YouTube announced that all of its platforms are back to normal operation, after more than 350,000 users reported problems accessing the site on Tuesday evening, February 17.
According to Downdetector , the problems started at 1 a.m. GMT, mostly concentrated in the YouTube app.
By 3:00 AM GMT, YouTube confirmed that the outage had been fully resolved. An official statement read: "The issue with our recommendation system has been resolved, and all our platforms (website, app, YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, and YouTube TV) are back to normal. Thank you for your patience."
Before announcing the fix, YouTube explained that it was addressing the YouTube TV login issue related to the general outage. The company confirmed the news via its X platform, stating, "If you're having trouble accessing YouTube, you're not alone."
According to what YouTube officially announced, the cause of the outage was a "malfunction in the recommendations system".
This glitch prevented videos from appearing on the home screen and various pages of the application, while some other services such as search or access to direct links remained partially functional.
The company confirmed that the problem extended to all of its platforms.
Journalist Hannah Adamson wrote on X: "It seems YouTube isn't working properly. I can still access my saved and recently watched videos, but nothing is loading on the homepage. I see lots of people on X saying YouTube isn't working for them either."
The situation quickly became fodder for online mockery, with content creator ParrotMode writing: "YouTube creators are preparing 45-minute scripts about the historic blackout of 2026."
