YouTube down — live updates on major outage affecting both the app and the website

(Image credit: Google)

If you head over to YouTube on your computer right now, the site will load but you won’t see any videos. Instead, after doing so, I was met with a blank screen without any videos whatsoever.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

Although YouTube wasn’t showing up on Downdetector at first, it now is, with just over 30,000 users reporting problems on the site. Meanwhile, more than 8,000 YouTube TV users have reported experiencing issues with the service, while Google itself has close to 2,500 issues reported so far.

We’ll be tracking all three sites closely, but it seems that for now, YouTube is where the majority of problems are occurring.

(Image credit: Down Detector)

Since we last checked in, the number of reported cases of issues with YouTube in the U.S. dropped from just over 30K to closer to 22K.

(Image credit: YouTube)

Normally, during a major outage like this one, companies head to X (Twitter) to provide updates. However, if you go to YouTube’s official account, the last post was made 4 hours ago and is about cooking creators, not the outage. Hopefully, we learn more from YouTube and Google soon.

(Image credit: Down Detector)

Based on Downdetector’s map of reported problems, it appears that YouTube users in San Francisco have been hit the hardest, with Los Angeles not that far behind. Then, on the East Coast, New York is showing the most reported problems, though other cities across the U.S. are also experiencing issues when trying to watch videos on YouTube

(Image credit: YouTube)

Dan Bracaglia here, checking in from Seattle, Washington, with no issues to report with YouTube. I’ve also received reports from friends in Santa Cruz, California, and Reading, Pennsylvania that the platform is working without issue as of 6:15 pm PST. Hopefully, this means the outage will be short-lived!

(Image credit: YouTube)

As the number of reported issues with YouTube continues to decline, the official YouTube account has acknowledged that you are not, in fact, imagining problems with the platform.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Our colleagues in Australia have confirmed that they, too, are having issues with YouTube, primarily loading the home screen. A quick test trying to load YouTube.com from Seattle, Washington, results in similar issues. However, if I punch in a video’s direct URL, things seem to be loading with no issue.

(Image credit: Down Detector)

Things are looking up, my fellow YouTube lovers. Those reporting issues with the video platform on Down Detector have dropped to around 16,000 from 30,000+ just an hour ago.

While the homepage may still be slow to load, as it is for me on the U.S. West Coast, YouTube seems to be recovering nicely/quickly.

(Image credit: Google)

As the number of reported issues continues to drop just below 10,000 on Down Detector, I wanted to share this message posted to the official YouTube Google support account. TLDR: The homepage seems to be back up, but folks are still reporting issues logging in to YouTube and YouTube TV.

(Image credit: Down Detector)

Good news, everyone (in Professor Farnsworth’s voice)! Your favorite rags-to-riches video platform, YouTube, is almost back to normal, according to Down Detector, which is showing roughly 7,000 reported issues in the U.S., a massive decrease from 30,000+ earlier this evening.

Are you still having issues loading YouTube as of 7:15 pm PST or beyond? Let me know in the comments below.

(Image credit: YouTube)

(Image credit: YouTube)

As the reported number of issues from U.S. YouTube users drops below 5K, it seems safe to call this outage largely resolved. The YouTube support blog similarly gives the all-clear (screenshot above).

That said, I will continue to keep an eye on Down Detector from the U.S. West Coast and drop an update if things take a sudden turn for the worse. Here’s hoping that’s not the case!

(Image credit: Down Detector)

With Down Detector now showing fewer than 5,000 U.S. users reporting issues with YouTube, it’s safe to call this outage resolved.

How did the great February 17, 2026, YouTube outage impact you? Let me know in the comments below.