Chromecast – Source not supported when casting? Try this

When you’re trying to cast from your laptop to your television, typically this should work automatically. They’re compatible devices, so you should be able to use the two in tandem with each other.

For those that aren’t compatible, you’re typically going to get a Source not supported message beneath the device you want to connect to. Here’s an example of what you get when trying to connect your desktop to a speaker;

source-not-supported

This makes sense, as you can’t cast your Desktop display to a speaker. But in some cases, you may not be able to connect your laptop or phone to something that it should work with, like a Chromecast plugged into your television.

We’re going to explore what you should so if you find that your Chromecast source is not supported on your television.

Chromecast source not supported

Actually, this problem can occur when casting to any devices from your Chrome browser – it’s not only an issue that happens with a Chromecast. Though, the good news is that you should be able to fix the issue with the same solution.

Before starting, you should probably make sure that you’ve updated your Google Chrome browser. This kind of issue usually happens suddenly out of nowhere, and there’s a good chance that it’s just started happening after you’ve updated to a new version of Google Chrome.

And likewise, if you haven’t updated Chrome in a while, then it may be an existing bug that’s been ironed out. If you need to update your browser, you’ll get an update prompt in the top right corner of your toolbar. Or, you can easily force your browser to update by closing it down and re-opening it again.

So, you’ll want to try this first to see if this resolves the casting issue. But if it doesn’t work, then run through the below to get your casting back up and working as normal.

Turn on mirroring

When you’re casting from your laptop or computer, you’re typically trying to mirror your screen onto your television. This won’t work if mirroring isn’t enabled on within your Chrome browser.

You can force this to be enabled by heading entering chrome://flags into your URL bar. Here, you’ll be met with a list of different customizations related to Google Chrome.

mirroring

Start searching for Mirroring, and you should be met with the option Allow all sites to initiate mirroring. Make sure that this is enabled and then restart your browser. In most cases, this will solve your casting problem.

Cast media route

Whilst you’re in the menu, there is something else that you can make sure is enabled whilst you’re there. Instead of mirroring, make a search for the Cast Media Route Provider option.

cast-media-route

Make sure that you switch this over to enabled as well. Essentially, all a media route provider does is allow you to connect to external media devices to play any media, whether that’s audio, video or screen mirroring.

Make sure your wi-fi is working

reset-wifi

There is the possibility that your wi-fi may be the reason you’re getting the Source not supported message when trying to cast. If both devices aren’t connected to the same wi-fi network securely, then you’re not going to be able to cast between the two.

Obviously, the first thing you’re going to want to do here is ensure both Chromecast and your laptop are connected to the same network. If you’ve done this and you’re still seeing the same message, then you should try restarting your wi-fi router.

An easy way to rule out your wi-fi being the problem is to connect both devices to a different network. You can use your mobile phone hotspot for this to see if it works, as it can help you to identify whether the wi-fi is the cause, or actually, the cause lies elsewhere.

Check your third party software

There’s also a chance that some third party software you’ve installed on your laptop is the cause of all this.

One of the most common softwares that can cause connectivity problems is a VPN. When you’re connected to a dynamic IP address, this can confuse your home router and may make it think that you’re not on the same network as your Chromecast.

Switching off your VPN is going to be the first thing that you’ll want to do in this case. There’s also the off chance that your anti-virus software may be at play here as well.

Turn off all your extensions

Browser extensions are one of the main reasons why many of us want to use Google Chrome in the first place. But when it comes to casting, these same extensions can conflict with the Chromecast device.

extensions

Try turning all of the browser extensions off to see whether this makes a difference in using your Chromecast. It’s probably going to be worth doing this one by one to see which one is causing the issue. This way, you can keep the extensions that work fine whilst you’re casting at the same time.

Conclusion

Usually a Chromecast should be a pretty reliable way to connect to your home television. Even though many of us are using smart TVs with alternative ways to cast, they’re still one of the most popular streaming devices on the market.

Finding that your source is not supported is a super common problem when it can’t connect with your TV properly. Fortunately, by following the above you should be able to get it fixed.

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About Nathan

Hello! I'm Nate. I work for an internet company during the week, so you'll probably see me on here jabbering about the internet and building websites, which is my main side hobby.

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