YouTube was down – here’s what happened in the huge global outage

The great YouTube outage seems to be over

We can put the popcorn away and start watching YouTube again it seems – the website and app seem to be working smoothly for most, and Downdetector reports are now back down to near-normal levels.

Google has just added in its statement that “we’re also seeing a small number of reports that some people are unable to login to YouTube TV”, but that “this is related to the broader issue across YouTube, and we’re also working on a fix here”.

So if you’re still having problems with either service, sit tight – it should be resolved soon. I’ll be keeping an eye out for aftershocks, but for now it’s good night (or good morning, depending on where you are)…

Some are still experiencing issues

Google has confirmed that “the homepage is back” for YouTube, but that it’s “still working on a full fix” – and that’s reflected in some residual issues many are experiencing.

Shorts still aren’t working for some of my colleagues (on both phones and TV), and under the surface the homepage is still creaking a bit in some areas.

So it looks like we can still expect some odd behavior until Google confirms that full fix…

An update from Google

A new statement on the YouTube help page has shed some more light on what’s happened.

According to Google, “An issue with our recommendations system prevented videos from appearing across surfaces on YouTube (including the homepage, the YouTube app, YouTube Music and YouTube Kids).” So yes, this was an unusually widespread outage.

The statement adds that “the homepage is back, but we’re still working on a full fix” with the promise of “more updates coming soon”. That means we’re not completely out of the woods yet – so if you see any issues, you’ll know why…

The fix seems to be working

Google says it’s “looking into” today’s major YouTube issues, but whatever it’s done seems to be working already.

The mobile app and website and are working fine for me now, and the Downdetector reports are plummeting from their earlier massive high. They’re now down to just over 56,000 in the US, suggesting there are still residual issues but that the worst of it is now over…

YouTube confirms a major issue

So we weren’t just hallucinating – YouTube has confirmed it’s experiencing global issues in a short statement.

In a statement on YouTube help, it says: “We’re aware some of you are having issues accessing YouTube right now. Our teams are aware, and we’ll provide updates as soon as we have them.”

Fortunately, it seems the site and app and back working for many (including me), but problems remain for thousands according to Downdetector.

Signs of progress?

YouTube has just started working again for me in the mobile app and on the website – and that seems to be the case for many others, according to Downdetector.

There’s been a large dip in reports in the US, with the numbers dropping to around 227,000 – still massive, but a long way off the peak from around 30 minutes ago. Let’s hope that continues in the same direction…

Widespread panic sets in

The YouTube outage is causing incredulity online, with many noting how rare this is.

Of course, speculation is rife about the potential cause, with Downdetector showing spikes for AWS and Cloudflare – but they aren’t notable ones and it’s still too early to tell.

I’m still being met by a blank screen on the website and in the mobile app…

‘Something went wrong’

This is the highly unusual error message that many are seeing right now when trying to watch YouTube in the mobile app – and it’s affecting the web version too.

The world’s favorite video site is still struggling almost an hour on from the issues first started. There’s no official cause for the problems yet with nothing on Google’s status page, but this appears to be more than a brief blip…

A huge spike in reports

If you’re struggling with YouTube and YouTube TV right now, you’re definitely not alone – there’s been a huge spike of over 317,000 reports in the US and 38,000 in the UK.

The outage seems to be affecting both the website and mobile app for many, with the latter showing a ‘something went wrong’ message. In the US, YouTube TV is also down, with over 8,000 reports for the service, making this one of the biggest Google outages for some time.