ChatGPT Not Loading or Not Working? How to Fix It

Last Updated: November 13, 2026

Summary: When ChatGPT is not working or not loading, first check OpenAI's official status page at status.openai.com to see whether ChatGPT itself is down. If it looks healthy, the problem is usually local: OpenAI's fixes are to refresh, sign out and back in, clear cookies, disable extensions, turn off your VPN and switch browser or network. If only one tool, such as uploads or voice, stops, you may have hit a usage limit.

A blank screen, an endless spinner or a vague "Something went wrong" tells you nothing about whether to wait, fix something or switch tools. This guide shows how to tell an OpenAI outage from a local problem in under a minute, how to read the status page, and what to do for each symptom. Every fix and error message below comes from the OpenAI Help Center and OpenAI's status page, checked on November 13, 2026.

The fastest way to find out if ChatGPT is down is OpenAI's official status page, status.openai.com. It lists every ChatGPT component separately and shows any active incident at the top of the page.

Before touching any settings, open ChatGPT on a second device on a different connection, such as your phone on cellular data. OpenAI's network recommendations article uses the same logic: if ChatGPT works on a cellular hotspot but not on your office Wi-Fi, the company network is the likely cause.

The OpenAI status page lists ChatGPT as its own group, separate from the APIs and Codex. As of November 13, 2026, the ChatGPT group had 16 components, including Conversations, Login, File uploads, Voice mode, Image Generation and Connectors/Apps, and showed 99.26% uptime for August to November 2026. A "Subscribe to updates" option sends alerts for new incidents.

Read it at the component level: a Login incident explains a sign-in loop, a Conversations incident explains failed replies, and an incident on a single connector will not affect ordinary chats.

Each incident carries an impact level and a stage. These labels appear on recent ChatGPT incidents (the plain-English meanings are ours):

The OpenAI status page can trail the first wave of failures. During the February 4, 2026 outage, Tom's Guide reported that the status page still showed everything as fully operational while Downdetector already had more than 10,000 user reports.

OpenAI's write-up of that incident says elevated errors hit ChatGPT for about 53 minutes, from 9:06 AM to 9:59 AM PT, with the web app hit hardest and the API unaffected. A cloud provider's scheduled maintenance had taken a database read replica offline.

On February 3, 2026, a configuration change caused elevated errors for ChatGPT conversations, login and account creation from 12:12 PM PST to full recovery at 3:05 PM PST, according to OpenAI's incident write-up. The lesson: if ChatGPT fails everywhere at once, trust that signal before the status page catches up.

ChatGPT stops working for one of four reasons: an OpenAI outage, a browser or app problem, a network block such as a VPN or corporate firewall, or a usage limit. Match what you see to the first fixes OpenAI recommends, drawn from OpenAI's Help Center article Troubleshooting ChatGPT Error Messages and related OpenAI support pages.

If ChatGPT is not loading and shows a blank screen, a frozen page or endless loading with no error message, work through the fixes OpenAI's Help Center lists for that symptom, testing after each one:

If ChatGPT still will not load, OpenAI asks users to collect console logs and a HAR file (a recording of browser network activity) and contact support.

A ChatGPT network error means your device cannot keep a stable connection to OpenAI's servers. OpenAI's fixes for "A network error occurred." and "An error occurred while connecting to the websocket." are to disable VPNs or proxies, turn off Web Protect or other security filters, try another browser or incognito mode, and switch networks or devices.

On a work laptop, the corporate network is often the cause. OpenAI's network recommendations article asks IT teams to allow OpenAI's domains in tools such as Cisco Umbrella and to disable SSL inspection for public OpenAI domains where possible.

OpenAI says the "Something went wrong." error is usually a temporary server issue or a local setup problem. Refresh the page or start a new chat, then check the status page. If the error keeps returning, OpenAI recommends clearing cache and cookies, trying incognito, disabling extensions, turning off VPNs or secure DNS, and switching networks. The related "There was an error generating a response." is often a one-time failure, so click Regenerate first.

When ChatGPT is stuck on "Thinking…," "Generating…" or "Working…," OpenAI's advice is to wait 30 to 60 seconds, then stop the response and regenerate it. If that fails, start a new chat and resend your prompt.

