> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.tella.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Recorded video won't play, plays black, or My Videos shows 'unknown error'

> My Tella video won't play, plays a black screen, keeps buffering or spinning, video that worked now won't load, My Videos library is blank or empty, unknown error on my videos page, library won't load, video stuck loading.

This covers two different problems that look similar but have different fixes. Find the one that matches what you're seeing.

## A single video won't play, plays black, or keeps buffering

If the rest of your library loads fine but **one** video plays a black screen, spins, or buffers and never starts:

1. **Reload the page** and give it a few seconds — playback often recovers on a fresh load.
2. **Try a different browser or an incognito/private window** to rule out an extension, cache, or VPN getting in the way. See [Client-side exception error](/help/troubleshooting/client-side-exception-error) for the browser-level checks.
3. **Re-render the video.** A fresh render frequently fixes a video that's stuck or playing black. Make a tiny edit in the editor to trigger it — full steps in [How do I re-render a video?](/help/troubleshooting/rerender-video)

<Warning>
  If a video **played before and has now gone blank or black**, do not delete it. The recording is almost always still safe on our end — deleting it removes your most direct path to recovering it. Contact support instead (details below).
</Warning>

## My whole library is blank, empty, or shows "unknown error"

If your **entire** My Videos page is blank, won't load, or throws a generic message like **"unknown error"** — and your individual videos won't open either — this usually isn't a problem with your account or any single video.

1. **Try an incognito/private window.** If the library loads there, the issue is local to your normal browser session (extensions or cached data) rather than your videos.
2. **If it still fails in incognito,** it's most likely a temporary, service-wide hiccup rather than something wrong with your account. See [Is Tella down? 500 errors](/help/troubleshooting/is-tella-down-500-errors) and check **[status.tella.com](https://status.tella.com)**. If there's an incident, we're already on it and your videos are safe — an outage doesn't delete anything.

<Note>
  A blank library during an outage does **not** mean your videos are gone. Wait for service to recover and reload before assuming anything is missing.
</Note>

## Still don't see a video that should be there?

If a specific recording never showed up in the first place — as opposed to one that loaded and then broke — that's a different situation. Work through [I can't find my recording](/help/troubleshooting/cant-find-my-recording) first; it covers workspaces, Trash, and unfinished uploads.

## What to send us

If none of the above helps, contact support via the in-app chat or [support@tella.com](mailto:support@tella.com) and include:

* A **share link** to the affected video, if you have one.
* The **exact error text** you see (or a screenshot), and whether it's one video or the whole library.
* Whether it still happens in an **incognito/private window**.

If a video that used to play has gone blank, mention that — and again, don't delete it before we take a look.