To see whether ChatGPT is down for everyone, check OpenAI’s official status page at status.openai.com. It lists ChatGPT’s components separately from the API and other services, shows any active incident, and lets you subscribe to updates. If it shows a problem, there’s nothing to fix on your end: wait, or switch to another assistant. If everything is green, the problem is probably your connection, app or account, and the fixes below usually sort it out in a few minutes.
Is ChatGPT down, or is it just me? #
Work through these in order. It takes about a minute.
- Check status.openai.com. Look at the ChatGPT section specifically. Incidents are often partial, such as file uploads, voice or one platform failing while chat works.
- Try the other version. If the app fails, open chatgpt.com in a browser, or the reverse. If one works, the problem is local to the one that doesn’t.
- Switch networks. Go from Wi-Fi to cellular or the other way. A school, office or hotel network may block AI services.
- Check another website. If nothing loads, it’s your internet, not ChatGPT.
- Ask someone else, or check whether other people are reporting it. A sudden wave of reports alongside a quiet status page often means the status page hasn’t caught up yet.
What to try if ChatGPT isn’t working for you #
If OpenAI’s status page is clear, try these:
- Start a new chat. Very long conversations can fail to load or time out. A fresh chat often works when an old one won’t.
- Check whether you’ve hit a usage limit. Free and paid plans have caps, and a limit message can look like an error. Wait for it to reset or switch models.
- Refresh or force-close the app and open it again.
- Update the app from the App Store or Google Play. Old versions sometimes break after server changes.
- Turn off your VPN or ad blocker. Some VPN servers and browser extensions interfere with sign-in and streaming replies.
- Sign out and back in. Expired sessions cause a lot of vague errors.
- Clear the app cache (Android) or website data (browser), then sign in again.
- Try a smaller request. A huge file or very long paste can fail on its own while short messages work.
- Reinstall the app as a last resort. Your chat history is stored in your account, so it comes back when you sign in.
If none of that works and the status page is still green, OpenAI’s help center has a contact form for account-specific problems.
What can you use when ChatGPT is down? #
You have two kinds of backup.
Another cloud assistant. Gemini, Claude and Microsoft Copilot all have free tiers and are run by different companies, so an OpenAI outage usually doesn’t affect them. They work much like ChatGPT, need a connection, and store your chats with their own provider. Our roundup of private ChatGPT alternatives compares options that keep less of your data.
An AI that runs on your phone. A model on your own device has no server, so it can’t go down with one. Personal LLM runs open models such as Qwen 3.5, Gemma 4 and Ministral 3 directly on your phone. Download one model once on Wi-Fi, and after that it answers with no connection at all: during an outage, on a plane, or in a basement with no signal. There’s no account to sign in to and nothing to rate-limit you.
| ChatGPT | Other cloud chatbots | Local AI on your phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affected by an OpenAI outage | Yes | Usually not | No |
| Needs internet | Yes | Yes | No, after the download |
| Web search and current news | Yes | Yes | No |
| Handles very hard questions | Best | Strong | Weaker |
| Where chats are stored | OpenAI | That provider | Only on your phone |
Be realistic about the local option. A 4B or 9B model on a phone is less capable than ChatGPT and can’t look anything up, so it won’t know what happened this week. See can offline AI know current events for why. For drafting a message, summarizing notes, explaining something or working through a problem, it’s usually enough to keep you going until ChatGPT is back.
Why does ChatGPT go down? #
Services this large fail for ordinary reasons: demand spikes after a new feature launches, software updates that go wrong, and problems at the cloud providers and networks they rely on. Most incidents are partial and fixed within hours, but you can’t predict when one will land in the middle of a deadline.
That’s the case for having a backup set up before you need it, not after.
How to be ready for the next outage #
- Install one alternative now and sign in, so you’re not creating accounts mid-crisis.
- Download an offline model on Wi-Fi so you have something that works with no connection at all. The setup takes about five minutes; our offline ChatGPT alternative guide walks through it.
- Keep your important prompts somewhere you control, like a notes app, so you can paste them into any assistant.
- Export what you can’t lose. ChatGPT lets you export your data from its settings. Do it occasionally if your chats hold work you’d need during an outage.
- Subscribe to status updates on status.openai.com if you rely on ChatGPT for work.
Frequently asked questions #
How do I know if ChatGPT is down right now? #
Check status.openai.com, OpenAI’s official status page. It shows current incidents for ChatGPT and OpenAI’s other services and lets you subscribe to updates. If it’s clear but ChatGPT still fails, test on another network or device to narrow it down.
Why does ChatGPT keep saying there’s an error? #
Common causes are a very long conversation, a usage limit, an expired sign-in, a VPN or browser extension, or an outage. Start a new chat and check the status page first, since those two steps settle most cases.
Does ChatGPT work offline? #
No. ChatGPT runs on OpenAI’s servers, so it needs an internet connection. To use AI with no connection, you need an app that runs a model on your phone.
What’s the best alternative when ChatGPT is down? #
For the closest experience, another cloud assistant such as Gemini, Claude or Copilot. For something that works regardless of any company’s servers or your signal, an on-device AI app with a downloaded model.
How long do ChatGPT outages last? #
It varies. Many incidents are resolved within minutes to a few hours, and some only affect certain features. The status page shows progress and posts a resolution note when it’s fixed.