YouTube was inaccessible for several hours on February 17, 2026, after a widespread outage disrupted the video platform’s website and mobile app, leaving tens of thousands of users unable to stream, upload, or access content.
Reports of trouble began rising sharply around 5:30 p.m. PST, as users flagged problems loading videos and accessing their accounts. The bulk of complaints came from the U.S. West Coast, where disruptions appeared most concentrated during the early evening hours.
At its peak, more than 30,000 U.S.-based users reported issues, according to data from Down Detector, a service that tracks real-time platform disruptions based on user submissions. Complaints climbed quickly and reached their highest point around 5:45 p.m. PST, reflecting a sudden and broad service interruption.
The outage affected both desktop and mobile users, underscoring the scale of the disruption. For many, pages failed to load entirely, while others reported error messages or playback failures. The timing, late afternoon on the West Coast, coincided with peak viewing hours for many users.
A statement posted on the YouTube Help page later confirmed the issue had been resolved. The platform indicated the problem was fixed at approximately 7:30 p.m. PST, restoring access after roughly two hours of instability.
By 7:45 p.m. PST, reports of ongoing problems had dropped below 5,000, according to Down Detector’s tracking data, suggesting service had largely returned to normal across affected regions.
YouTube, owned by Google, did not provide further details about the cause of the outage within the information available. No additional disruptions were reported later in the evening.
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For a platform that serves millions daily, even a short disruption can ripple quickly across users, creators, and businesses that rely on it. By late evening, however, the volume of complaints had subsided, and regular service appeared to resume for most users.
