Update: YouTube is back online.
https://x.com/i/status/2023958868372676770
In a frustrating turn of events for streaming enthusiasts, YouTube TV users across the United States and beyond found themselves abruptly logged out of their accounts on the evening of February 17, 2026, with many unable to log back in. The issue, part of a broader outage affecting both YouTube and its live TV counterpart, has been officially confirmed by Google, YouTube’s parent company. While not all subscribers were impacted, the disruption highlighted the vulnerabilities in digital streaming services that millions rely on for entertainment, news, and live sports.
The problems began around 7:45 PM ET (4:45 PM PT), escalating rapidly by 8:00 PM ET. Users attempting to access their YouTube TV apps or websites were met with error messages, including the infamous “Something went wrong” prompt, or found themselves stuck in endless login loops.
YouTube TV, which boasts millions of subscribers as a cable alternative, was hit particularly hard. Subscribers reported being forcibly logged out, and attempts to re-authenticate often failed, displaying messages about invalid emails or connection errors. However, the outage wasn’t universal. Some users managed to log back in quickly after a simple refresh or app restart, while others remained locked out for hours. “It’s not just you,” echoed across forums and support threads, as Google acknowledged the issue on its support page: “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.”
The root cause was later identified as a glitch in YouTube’s recommendations system, which inadvertently prevented videos from loading across various surfaces, including homepages, apps, and even related services like YouTube Music and YouTube Kids.
For now, no word has been announced on when YouTube TV logins will start to work again for everyone, but YouTube is working on it.
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