Today, Tuesday 18 February 2026, YouTube experienced a major global outage, with users in the United States and several other countries reporting problems accessing the platform and its related services. The disruption affected YouTube’s main website, apps, and even YouTube-linked platforms such as YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, and YouTube TV.

According to outage monitoring site Downdetector, hundreds of thousands of users in the U.S. reported issues, with peak reports exceeding around 320,000 complaints during the height of the disruption. Users encountered errors like:

• “Something went wrong” messages
• Videos failing to load
• Errors in the recommendations/feed section
• Login and playback issues in apps and connected services

The problems weren’t limited to the United States — users in India, the UK, Australia, Mexico and other regions also reported similar issues, pointing to a wide-ranging outage.

🕒 Timeline: What Happened and When

• 🟡 Outage began: Late on 17 February 2026, with users first reporting problems in the early evening.
• 🟠 Reports peaked: Many complaints were logged between 6:00 AM and 8:00 PM EST in the U.S., with users unable to load video content or recommendations.
• 🟢 Fix implemented: YouTube acknowledged the problem and confirmed that the issue had been resolved a short time later, with services gradually returning to normal.

YouTube later issued a statement explaining that an issue with its recommendation system prevented videos from appearing across the platform — affecting not only YouTube’s homepage but also apps and other services tied to the same infrastructure.

📲 Affected Platforms

The outage wasn’t confined to just one app or region — users reported problems across a range of services:

• YouTube website (videos and recommendations)
• YouTube app (Android & iOS)
• YouTube Music
• YouTube Kids
• YouTube TV streaming service
• Login and account access issues for some users

Some users also reported problems with thumbnails not loading or the page structure appearing “blank” even though sidebars and basic UI elements were visible.

📍 User Reactions & Social Buzz

As expected, the outage quickly became a trending topic on social media. Many people in the U.S. turned to other platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to confirm whether the service was down for others as well. Screenshots of error messages and memes quickly spread across discussions online as users waited for updates.

Users also reported that while some features like search or previously watched videos worked, recommended videos and home feeds were missing or blank, making the platform seem “broken” for a large number of users.

🟢 Service Status: Back Online

YouTube later confirmed that the issue was fixed, and normal service was restored across platforms after the team addressed the underlying problem. Users saw the homepage return, and video recommendations began reappearing shortly after the fix was implemented.

By the time reports dropped significantly in late evening, most users in the U.S. and worldwide were able to access YouTube again.

⚠️ Why It Matters

YouTube is one of the most widely used online platforms globally, with over 2.5 billion monthly users. A major outage disrupts not only entertainment streaming but also education, work-related content, and business-related channels that rely heavily on the platform for uploads and live streaming.

Outages of this scale are relatively rare for YouTube, and when they happen, they highlight the global dependence on major digital platforms for everyday online activity.

🔁 What You Should Know

• 🟡 Yes — YouTube was down in the U.S. today and in other regions due to a platform outage.
• 🔧 The problem was linked to the recommendation system not displaying videos properly.
• 🟢 YouTube confirmed the issue and restored normal services after working on a fix.
• 📱 Users may still experience minor glitches as the system stabilizes.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This article is based on current news reports and outage monitoring data available at the time of writing. Details of service interruptions and user reports may evolve as official statements and technical analyses are updated. Information is intended for informational and reporting purposes only.