YouTube is experiencing a major outage impacting users globally, with reports of inaccessible homepages, sluggish performance, and disruptions to the YouTube Shorts feed. According to outage tracker Downdetector, issues began shortly after 8 p.m. PT on February 17, 2026, with users noting sudden disconnections mid-video. The outage affects both the website and mobile apps across iOS and Android platforms.

Notably, YouTube TV services also appear to be disrupted, compounding the reach of the problem. Social media platforms like Twitter reveal widespread user frustration, with many unable to access core features. Google has yet to acknowledge the outage or provide a timeline for resolution, leaving users in limbo.

The lack of a public status page for YouTube or other Google services further complicates transparency, as no official updates have been shared. Users experiencing issues are advised to wait for resolution, though the cause remains unclear. One insightful question a reader might ask: How does this outage compare to past disruptions affecting major platforms like YouTube?

The absence of immediate communication from Google raises concerns about incident response protocols for critical services.