YouTube Outage: What We Realize

On February 18, 2026, YouTube experienced a significant outage impacting users across the United States and Australia. While the platform remains operational for some, many users reported issues ranging from a blank screen when attempting to load the site to problems logging in and accessing YouTube TV. Here’s a breakdown of what happened, the areas affected, and the current status.

Initial Reports and Impact

The first reports of issues began surfacing around 1:42 AM PST. Users initially encountered a blank screen instead of videos when visiting YouTube on their computers. As of 1:48 AM PST, over 30,000 users were reporting problems with YouTube, with more than 8,000 YouTube TV users also experiencing issues. Google itself had approximately 2,500 reported issues.

Geographic Distribution of the Outage

According to reports from Downdetector, the West Coast of the United States was initially the hardest hit, with San Francisco and Los Angeles experiencing the most significant disruptions. On the East Coast, New York City reported the highest number of issues. However, problems were reported across the U.S. Reports also came in from Australia, specifically regarding issues loading the YouTube homepage.

Recovery and Official Response

The number of reported issues began to decline around 2:05 AM PST, dropping from over 30,000 to approximately 22,000. As of 2:24 AM PST, YouTube officially acknowledged the outage on its support account, confirming that users were not imagining the problems. By 2:42 AM PST, reported issues had further decreased to around 16,000. Further clarification from Google indicated that while the homepage was largely restored, users were still reporting issues logging in to both YouTube and YouTube TV.

Current Status (as of 4:00 PM PST)

As of 4:00 PM PST, Down Detector shows fewer than 5,000 U.S. Users reporting issues with YouTube. YouTube support has given the all-clear, indicating the outage is largely resolved. However, monitoring continues from the U.S. West Coast to address any potential further disruptions.

What Caused the Outage?

The cause of the outage has not been officially disclosed by YouTube or Google.

Sources:
Downdetector, StatusGator, ThisIsDown