If you are trying to sign in to YouTube on your TV right now, you aren’t alone. As of Wednesday morning, February 18, 2026, YouTube is recovering from a major global outage that began late last night.
At the peak of the outage, over 300,000 users reported “Something Went Wrong” errors and were forcibly signed out of their accounts on Smart TVs and mobile devices. While Google has started restoring service, many TV apps are currently stuck in a sign-in loop or showing authentication errors.
1. Check the “Global Restoration” Status
Since the outage was server-side, standard troubleshooting (like checking your Wi-Fi) might not work until your local server node is fully updated.
Status Update: YouTube confirmed the issue around 8:00 PM ET (Feb 17) and reported a fix was rolling out as of 9:21 PM ET. However, users in India and the UK are still reporting “Sign-in loops” this morning.
2. The “QR Code” Force-Sign-In (Best Fix for Loops)
If your TV keeps saying “Authentication Error” or won’t let you click “Sign In,” use the mobile handshake:
Open the YouTube app on your TV and go to the Sign In screen.
Select Sign in with your phone.
On your phone, open the camera and scan the QR code on the TV screen.
Tap the link that appears on your phone and select your Google Account.
Your TV should automatically refresh and sign you in within 10 seconds.
3. Clear the App Cache (Smart TV / Android TV)
Because this was a backend error, your TV might have “cached” the failure message.
For Android/Google TV: Go to Settings > Apps > YouTube > Clear Cache and Clear Data. Then, “Force Stop” the app and reopen it.
For Samsung/LG: You often need to unplug the TV from the wall for 60 seconds. This clears the temporary memory (RAM) where the app’s login token is stored.
Also Read : My YouTube Premium Not Working
4. Important: Check for “Brand Account” Conflicts
If you see the error “Sorry, you can’t sign in to YouTube with this account,” it might be because you are using a Brand Account (a sub-account under your main email). YouTube TV and some TV apps recently updated their security to block these from being the primary login.
Try signing in with your primary @gmail.com address instead of a business or brand profile.
YouTube Something Went Wrong
Something went wrong” message you’re seeing is almost certainly related to the massive global outage that hit YouTube late last night.
While Google reported that a fix began rolling out a few hours ago, users in India and the UK are still seeing a high volume of errors this morning because regional servers are lagging behind the update.
Why you’re still seeing it
The outage specifically targeted the homepage, subscriptions feed, and sign-in services. Even though the “system” is back up, your TV or device might be holding onto “corrupted” data from the peak of the crash.
How to clear the “Something went wrong” loop
The “Cold Boot” (Most Effective for TVs): Don’t just turn the TV off with the remote. Unplug it from the wall for a full 60 seconds. This forces the TV to dump its temporary memory (RAM) and request a fresh “handshake” from YouTube’s fixed servers.
Use the “Guest” Workaround: If you can’t get past the error to the sign-in screen, try to “Use YouTube signed out” or enter Guest Mode. If the videos load in Guest Mode, then the issue is specifically with your account’s authentication token.
Sign in via Phone (Skip the TV Keyboard): If the TV app lets you get to the sign-in page but fails when you enter your password:
Select “Sign in with your phone.”
Scan the QR code with your mobile.
This uses your phone’s (likely already updated) session to “push” the login to your TV.
Clear the YouTube App Data:
Android/Google TV: Settings > Apps > YouTube > Clear Data.
Firestick: Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications > YouTube > Clear Data. (Note: You will have to sign back in, but this clears the “Something went wrong” cache.)
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