My YouTube Premium Not Working | YouTube Premium Something Went Wrong

As of Wednesday, February 18, 2026, there is a specific reason this is happening to Premium users. Following the massive global outage that started last night, the “Premium” status is failing to sync correctly on many devices, especially Smart TVs and mobile apps in India and the UK.

Why Premium is “Missing” Right Now

During the outage, YouTube’s authentication servers went down. Even though videos are playing again, the specific “Premium Token” that tells the app to remove ads and allow background play is stuck in a cache loop.

To the system, you look like a “Logged Out” or “Free” user, even if your billing is current.

How to Force Your Premium Status to Return

1. The “Sign Out / Sign In” Shuffle (Most Effective): Don’t just restart the app. You must Sign Out of your Google account entirely within the YouTube app. Wait 30 seconds, then sign back in. This forces the app to ping the membership server and pull your “Premium” badge back down.

2. Check for “Brand Account” Mismatch: Open the YouTube app, tap your Profile Picture, and select Switch Account. Ensure the account with the “Premium” checkmark is selected. Sometimes after an outage, the app defaults to a secondary “Channel” or “Brand Account” profile that doesn’t carry the Premium benefits.

3. The “Mobile Data” Handshake: If you are on your home Wi-Fi and Premium isn’t working, turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and use Mobile Data. Open YouTube—if the Premium logo appears, your router is caching the “outage” version of the site. Restarting your router will fix this for your other devices (like your TV).

4. Verify Membership Status: Go to youtube.com/paid_memberships.

   • If it says “Inactive” or “Payment Failed”: The outage may have hit during your renewal window. You’ll need to click “Fix” to re-verify your payment.

   • If it says “Active”: Then the issue is 100% a local device cache. Proceed to the “Clear Data” step below.

For Smart TVs & Firesticks

If you see ads on your TV despite having Premium:

• Clear App Data: Go to Settings > Apps > YouTube > Clear Data (not just cache).

• Re-Link via TV Code: Instead of typing your password, use the “Sign in with a Web Browser” option. Go to youtube.com/activate on your phone while logged into your Premium account. This “pushes” the Premium status more reliably than the TV’s native login.