YouTube outage blanks out the sidebar, causes problems on TVs and game consoles

You may have noticed that the sidebar that lets you access things like your subscription feed, trending videos, and library was not on the home page. When trying to watch video on a smart TV or stream a game from a game console, there are other problems.

The account menu lets you switch accounts, manage settings, and view your channel. For people who like to carefully manage their experience or creators who aren't logging into the correct account, it's a real pain. In my tests, there were issues on both browsers.

Getting reports from around the that some of you are having trouble with certain features across YouTube services (e.g. logging in, switching accounts & using the navigation bar) – we’re aware & working on a fix.



Sharing updates as we have them here → https://t.co/wOtEBLiWAC

— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) April 12, 2022

YouTube is aware of the issue and is working on a fix. The company will be sharing updates in a thread on its support site. The post reads:

If you’re having trouble using YouTube services across devices right now - we’re aware and working to fix it!

Here’s what you might be experiencing:

Unable to sign-in or switch accounts

Unable to cast to your TV or use the app on a gaming console

Left-hand Navigation Menus and Setting menus are not appearing / not loading

‘No internet connection’ error message when watching videos

Hopefully, that will happen soon. Some users and creators will probably miss having easy access to the functions hidden in the currently broken menus, since one of my co-workers said they don't really miss the sidebar.

There are still ways to access your subscriptions and watch later list, despite the fact that the YouTube app is not working on mobile.