Video streaming platform YouTube faced a widespread disruption earlier today that affected users across nations. A “Something Went Wrong” error message appeared on screens when people attempted to watch videos or access the app. The issue was not isolated to a single country. Outage-tracking platforms showed a sharp spike in complaints within a short span of time.
In the US alone, more than 320,000 users reported problems on Downdetector. A large portion of complaints pointed to difficulties accessing the app and streaming videos. The outage appeared to hit during peak morning hours in some regions. Users across India, the UK and other countries shared similar experiences.
The incident also impacted YouTube TV, the platform’s live television streaming service. Nearly 10,000 outage reports were logged for YouTube TV, which indicated that the disruption was not just limited to the main platform. Subscribers who wanted to stream live television channels also faced interruptions.
The outage took place on Wednesday, February 18 and reportedly peaked between 6:30 AM and 7:30 AM. Close to 20,000 complaints were registered during that window in India alone. Around 74 per cent of users reported trouble accessing the app, while 16 per cent cited video streaming failures. Many encountered repeated error messages while trying to refresh the platform. The spike gradually declined as services began stabilising.
Despite the scale of the disruption, no official explanation has been provided by Google, YouTube’s parent company. According to status-monitoring platforms, the issue was being resolved within a few hours. But some users still faced minor glitches even after core services resumed.
Many live status trackers have shown status positive, which means that YouTube was working again, as per the last update, which was around 8:45 AM. There were consistently low ping times (between 12 and 16 milliseconds) as indicated by the monitoring tools. The homepage was loading properly, and videos were streaming without interruption. Only a small number of new complaints were recorded.
Tracking platforms such as Downdetector and IsItDownRightNow have confirmed that the service is back to normal. In India, complaint levels dropped sharply after the early morning spike. Recent reports focused more on minor technical issues rather than complete service unavailability. Monitoring dashboards showed no new widespread outage indicators.
In India, the impact was noticed mostly during the early morning hours. Over 19,000 complaints were logged between 6 AM and 7:30 AM. Users in major cities such as Mumbai reported difficulties while trying to access content on the platform. The majority of issues were linked to app functionality and streaming errors.
If you are unsure whether YouTube is facing an outage or if the problem is just limited to your device, there are a few ways to check. Just visit platforms like Downdetector or IsItDownRightNow to see real-time reports in your region. If you do not see any major rise in complaints, then it may be a local issue. In that case, you can clear your browser cache, update the app or try incognito mode. Moreover, you can also switch networks or restart your device. For official updates, you can keep an eye on YouTube’s blog or social media channels. But it should be noted that explanations are not always posted immediately.
But as of now, real-time monitors have indicated that YouTube remains operational across regions, which includes India. No downtime occurred in the last few hours during the ping tests. Even complaint volumes have gone down compared to the earlier surge. While the exact cause of the outage has not been disclosed, both the website and app are functioning normally at present.
