SAN FRANCISCO – YouTube, one of the most visited sites on the internet, suffered a major outage on Tuesday, February 17, 2026. For hours, many people couldn’t load videos, open the homepage, or use related services.

The Google-owned platform confirmed the issue quickly and brought things back online the same night. Still, the timing frustrated plenty of viewers who expected YouTube to work during prime-time viewing.

Even with huge, well-funded systems, outages can happen. In this case, the disruption showed how much YouTube depends on complex automated systems to keep the site usable.

Timeline of the YouTube Outage

Trouble started around 5:00 p.m. PT (8:00 p.m. ET). Users reported blank pages, error messages like “Something went wrong. Try again,” and missing video recommendations.

Early surge: Reports jumped on Downdetector, moving from a few complaints to a flood within minutes.
Peak period: As the evening went on in the US, reports climbed into the hundreds of thousands. Global reports pushed totals even higher.
YouTube responds: TeamYouTube on X (formerly Twitter) began posting updates around 8:00 p.m. ET, saying teams were investigating.
Service returns in stages: The homepage started working again soon after, although some apps and connected services took longer to stabilize.
All clear: Around 10:15 p.m. ET, YouTube said the problem was resolved across platforms.

For most users, the outage lasted about 3 to 5 hours. A few people, however, still saw issues later in the night.

What Caused the YouTube Outage?

YouTube said the outage came from a problem in its recommendations system. That system drives the content people see on the homepage, in the YouTube app, and in several related products.

In updates shared through Google support and social media, YouTube explained:

The bug stopped videos from showing up in key areas, including the homepage and recommendation feeds.
The impact also reached YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, and YouTube TV.
The issue did not come from a broader Google Cloud outage or an outside attack. Instead, it came from an internal failure tied to recommendations.
Because the recommendation engine supports discovery and browsing, the platform felt broken for many users.

Engineers fixed the issue and restored normal service. In most cases, users didn’t need to clear cache, restart apps, or change settings.

How Many People Were Affected?

Exact numbers are hard to confirm because outage reports can overlap. Still, Downdetector data gave a strong sense of how widespread the YouTube outage was.

US peak: Roughly 320,000 to 350,000 reports at the highest point, with some tracking estimates landing around 338,000 to 350,000.
Worldwide spikes: Many more reports came in from other countries, including the UK (tens of thousands) and India (around 17,000). Canada, Brazil, Germany, and Australia also saw heavy reporting.
YouTube TV impact: More than 8,000 reports mentioned login problems and streaming interruptions on the live TV service.
Overall reach: While unique user totals aren’t available, the scale suggests millions ran into problems, given YouTube’s massive audience.

Reports appeared especially concentrated on the US West Coast early on, which matched the late afternoon timing when the outage began ramping up.

User Reactions and What It Means

As YouTube went down, social media filled with jokes, memes, and frustration. Many people switched to TikTok, Netflix, or other streaming apps. Some users also fell back on downloaded videos. Creators even joked about making “Great YouTube Outage of 2026” recap content.

At the same time, the incident highlighted how much people rely on personalized feeds. When recommendations failed, browsing felt impossible, even if some video playback still worked through direct links or limited paths.

The outage became one of YouTube’s largest disruptions in recent years. It followed another major incident in October 2025 that generated more than a million reported user issues. While large-scale YouTube outages remain uncommon, they still happen. When they do, they show how a single system can affect nearly every part of the user experience.

What YouTube Said During the Outage

YouTube kept posting updates as the situation changed:

Early message: “If you’re having trouble accessing YouTube right now, you’re not alone, our teams are looking into this.”
Midway update: “An issue with our recommendations system prevented videos from appearing… The homepage is back, but we’re still working on a full fix.”
Final update: “The issue with our recommendations system has been resolved and all of our platforms (YouTube.com, the YouTube app, YouTube Music, Kids, and TV) are back to normal! We really appreciate you bearing with us.”

YouTube didn’t announce compensation or share detailed prevention steps right away. Still, Google often reviews major incidents internally after service returns.

For now, YouTube is back to normal, and recommendations are working again. Still, the February 2026 outage was a clear reminder that even the biggest platforms can stumble, especially when key systems fail at the wrong time.