YouTube back online after major outage hits millions
18 Feb 2026

YouTube, the world's leading video streaming platform, suffered a major outage, leaving millions of users worldwide without access to their favorite content.

The disruption began around 5:30pm PT and hit total reports of over 1.6 million on Downdetector.

A while back, the number of reports has dropped significantly to under 50,000, suggesting the service was coming back online for users.

YouTube blames recommendation system for global outage
Technical glitch

In response to the outage, YouTube said that it was caused by a problem with its recommendation system.

The issue prevented videos from appearing on various surfaces across YouTube, including its homepage and apps like YouTube Music and Kids.

However, the company has since confirmed that this issue has been resolved across all platforms.

During the outage, users were greeted with a blank screen
Impact

During the outage, users were greeted with a blank screen or an error message saying "Something went wrong."

The YouTube homepage was visible but without any videos.

This glitch was particularly noticeable on platforms like iPads where it displayed pixel art from the 1980s along with the same error message.

YouTube spokesperson says issue fixed
Official comment

A YouTube spokesperson said, "An issue with our recommendations system prevented videos from appearing across YouTube (including the homepage, the YouTube app, YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, and YouTube TV). This issue has now been fixed across all platforms."

The company also posted an update on its support page acknowledging the problem and assuring users that it was working on a full fix.

Outage affected users worldwide, with the US reporting the most
Global impact

The outage wasn't limited to just one country but was felt globally.

The highest number of reports came from the US with 837,973, followed by Canada (160,259), Brazil (106,261), the UK (93,284), and Germany (42,994).

This widespread disruption highlights YouTube's massive user base and how dependent people are on this platform for their daily dose of entertainment.