New content isn't showing on the screen

You added content or changed a playlist, but the screen still shows the old thing — or shows nothing new after you published. This almost always comes down to one of five things — work down the list in order, the quickest checks first.

1. Did you publish?

Adding content to a playlist doesn't send it to a screen on its own — you have to publish the playlist. Open the playlist, press Publish, and choose the screen or screens. See Put a playlist on your screens (publishing).

2. Check the screen received it

Right after publishing, confirm each screen actually got the playlist — the publish view shows this for every screen you sent it to. If a screen didn't confirm, it's usually because it's offline (the next check).

3. Is the screen online?

A screen only updates while it's Online. If it shows as Offline, it will pick up your change as soon as it reconnects — there's nothing else to do. Work through Screen is offline — first checks first.

4. Give it a minute — new content downloads first

impressPlayer downloads content to the screen before it plays, so a change is never quite instant, and a large video takes longer than a small image. If it's taking a while, What happens if the internet goes down? (offline playback) explains the download queue and why an update can be waiting its turn.

5. Check the content's dates

If you gave the content date restrictions, it only plays inside that date window — and the screen needs the correct time and time zone for that to work. Check the dates, and check the screen's time zone. See Show content only between certain dates.

Good to know

  • If the screen itself shows a "set a playlist" message, it hasn't received a playlist yet — publish one to it and make sure it's Online.

  • A change to the main playlist jumps the download queue, so it usually appears faster than a background update.

  • Republishing the same playlist is safe — the screen only downloads what actually changed and skips what it already has.

  • You don't need to manage storage: the player clears the oldest downloaded playlists automatically to make room.

Next steps: still not right? A YouTube clip that refuses to play is a special case — see YouTube video won't play (errors 150/153). If nothing here helped, email support.