YouTube is back online following complaints by several users about the service being unavailable. YouTube has clarified that an issue with its recommendations system caused the outage.
“Update: 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). The homepage is back, but we're still working on a full fix – more coming soon!” YouTube posted on X.
Update: 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). The homepage is back, but we're still working on a full fix – more coming soon!
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) February 18, 2026
The issue has finally been fixed.
Aaaand we're back!! This issue has been fixed across YouTube. Thanks for all the reports and for bearing with us while we sorted it out ❤️ https://t.co/cnlULBUJe7
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) February 18, 2026
Also Read: YouTube Outage Hits App, Website Affecting Users Globally
Previously, Google acknowledged that many people were unable to access YouTube.
“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,” it said in a support thread.
“We're also seeing a small number of reports that some people are unable to login to YouTube TV. This is related to the broader issue across YouTube, and we're also working on a fix here,” it added.
Many users across India reported being locked out of YouTube early on Wednesday after the video-streaming giant was hit by a widespread global disruption. The outage triggered a surge in complaints from India, with monitoring site Downdetector logging nearly 19,000 reports at its peak.
Most users said the mobile app was unusable, while others faced issues accessing the website or signing into their accounts. Many were met with empty home screens, missing recommendations and repeated error prompts stating that something had gone wrong.
The disruption was not limited to India. In US, roughly 2,83,000 users flagged problems, according to Downdetector. Similar complaints surfaced from the UK and several other regions as the outage spread.
The impact extended beyond the main video platform, affecting associated services such as YouTube TV, which recorded close to 10,000 reports. Spikes were also seen across Google Search, Gmail and Google Meet, pointing to a wider disruption across Google's suite of services.
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