Is ChatGPT Down Right Now... Or Is It Just You?

ChatGPT can go down when the servers are too busy, making it hard to access; you may just need to restart the app or your browser

By
Jon Martindale
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Jon Martindale
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    Jon Martindale has been a feature tech writer for more than 10 years. He's written for publications such as Digital Trends, KitGuru, and ITProPortal.
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    Published on June 13, 2024
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    This article will show you how to tell if ChatGPT is down for everyone or just you. It also provides some tips you can use to get back to using it.

    Is ChatGPT Down Right Now?

    The best way to check if ChatGPT is down, is to check the official uptime statistics. The owner of ChatGPT, OpenAI, has a status page that includes information on the ChatGPT API, ChatGPT chatbot itself, its OpenAI labs tool, and the ChatBot playground that lets you try out different language model AIs.

    OpenAI status checker.

    From that page, you can find out if the sites and various services are in operation or experiencing any kind of interruption in service. You also get a historic record for the previous 90 days and a percentage indicator for what the uptime has been like. Typically, this will be north of 99%.

    Alternatively, if you find that OpenAI's website isn't functioning well enough to check its status page, or you just want an impartial third-party to check with instead, you can use a range of various uptime checker tools and sites. IsItDownRightNow is a great option, and you can use it to check the status of a range of sites and services.

    What to Do When You Can't Connect to ChatGPT

    If you can't access the ChatGPT service, there are few things you can try to get it working again.

    1. Try a hard refresh. If you're using the app, close the app down and open it again. If you're using the website, press Ctrl + F5 to refresh in Chrome and Chromium browsers on Windows. For Safari users on Apple, try CMD + Option + R. Alternatively, try visiting the website with another browser.

    2. If connecting to ChatGPT through a web browser, try clearing your browser cache and then logging in again.

    3. If you can reach the ChatGPT website but find that your ChatGPT Plus subscription perks and features aren't available, try logging out and then logging in again.

    4. Check the official ChatGPT social media accounts. They may have the latest updates on what's going on with ChatGPT and when it might return:

    5. If none of these fixes work, it's likely that the site, service, or backend servers are down, and you'll just have to wait for OpenAI to fix it.

    ChatGPT Error Messages

    Along with the usual HTTP status code errors like 500 Internal Server Error, 403 Forbidden, and 404 Not Found, ChatGPT sometimes has messages about why you can't use it. It may allude to a network error or say the "Service is busy" right now, and you'll have to come back later.

    You may also have an error related to the queries you make. The error in moderation issue can arise when you try to prompt ChatGPT to say something it isn't allowed to, for example.

    These error messages are usually self-explanatory, but they can give you some additional insight into why ChatGPT isn't working at this time.

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