Quick check: Open *status.openai.com** right now. If there's an active incident, you'll see it immediately. That's the only definitive answer.*
ChatGPT's down again. Or maybe it's just you. Or maybe it's down but not "officially" down yet. There are a few different things this could be, and they each have a different fix.
Let me walk through how to actually figure out what's happening and what to do about it.
Step 1: Check the Official OpenAI Status Page
Go to status.openai.com.
This is OpenAI's real-time status dashboard. It shows the operational status for:
- ChatGPT (the web and app interface)
- API (for developers)
- ChatGPT plugins (if still relevant to your workflow)
- DALL-E (image generation)
- Playground
The color coding is straightforward: green means operational, yellow means degraded performance, red means major outage. If there's an active incident, you'll see a banner at the top with details and a timeline of updates.
If the status page shows "All Systems Operational" and ChatGPT still isn't loading for you -- skip to the "Is It Down Or Is It Me?" section below.
Third-Party Status Checkers
OpenAI runs their own status page, which means they control what gets reported and when. It's usually accurate and timely, but if you want a second opinion:
Downdetector.com/status/openai aggregates user-submitted outage reports. If you see a sudden spike in the chart, it means a lot of people are reporting problems at the same time -- even if the official page hasn't posted an incident yet. Useful for catching slow-to-acknowledge degradations.
Searching "ChatGPT down" on X/Twitter is also genuinely useful. When ChatGPT goes down, it trends within minutes. User reports in real-time often outpace official status page updates.
Is ChatGPT Down -- or Is It Just You?
If status.openai.com shows all systems operational, the problem's probably on your end. Common culprits:
Browser cache and cookies. Sounds boring, but it's responsible for a surprising number of "ChatGPT won't load" complaints. Clear your browser cache, reload, and try again.
Browser extensions. Ad blockers, VPN extensions, and privacy tools can interfere with ChatGPT's loading scripts. Try disabling extensions temporarily or opening ChatGPT in an Incognito/Private window.
Your internet connection. Test another site. If other sites are fine but ChatGPT isn't loading, try switching to a different browser.
Account-specific issues. If ChatGPT loads but you're getting errors after signing in, the problem may be specific to your account -- billing issue, account flag, or a session token that needs refreshing. Sign out, clear cookies, sign back in.
VPN routing. If you're using a VPN, certain exit nodes or countries get rate-limited or blocked by OpenAI. Try turning the VPN off.
Common ChatGPT Error Messages When It's Down
Some error messages tell you pretty clearly what's happening:
"ChatGPT is at capacity right now" -- Not a hard outage. Free-tier users get throttled during peak demand. Try again in 20-30 minutes, or use ChatGPT Plus for priority access.
"Something went wrong. If this issue persists, please contact us." -- Could be a temporary API hiccup or a real outage. Check the status page.
"An error occurred. Either the engine you requested does not exist or there was another problem processing your request." -- Usually an API-side issue. Not an account problem.
"Too many requests in 1 hour. Try again later." -- Rate limit hit. This is usage throttling, not an outage. Wait it out.
Blank screen on chat.openai.com -- Browser or extension issue. Try Incognito mode first.
ChatGPT Outage History in 2026
ChatGPT has had a few notable outages in 2025-2026. The pattern is consistent: rapid growth in usage creates periodic strain on infrastructure, usually manifesting as degraded performance rather than complete unavailability.
Major platform-wide outages where ChatGPT was fully inaccessible for more than an hour have been relatively rare. More common: API slowdowns that affect developers and third-party apps while the main chat interface stays functional, or specific model degradations (GPT-4 down while GPT-3.5 works).
OpenAI typically acknowledges incidents within 15-30 minutes of them starting and has historically resolved most issues within 1-3 hours. The post-incident reports they publish at status.openai.com are actually useful -- they include root cause analysis and what changed to prevent recurrence.
What to Do While ChatGPT Is Down
The obvious thing: use an alternative. The two closest substitutes are:
Claude (Anthropic) -- Strong on long-context tasks, nuanced writing, and reasoning. Claude has a free tier and a Pro subscription. If your ChatGPT use is primarily writing or analysis, Claude is the most direct substitute. See our Claude vs. ChatGPT comparison for a detailed breakdown, and Claude vs. ChatGPT for writing if that's your primary use case.
Gemini (Google) -- Better integration with Google Workspace apps (Docs, Sheets, Gmail). Good for users already in the Google ecosystem. Free tier is accessible and capable for most standard tasks.
Both have free tiers that don't require a new subscription if you already have accounts.
How to Get Notified of Future Outages
Don't wait for ChatGPT to break to set this up. Takes 60 seconds.
- Go to status.openai.com
- Click "Subscribe to Updates" (usually in the top right corner)
- Enter your email address
- Choose the notification types: incidents, maintenance, resolution updates
You'll get an email the moment OpenAI posts an incident and another when it's resolved. It's the lowest-friction way to stay informed without checking the status page manually.
OpenAI's developer account (@OpenAIDevs) on X/Twitter also posts status updates in real-time. Worth following if you're using ChatGPT professionally.
If ChatGPT Keeps Having Issues for You Specifically
If you're seeing errors consistently -- not during a platform-wide outage -- a few things to try:
- Refresh your session: Sign out, clear cookies for chat.openai.com, sign back in
- Check your subscription status: A failed payment can cause account-level errors that look like ChatGPT being down
- Contact support: chat.openai.com/help -- the support queue varies but they do respond
Also worth checking our ChatGPT Not Working Fixes guide for specific error messages and step-by-step troubleshooting. It covers the most common account-level, browser-level, and network-level issues in detail.
And if you want the full picture on what ChatGPT is capable of when it's actually working, the ChatGPT Review 2026 has the breakdown.
