OpenAI outage history — how often does ChatGPT go down

ChatGPT has gone down dozens of times since its launch in November 2022, with major outages occurring roughly every 2-3 months and minor incidents weekly. Check the [live OpenAI status](/status) right now to see if an ou

OpenAI outage history — how often does ChatGPT go down

ChatGPT has gone down dozens of times since its launch in November 2022, with major outages occurring roughly every 2-3 months and minor incidents weekly. Check the live OpenAI status right now to see if an outage is happening — it updates every 60 seconds with component-level details for ChatGPT, the API, and other services.

How to check if OpenAI is actually down

The most reliable way to verify an outage is this site's live OpenAI status monitor, which pulls data directly from OpenAI's official status feed every 60 seconds. You'll see the operational state of every component: ChatGPT web, mobile apps, API endpoints, DALL-E, Sora, and the platform dashboard.

If you want secondary confirmation, visit status.openai.com directly. OpenAI updates this page during incidents with timestamps, affected components, and progress updates. A yellow indicator means degraded performance, red means a full outage. The page also archives past incidents — you can scroll through months of outage history to see patterns.

Third-party sites like DownDetector show user-submitted reports, but these aren't always accurate. A spike in reports might mean an outage, or it might mean users hit rate limits after OpenAI changed usage caps. Always cross-reference with the official status page before assuming the service is down.

Is it OpenAI or is it you

Before blaming ChatGPT, isolate whether the problem is on your end. Here's how to test in under three minutes:

  • Open an incognito window and visit chatgpt.com. Sign in fresh. If ChatGPT works here but not in your regular browser, you've got a local cache or extension problem.
  • Clear site data for chatgpt.com: In Chrome, click the padlock icon in the address bar → Site settings → Clear data. In Firefox, right-click the address bar → Clear cookies and site data. This fixes 90% of "ChatGPT says I'm logged out" issues.
  • Disable all browser extensions — especially VPNs, ad blockers, and privacy tools. ChatGPT blocks certain VPN IP ranges and some extensions break WebSocket connections used for streaming responses.
  • Switch networks: Toggle from Wi-Fi to mobile data. If ChatGPT works on mobile data, your office or home network might be blocking OpenAI domains.
  • Try the mobile app (iOS or Android). If the app works but the web version doesn't, the issue is browser-specific. If both fail, it's likely an actual outage.
  • Test a different device entirely — your phone, a tablet, a work laptop. If ChatGPT fails everywhere you try, check the live status monitor again.

For API users experiencing errors, see OpenAI API error 429 and other API errors for rate limit and authentication issues.

What to do during an outage

When ChatGPT is confirmed down, here's your action plan:

  • Check status.openai.com for an estimated resolution time. OpenAI typically posts updates every 15-30 minutes during major incidents. If they say "investigating," expect at least 20 more minutes. "Identified" means they know the cause. "Monitoring" means the fix is deployed and they're watching for issues.
  • Don't spam the refresh button. Hammering chatgpt.com during an outage won't help and might get your IP temporarily throttled. If you're an API user, implement exponential backoff — wait 1 second, then 2, then 4, then 8 before retrying.
  • Switch to the mobile app if web is down — or vice versa. Outages sometimes affect only one platform. Check the status page to see which components are impacted.
  • For API users, queue your requests instead of failing immediately. Store prompts in a buffer and retry with a 60-second delay. Don't delete your API key or create a new account — that won't fix an outage and complicates troubleshooting later.
  • Never delete your ChatGPT account during an outage. Account deletion is permanent and won't solve service-wide issues.

If you're stuck after an outage resolves, see ChatGPT not working — troubleshooting for post-outage fixes.

Questions people actually ask

Q: Is ChatGPT down right now?

A: Check the live OpenAI status for real-time component status updated every 60 seconds. If all systems show green, the issue is likely on your end.

Q: How often does OpenAI have outages?

A: Major outages (complete unavailability for 30+ minutes) happen every 2-3 months. Minor incidents like elevated error rates or slow responses occur weekly. December 2022, May 2023, June 2023, November 2023, and March 2024 all saw multi-hour disruptions.

Q: Does OpenAI refund Plus subscriptions during outages?

A: OpenAI doesn't automatically issue refunds for brief outages. For extended downtime exceeding several hours, contact OpenAI support with your account email and specific dates — but there's no guaranteed refund policy.

Q: Why does ChatGPT go down so often?

A: OpenAI handles hundreds of millions of requests daily. Outages typically stem from infrastructure scaling issues, upstream cloud provider problems, or traffic spikes during new feature launches. The API has better uptime than the web interface.

What to remember

  • Check this site's live status monitor first — it updates every 60 seconds from OpenAI's official feed
  • Test in incognito mode and on mobile data before assuming ChatGPT is down for everyone
  • During outages, check status.openai.com for resolution ETAs — refreshing ChatGPT won't help
  • API users should implement exponential backoff and request queuing, not immediate failure
  • Never delete your account or cancel your subscription during an outage — these actions are irreversible and won't fix service-wide issues

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*openai-support.com is an independent resource, not affiliated with OpenAI Inc.*

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