YouTube down February 18 2026 Fix is Backup
On February 18, 2026 (starting late February 17 in US time zones), YouTube experienced a global outage affecting millions of users worldwide. The disruption primarily impacted the homepage, recommendations, Shorts, search results, and related services like YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, and YouTube TV. The issue was fully resolved within a few hours, with normal service restored by early February 18 UTC+6 (afternoon in Dhaka).
Overview[edit | edit source]
The outage began in the evening of February 17, 2026 (US Eastern Time), which corresponded to the early morning/afternoon of February 18 in many Asian time zones, including Bangladesh (+06). Users reported:
- Blank or error-filled homepages
- Failure to load recommended videos or Shorts
- Problems with searches and feeds
- Login and playback issues on some platforms (especially YouTube TV)
- Individual direct video links often still worked, but the core discovery features were disrupted.
The outage was tracked by Downdetector, which recorded a peak of over 320,000 user reports in the United States alone, with significant spikes in other countries including India, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and the Philippines.
Cause[edit | edit source]
Google/YouTube identified the root cause as a technical issue with the platform's recommendations system. This algorithmic feature powers video suggestions on the homepage, app feeds, YouTube Music, and other surfaces. The problem prevented videos from appearing properly across these areas.
Official statement from TeamYouTube (via X and Google Support):
- Initial acknowledgment: "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."
- Update on cause: "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)."
- Final resolution: "The issue with our recommendations system has been resolved and all of our platforms (YouTube.com, the YouTube app, YouTube Music, Kids, and TV) are back to normal! We really appreciate you bearing with us while we sorted this out."
Timeline[edit | edit source]
| Time (approx.) | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| February 17, 2026 ~8:00 p.m. ET (~7:00 a.m. +06 Feb 18) | Outage begins | Reports spike on Downdetector; blank homepages reported globally |
| ~8:13–8:29 p.m. ET | Peak reports | >300,000 US reports; >8,000 for YouTube TV |
| ~9:00–10:00 p.m. ET | YouTube acknowledges and explains cause | Partial fixes (e.g., homepage partially restored); full fix in progress |
| ~10:15 p.m. ET (~9:15 a.m. +06 Feb 18) | Official resolution announced | All platforms confirmed back to normal |
| February 18, 2026 (ongoing) | Residual issues for some users | Cleared via cache refresh or app restart in most cases |
Times are approximate and converted roughly to Dhaka local time (+06).
Impact and User Workarounds[edit | edit source]
The brief disruption affected casual viewing, content discovery, and some live/streaming features. Many users could still watch directly linked videos or access subscriptions/recent history.
Common troubleshooting steps that helped during/after the outage:
- Refresh the page or restart the app
- Clear browser/app cache and cookies
- Switch networks (Wi-Fi to mobile data or vice versa)
- Use incognito mode or update the app
- Access videos via direct URLs
See also[edit | edit source]
For ongoing status checks, visit:
- Downdetector YouTube page: https://downdetector.com/status/youtube/
- Official Google/YouTube support thread: https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/410904426
As of February 18, 2026 (3:57 PM +06 in Dhaka), YouTube remains fully operational with no reported widespread issues following the resolution.