How to fix Widevine Content Decryption Module Error in Chrome

How to fix “Widevine Content Decryption Module Error on Chrome”?

Widevine Content Decryption Module is an extension by Google for playing digitally protected content using the HTML5 player. Thanks to this feature, you can play Digital Rights Management-protected HTML5 audio and video in your browser. It comes pre-installed on your Google Chrome browser along with the other five plug-ins. 

This plug-in is used by Google Chrome and other web browsers to deliver DRM-protected HTML 5 video/audio content. DRM technologies facilitate content creators and owners to describe policies on how their protected media content is viewed and copied. Disabling or removing this plug-in from your browser will result in you not being able to play videos from many popular websites such as a Netflix and Amazon.

If you are trying to play DRM-protected HTML5 videos, and you might be coming across a common error ‘Widevine Content Decryption Module Error’, and you might be seeing ‘component not updated’ every time you try to update WidevineCdm, then here we are trying to find a solution for you.

Why do you come across the ‘Widevine Content Decryption Module Error’?

When you visit websites like Netflix or Amazon Prime on Google Chrome, if you come across ‘Widevine Content Decryption Module Error’ then this means WidevineCdm is not updated or is missing from the browser.

Here we are listing a few reasons why this error pops up in your window:

• You have disabled the ‘Widevine Content Decryption Module’ plug-in, and now a website requires it.
• The plug-in failed to update itself.
• Somehow, you removed the plug-in.
• The plug-in files might have been corrupted by a malware or virus.
• The extension has crashed for some reason.

How to fix the ‘Widevine Content Decryption Module Error’ error on Chrome Web Browser?

Method One: Install the plug-in if WidevineCdm is missing

Sometimes you might see an error that tells you about missing Widevine module. Check if WidevineCdm is there or not by typing ‘chrome://components/’ in the address bar. If not, follow these easy steps below to fix it.

1. Uninstall Google Chrome from your computer.
2. Go to the official Google Chrome download page.
3. Download and install the browser. The plug-in is installed by default with the browser installation.

Method Two: Update the plug-in

When you have an outdated Widevine add-on, you will see an error when trying to play DRM-protected content.

To resolve this error, follow the steps below.

1. Type ‘chrome://components/’ in Google Chrome address bar and hit Enter.
2. Scroll down to the bottom to locate the ‘Widevine Content Decryption Module.’
3. Click the Check for update button under the add-on.

1. The browser will update the plug-in.
2. Refresh your page, and if you’ll see ‘Up-to-date’ status, it means that your plug-in has been updated.
3. Reboot your PC and again check if the problem persists.

However, when a majority of users click ‘update’, they see the status as ‘component not updated’. In case the same occurs with you as, you can easily solve this by uninstalling Google Chrome and performing a fresh installation.

Method Three: Change the Permission of WidevineCdm

This is a tech savvy approach. To perform this, first examine that the plugin’s folder permissions to ensure you have complete control before retrying to update the plug-in. To begin:

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application.
2. Enter “%userprofile%/appdata/local” in the dialogue box that pops up and then press Enter.
3. Next, follow the file path: Google > Chrome > User Data.
4. Locate the WidevineCdm folder.
5. Right-click on WidevineCdm folder and select Properties.
6. Click on the Security tab and then under the heading “Group or user names”, select your user account.

1. Next, under the heading “Permissions for your user account” make sure that the Full control checkbox is checked. This ensures that the login user has full access.
2. If you don’t have full control, click on the Edit button, uncheck the tick present underneath the column of Deny box and checkmark Full Control– this will enable full account access.
3. Now you’ll click Apply to save changes to save your settings and exit.
4. After this restart Chrome, then go to chrome://components/ and again check for an update for Widevine Content Decryption Module.
5. Check to see if the issue of ‘Widevine Content Decryption Module Error’ has been resolved.

Method Four: Delete Widevine Folder

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application.
2. Enter “%userprofile%/appdata/local” in the dialogue box that pops up. Now, press Enter.
3. Next, follow the file path: Google > Chrome > User Data.
4. Scroll down to the bottom and locate WidevineCdm from the list of folders, right-click on it, and select Delete from the context menu.

1. Search for Task Manager in the search box. Right-click on the application and select Run as administrator to give admin access.
2. Right-click on Chrome entries and select End task to end all Chrome tasks.
3. Now, retry to update the Widevine Content Decryption Module. The module would now be able to update correctly, and Chrome might restart.
4. Restart your computer and check if the problem is solved.

Method Five: Temporarily Disable Your Antivirus and Firewall

Sometimes the Antivirus program and firewall can cause Widevine Content Decryption Module Error. In order to verify if this is the case or not here, disable your antivirus for some amount of time so as to check if the error still appears when the antivirus is off.

1. Identify the Antivirus Program icon from the system tray, right-click on it, and select Disable.
2. Now, select the time frame for which the Antivirus will remain disabled. Choose the smallest amount of time.
3. After this is done, again try to check if the error resolves or not.
4. Start Control Panel.
5. Next, click on System and Security.

1. Then click on Windows Firewall.
2. Select Turn off Windows Firewall.
3. Now, restart your PC. Again restart Google Chrome and see if the Widevine Content Decryption Module Missing Error still shows.

Method Six: Re-install Google Chrome

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application.
2. Type “%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\” in the dialogue box. Now, press Enter.
3. Right-click on the default folder and select Rename from the context window or if you are comfortable losing all your preferences in Chrome you can also select Delete.
4. Rename the folder to defaultdata.old and then press Enter. If you cannot rename the folder, make sure you close all instances of chrome.exe from Task Manager.

1. Start Control Panel.
2. Select Uninstall a program and then scroll down to find Google Chrome.

1. Uninstall Google Chrome and make sure that all of its data is deleted.
2. Reboot your PC.
3. Again install Chrome.

References:

1. https://www.itechgyan.com
2. https://windowsreport.com