If you get a “Failed to cast. Please try again.” message while trying to mirror desktop or tab from your PC or Mac, try the following recommendations.

Note: This is a collection of solutions and recommendations that we found by browsing through dozens of forum posts and Reddit threads. Feel free to add your suggestions to the comments section.

Basic troubleshooting for “failed to cast” error

The basic troubleshooting methods that we recommend for other Chromecast issues are also applicable here.

1. Ensure that you are using the latest version of Chrome.
2. Make sure that your Chromecast is on the latest version.
3. Restart Chrome.
4. Restart your computer.
5. Restart your Chromecast.
6. Restart your WiFi router.

Enable the ‘Cast Media Route Provider’ Flag

Enabling the Cast Media Rout Provider flag resolves the issue for many users. To do this:

1. Open chrome://flags in a new tab.
2. Search and find “Cast Media Route Provider”.
3. Select “Enabled” from the drop-down.
4. Restart Chrome.

This makes Chrome use the native Cast Media Route Provider implementation instead of the implementation in the Media Router component extension.

Change  Windows Audio Output Device

In some cases, switching the Windows audio output device fixes the problem. On your Windows computer:

1. Go to Settings > Hardware and Sound.
2. In the Hardware and Sound menu, click “Manage audio devices”
3. Change this to your computer’s audio device/speakers.

Other Recommendations

• In some cases, changing the audio output to Stereo from the Configure Speakers screen also helps.
• If you have a USB soundboard,  enable the soundboard that comes with the motherboard as well and try.

Try casting again.

Do you have a solution or a recommendation that we haven’t covered here? Let us know in the comment section.