that:

1. Open Chrome and go to YouTube site.
2. On your keyboard press Ctrl + Shft + I.
3. In the Developer Tools click More and then Application.
4. In the left panel, under Storage, expand Cookies.
5. All the cookies should appear. Delete all the gsScrollPos-[4-digit number] and the error should be gone.

Solution 3 – Other general fixes

In the end, you can try some more simpler and general fixes that worked for some, but not for all:

1. Use Incognito Mode.
2. Replace the direct link with the video id.
3. Clear the full cache and cookies from Clear browsing data in Chrome.
4. Reinstall Chrome.

• READ ALSO: How do I uninstall Google Chrome on Windows 10?

These solutions are relatively simple and you should have no problem solving the Error 400. Remember that The Great Suspender extension is the main cause, but it’s not the only one.

The same steps can be followed even if you don’t have installed this certain extension.

If you have questions or you’re aware of other solutions to the Error 400, feel free to share them in the comments section below.