YouTube Experiences Widespread Outage, Affecting Millions Globally
On the evening of February 17, 2026, YouTube, the world’s leading video-sharing platform, encountered a significant global outage that disrupted access for millions of users. The issues began around 8:00 PM Eastern Time, with users reporting difficulties accessing the homepage, subscriptions feed, and YouTube Shorts. While some could still view videos by navigating directly to specific channels or using direct links, many experienced slow loading times and playback issues.
Downdetector, a website that monitors online service disruptions, recorded over 320,000 reports from users in the United States alone during the peak of the outage. The problems were not confined to the U.S.; users from countries including Canada, India, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Australia, and Russia also reported similar issues, indicating a widespread global impact.
The outage affected both the YouTube website and its mobile applications across various platforms, including iOS and Android. Users attempting to access the platform encountered error messages such as Something went wrong, and many were unexpectedly signed out of their accounts. YouTube TV, the platform’s live television streaming service, was also impacted, with nearly 9,000 users reporting issues during the same timeframe.
In response to the widespread disruption, YouTube acknowledged the issue through its official social media channels. The company stated, We can confirm that we’re aware of the issue & our team is currently working on a fix. We appreciate your patience while we get this sorted. Despite this acknowledgment, no specific details regarding the cause of the outage were provided at that time.
By approximately 9:21 PM Eastern Time, services began to resume for many users. However, some continued to experience intermittent issues, and YouTube advised users to report any ongoing problems to assist in the full restoration of services.
This incident underscores the critical role that platforms like YouTube play in daily life, serving as primary sources of entertainment, education, and information for billions worldwide. The outage highlights the potential vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure and the widespread impact that service disruptions can have on a global scale.
As of now, YouTube has not released a detailed explanation for the outage. Users are encouraged to monitor official YouTube channels for updates and to report any persistent issues to ensure a swift resolution.