If the spinner returns, check the status page, hard refresh, sign out and back in, and test in incognito with extensions disabled. If it persists, OpenAI suggests contacting support with a HAR file, the model and the conversation ID.

A ChatGPT login loop usually comes from signing in with a different method than the one used to create the account, or from a stale browser session. OpenAI's authentication troubleshooting FAQ says to sign in with the original method (Google, Microsoft, Apple or a password); accounts created with a social sign-in may have no OpenAI password at all. Then try these steps:

If you still cannot sign in, OpenAI advises against removing existing sign-in methods. Contact support with the exact error, sign-in method, browser and device, and never share passwords or one-time codes.

ChatGPT file uploads usually fail because the file is too large, your storage is full or a network tool interferes. OpenAI's File Uploads FAQ sets a hard limit of 512MB per file and 20MB per image. Each user also has a 10GB storage cap, and ChatGPT shows an error when that cap is reached.

For "Download failed" or "File Not Found," OpenAI advises downloading generated files promptly, since they expire quickly, and turning off VPNs or proxies. Our ChatGPT upload limit guide breaks down the caps plan by plan.

ChatGPT voice problems usually come down to a network block, a voice usage limit or a Voice mode incident. OpenAI's network recommendations article explains that Advanced Voice Mode runs on LiveKit, which needs specific outbound hosts and ports to be open, so a strict firewall or VPN can stop voice even when text chat works.

Check the Voice mode component on the status page, look for a limit notice, and test on a different network. OpenAI's ChatGPT Free Tier FAQ confirms that voice has its own usage limit, separate from text chat.

Switching between the ChatGPT app and the browser quickly isolates a problem: if only the web version fails, blame the browser; if both fail on one network, blame the network or check the status page. OpenAI's network recommendations article lists two app-specific errors:

A usage limit affects only your account and usually one feature, while an outage hits many users and shows up on the status page. If ChatGPT still answers text but images, voice or uploads have stopped, a limit is the likely explanation.

OpenAI's Free Tier FAQ says Free users get "unlimited everyday text chats, subject to abuse-prevention safeguards," while "file uploads, image generation, voice, data analysis, and other tools have separate usage limits." For GPTs, the FAQ says ChatGPT shows the reset timing in the product, and usage limits reset when you upgrade to Plus, Pro or Business.

If you hit limits often, compare what each tier includes in our ChatGPT pricing breakdown, or see whether the lower-cost ChatGPT Go plan covers your needs.

When the status page confirms an outage, there is nothing to fix locally. Recent ChatGPT incidents on the status page have run from about nine minutes (April 29, 2026) to nearly three hours (February 3, 2026), so anyone who relies on ChatGPT daily needs a backup plan.

Is ChatGPT down right now?
Check OpenAI's official status page at status.openai.com, which lists every ChatGPT component and any active incident. If it is clear but ChatGPT fails everywhere, check again in 10 to 15 minutes, since the page can lag behind a new outage.

Why is ChatGPT not loading?
If OpenAI's status page is clear, a blank or endlessly loading ChatGPT page usually points to browser data, extensions or network filtering. OpenAI recommends a hard refresh, signing out and back in, clearing site data, disabling extensions and trying another browser.

Why isn't ChatGPT working today?
ChatGPT usually fails because of an OpenAI outage, a browser or app problem, a network block such as a VPN, or a usage limit. Check the status page, then test on another device and network.

How do I fix a ChatGPT network error?
OpenAI's fix for "A network error occurred." is to disable VPNs or proxies, turn off security filters such as Web Protect, try another browser or incognito mode, and switch networks or devices. On work networks, IT may need to allow OpenAI's domains.

Why does ChatGPT keep saying something went wrong?
OpenAI says the error is usually a temporary server issue or a local setup problem. Refresh or start a new chat, then clear cookies, disable extensions and turn off your VPN if it keeps returning.

When ChatGPT is not working, spend the first minute diagnosing rather than fixing. Check status.openai.com at the component level and test on a second device and network.

For local problems, OpenAI's fixes barely change from error to error: refresh or start a new chat, sign out and back in, clear site data, disable extensions, turn off your VPN and switch browser, device or network. To get more out of ChatGPT once it is back, see our guide on how to use ChatGPT.

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Written by Sameer Khan with AI assistance, fact-checked against the sources linked above.