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Met with a blank screen
If you head over to YouTube on your computer right now, the site will load but you won’t see any videos. Instead, after doing so, I was met with a blank screen without any videos whatsoever.
Back up on DownDetector
Although YouTube wasn’t showing up on Downdetector at first, it now is, with just over 30,000 users reporting problems on the site. Meanwhile, more than 8,000 YouTube TV users have reported experiencing issues with the service, while Google itself has close to 2,500 issues reported so far.
We’ll be tracking all three sites closely, but it seems that for now, YouTube is where the majority of problems are occurring.
Things are improving…
Since we last checked in, the number of reported cases of issues with YouTube in the U.S. dropped from just over 30K to closer to 22K.
No official response yet
Normally, during a major outage like this one, companies head to X (Twitter) to provide updates. However, if you go to YouTube’s official account, the last post was made 4 hours ago and is about cooking creators, not the outage. Hopefully, we learn more from YouTube and Google soon.
West Coast hit the hardest
Based on Downdetector’s map of reported problems, it appears that YouTube users in San Francisco have been hit the hardest, with Los Angeles not that far behind. Then, on the East Coast, New York is showing the most reported problems, though other cities across the U.S. are also experiencing issues when trying to watch videos on YouTube
All’s good in Seattle, Washington and Santa Cruz, California
Dan Bracaglia here, checking in from Seattle, Washington, with no issues to report with YouTube. I’ve also received reports from friends in Santa Cruz, California, and Reading, Pennsylvania that the platform is working without issue as of 6:15 pm PST. Hopefully, this means the outage will be short-lived!
YouTube acknowledges the outage
As the number of reported issues with YouTube continues to decline, the official YouTube account has acknowledged that you are not, in fact, imagining problems with the platform.
YouTube homepage still won’t load
Our colleagues in Australia have confirmed that they, too, are having issues with YouTube, primarily loading the home screen. A quick test trying to load YouTube.com from Seattle, Washington, results in similar issues. However, if I punch in a video’s direct URL, things seem to be loading with no issue.
Reported YouTube issues drop from 30k+ to 16K
Things are looking up, my fellow YouTube lovers. Those reporting issues with the video platform on Down Detector have dropped to around 16,000 from 30,000+ just an hour ago.
While the homepage may still be slow to load, as it is for me on the U.S. West Coast, YouTube seems to be recovering nicely/quickly.
Further clarification from Google
As the number of reported issues continues to drop just below 10,000 on Down Detector, I wanted to share this message posted to the official YouTube Google support account. TLDR: The homepage seems to be back up, but folks are still reporting issues logging in to YouTube and YouTube TV.
Good news, everyone!
Good news, everyone (in Professor Farnsworth’s voice)! Your favorite rags-to-riches video platform, YouTube, is almost back to normal, according to Down Detector, which is showing roughly 7,000 reported issues in the U.S., a massive decrease from 30,000+ earlier this evening.
Are you still having issues loading YouTube as of 7:15 pm PST or beyond? Let me know in the comments below.
Is the YouTube outage over or are people just going to bed?
According to Down Detector, as of 7:30 pm PST, the number of folks reporting issues with YouTube in the U.S. has dropped below 7,000, which is a good sign. The question is, are we seeing a decline in reported issues because folks are simply giving up and going to bed? 7:30 pm may be dinner time on the U.S. West Coast, but for my friends and family on the East Coast, where it’s 10:30 pm, it’s likely bedtime.
YouTube gives the all-clear
As the reported number of issues from U.S. YouTube users drops below 5K, it seems safe to call this outage largely resolved. The YouTube support blog similarly gives the all-clear (screenshot above).
That said, I will continue to keep an eye on Down Detector from the U.S. West Coast and drop an update if things take a sudden turn for the worse. Here’s hoping that’s not the case!
YouTube outage = resolved
With Down Detector now showing fewer than 5,000 U.S. users reporting issues with YouTube, it’s safe to call this outage resolved.
How did the great February 17, 2026, YouTube outage impact you? Let me know in the comments below.
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