On Tuesday evening, YouTube faced a significant outage, preventing thousands of users worldwide from accessing the platform.
Downdetector, a website that gathers user reports, recorded over 800,000 complaints in the U.S. alone, with additional reports from countries like Canada, Brazil, the U.K., and Germany.
Most users reported issues with the YouTube app, though some also experienced problems with the website itself, where the main site would load but the homepage would not.
While not everyone was affected, the outage caused widespread frustration, leaving many users unable to watch videos.
Indiana-based journalist Hannah Adamson commented on X, “Looks like YouTube isn’t working properly.”
Looks like YouTube isn’t working properly. I can still access saved and recently viewed videos, but nothing on the home page loads. Seeing a lot of people on X saying YouTube isn’t working for them either. @FOX59 | @CBS4Indy pic.twitter.com/92OVSt9In3
— Hannah Adamson TV (@Hannah__Adamson) February 18, 2026
She further noted, “I can still access saved and recently viewed videos, but nothing on the home page loads. Seeing a lot of people on X saying YouTube isn’t working for them either.”
The problems began around 8 pm EST, initially noted by 75,000 users who reported the issue.
Since then, reports have surged, with global outage reports surpassing 1 million in just a few hours.
As the leading streaming platform in the U.S., YouTube promptly informed users that efforts were underway to resolve the problem and restore normal service as quickly as possible.
Update: An issue with our recommendations system prevented videos from appearing across surfaces on YouTube (including the homepage, the YouTube app, YouTube Music and YouTube Kids). The homepage is back, but we're still working on a full fix – more coming soon!
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) February 18, 2026
They stated on social media: “Hi everyone, We’re aware some of you are having issues accessing YouTube right now. Our teams are aware, and we’ll provide updates as soon as we have them.”
Later, a second update was issued: “We are aware of the ongoing issue impacting YouTube homepage, recommendations, search and uploads and are working to fix it. Please follow along in our Community for updates. Our support agents do not have any additional information to share with you at this time.”
Shortly thereafter, YouTube announced partial restoration, stating: “An issue with our recommendations system prevented videos from appearing across surfaces on YouTube (including the homepage, the YouTube app, YouTube Music and YouTube Kids). The homepage is back, but we’re still working on a full fix – more coming soon!”
Further details will be provided as they become available…