is youtube down? Platform briefly failed to load recommendations during global outage
Users around the world ran into trouble accessing videos on the video-sharing platform during a Tuesday evening disruption that began around 8: 00 p. m. ET. The interruption primarily affected homepages and recommendation feeds, leaving many viewers facing blank pages or missing video thumbnails. Service was reported to be back later the same night after the company identified and fixed a problem in its recommendations system.
What happened and when
The outage began roughly at 8: 00 p. m. ET on Tuesday, when many people found the platform’s homepage and feed failing to populate. Early attempts to open the site or app often produced a dark screen with only navigation elements visible and no video content to select. Over the next hour and a half the number of user error submissions climbed rapidly, indicating a widespread interruption.
By 9: 15 p. m. ET, the company indicated service was starting to return for some users. An update later in the evening said the root cause was traced to an issue in the recommendations system that had prevented videos from appearing across multiple surfaces. The company announced a full resolution by 10: 19 p. m. ET, noting that the affected services were back to normal.
How many users were affected
An outage-tracking service captured hundreds of thousands of user error reports in a short span, with counts climbing into the high hundreds of thousands at the outage’s peak. Regional reporting showed large numbers of users in the U. S., along with significant disruptions in countries including Canada, the U. K., Brazil, Germany, India, Australia and Mexico.
Not all affected users saw the same symptoms. Many could still search for content but encountered empty homepages or missing recommendation cards; others experienced problems loading the mobile app. Separate reports indicated that additional services tied to the platform also felt the impact for some users, though the primary symptom centered on recommendations and visibility of videos.
What and what to expect next
In updates posted during the outage and its aftermath, the company confirmed teams were working to restore normal operation and later identified the recommendations system as the source of the disruption. the homepage functionality returned first while engineers worked on a full fix, and later confirmed the issue was resolved across its services for most users.
For users who still see problems after the official fix, the usual troubleshooting steps remain useful: restart the app or browser, clear temporary data or cache, and reboot connected devices. If disruptions persist for an individual account, waiting briefly and trying again is often enough while back-end systems continue to propagate fixes.
Major, short-lived outages like this one highlight the central role recommendation engines play in how users access content. When those systems fail, the platform can appear unusable even though basic search and playback mechanics may still function for some users. Engineers generally monitor performance closely after a fix to ensure no further regressions appear.
We will continue to monitor for any related follow-ups or additional updates from the company about measures taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.
