YouTube Down for Thousands Globally: Users Report Outage Across US, UK, Canada, and Australia

Millions of users across several countries were left frustrated on Wednesday after YouTube faced a major global outage. The video-streaming giant, owned by Alphabet Inc., confirmed that it was aware of the disruption affecting users worldwide and was investigating the cause.

Outage Hits Multiple Countries

According to Downdetector, a website that tracks real-time online outages, YouTube went down for thousands of users across the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Users began reporting problems late Wednesday evening, with reports peaking around 8 p.m. ET.

Widespread User Complaints

As per Downdetector data, more than 293,000 users in the U.S. alone reported issues with the platform. Similar complaints poured in from other countries, suggesting the outage was widespread. Many users said they were unable to play videos, while others reported problems with loading the homepage or accessing their subscriptions.

What YouTube Said

YouTube acknowledged the disruption in a post published on its official status page, stating:

“We’re aware that some users are experiencing issues watching videos. Our teams are actively investigating the problem.”

The company did not share details about the cause or provide a timeline for restoring full service.

Google Yet to Comment

While YouTube is part of Alphabet’s Google division, Google has not yet issued an official comment on the matter. A Reuters request for clarification remained unanswered at the time of reporting.

Downdetector Data Suggests Peak Outage

Downdetector’s live outage map showed concentrated reports from major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, and Toronto. The platform tracks service interruptions by compiling reports submitted by users and cross-checking them with other online sources. The actual number of affected users may be higher than the reported figures.

Users Turn to X (Formerly Twitter) to Report Outage

As is common during global outages, frustrated users took to social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to confirm whether others were facing similar problems. Hashtags like #YouTubeDown and #YouTubeCrashed began trending within minutes. Many users shared screenshots and memes about the sudden blackout, while others expressed concern about ongoing video streams and live broadcasts being interrupted.

Past Instances of YouTube Outages

This isn’t the first time YouTube has experienced widespread downtime. Similar issues occurred in March 2024 and July 2023, when the service briefly went offline due to backend updates. However, those outages were resolved within a few hours. The current one appears to be more extensive, given the volume of user reports across multiple continents.

YouTube’s Scale and Global Impact

With over 2.5 billion monthly active users, YouTube is one of the world’s most visited websites. Even a short service disruption impacts millions of viewers, creators, and businesses relying on video streaming for communication, education, and entertainment. Many educational institutions and media outlets also depend on YouTube for content delivery, amplifying the effect of such outages.

Users Urged to Stay Patient

While YouTube’s technical team works to identify and fix the issue, users have been advised to remain patient and avoid repeatedly refreshing the page or reinstalling the app, as such actions are unlikely to solve the problem during an active outage.

Conclusion

As of late Wednesday night, YouTube had not yet confirmed when services would return to normal. The global outage has once again highlighted the dependence of users worldwide on digital platforms for entertainment and communication. While YouTube has reassured users that the issue is being addressed, millions continue to await normal service restoration.