Do not factory reset your Chromecast as widespread outage continues

Summary

• Google has acknowledged the widespread Chromecast outage.
• It has warned affected users not to factory reset their Chromecast.
• The company did not provide any timeline on when it would resolve the issue.

It’s now been over 36 hours since users first reported issues with casting content to their Google Chromecast (2nd Gen) and Chromecast Audio. With complaints pouring in from frustrated and puzzled Chromecast users from all around the world, Google has acknowledged the problem and confirmed it is working on a fix. But until then, the company has warned users not to factory reset their units — one of the most common troubleshooting steps.

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Since late Sunday night, Chromecast users have been getting an "Untrusted device: [name] couldn't be verified. This could be caused by outdated device firmware" error message when trying to cast any content to the TV connected to the dongle. Making matters worse, their Chromecast also appears offline in the Google Home app.

A Redditor suggested a temporary workaround until Google resolved the problem, requiring you to reset the Chromecast and manually set your phone's date prior to March 9, 2025, and then set it up again.

However, in its post on the Google Nest Community acknowledging the problem, Google strictly warns users not to factory reset their Chromecast. If you have already done so, you will have to wait for Google's updated instructions on how to get your dongle up and working again.

Since most users unaware of the Chromecast outage may resort to factory resetting their device first, this poses a significant issue. Moreover, Google’s warning to avoid a factory reset came nearly 20 hours after the outage started, adding to the frustration of the affected users.

An official fix from Google could take a while to arrive

Redditor u/Indianb0y017u/Indianb0y017 claims the Chromecast outage is linked to an intermediate Certificate Authority (CA) that expired on March 9, 2025 — the original certificate was issued with a 10-year validity. Due to this, Google's servers cannot authenticate older Chromecasts as genuine devices, leading to casting errors.

More worryingly, he believes it will take Google some time to fix the problem, possibly "upwards of a week." Hopefully, that's not the case, and Google will resolve this widespread Chromecast outage soon. At over 1.5 days long, it has already dragged on for too long.