It’s not just you, YouTube is partially down in outage

It’s not just you, YouTube is partially down in outage

February 18, 2026 discoverhiddenusacom Business

A widespread outage is currently impacting YouTube, affecting access for users globally. As of 8:20pm ET (5:20pm PT) on February 17, 2026, the disruption began around 7:45pm ET (4:45pm PT) and rapidly expanded, with nearly 300,000 reports registered on DownDetector and growing.

Widespread Disruption

The outage is impacting core YouTube features, including the subscription feed, Shorts, and the homepage, both on the mobile app and the web application. Reports are also appearing for Google and YouTube TV on DownDetector, though the primary issue appears to be centered on YouTube itself. Notably, YouTube videos accessed through direct links or embeds on the web are, at least currently, still accessible.

Did You Know? The surge in user reports on DownDetector began at 8:04 p.m. EST, with over 300,000 reports logged.

Current Status and Response

As of 8:20pm ET, Google had not formally acknowledged the outage. However, the company later confirmed the issue in a forum post, stating that their teams are aware and working to provide updates. Services appear to be partially resolving as of that time.

Expert Insight: Outages of this scale for a platform as central to online video as YouTube highlight the inherent vulnerabilities of large, complex digital infrastructure. Even partial disruptions can have significant consequences for content creators, viewers, and the broader digital ecosystem.

The outage is being widely reported across social media platforms, including Reddit and X, as well as by members of the 9to5 team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is currently affected?

Core YouTube features, including the subscription feed, Shorts, and the homepage, are currently inaccessible for many users.

Is YouTube TV also down?

While reports are appearing for YouTube TV on DownDetector, it remains accessible in testing.

What has Google said about the outage?

Google has confirmed the outage in a forum post and stated that their teams are working to provide updates.

How might this outage impact content creators and viewers in the long term?