ChatGPT not working is one of the most common AI frustrations, and the cause is almost always one of a short list of culprits, most of which you can fix yourself in a minute or two. Sometimes it’s a real outage on OpenAI’s side; far more often it’s your browser, your connection, your session, or a temporary capacity limit. This guide covers every common reason ChatGPT stops working, how to tell which one you’re hitting, and the exact steps to get it running again.
First: is ChatGPT down, or is it just you?
Before you change a single setting, find out whether the problem is on OpenAI’s side or yours. It saves time and tells you whether a fix is even possible. Open our live Is ChatGPT down? page: it shows a real-time verdict, recent uptime, and how many people are reporting problems right now.
- Status is red or amber with lots of reports: it’s a ChatGPT outage. Nothing to fix on your end; skip to what to do during an outage.
- Status is green and quiet: the problem is local. Work through the fixes below, starting with the quick ones.
The fast fixes (these solve most cases)
If the status check shows ChatGPT itself is fine, these steps resolve the large majority of “not working” moments. Do them in order and stop when one works.
- Hard refresh the page to reload the interface without the cache.
- Open an incognito/private window and sign in there. This skips extensions and uses a clean session.
- Sign out and back in to refresh an expired login token.
- Clear ChatGPT’s cache and cookies in your browser (site-specific, so you stay logged in elsewhere).
- Switch network, Wi-Fi to mobile data or vice versa, to rule out a connection or DNS issue.
- Disable browser extensions (ad blockers and privacy tools are common offenders) or just test in incognito.
- Turn off your VPN and retry.
Still stuck? Then it’s worth understanding the specific cause so you can target it. Here are the common reasons ChatGPT isn’t working, from most to least frequent.
Common reasons ChatGPT isn’t working
1. A server outage or high demand
When ChatGPT is genuinely overloaded or down, you’ll see slow responses, requests that never complete, or a message that the service is busy. This is on OpenAI’s side and confirmed quickly by our live status page. If you see a “high demand” or capacity message, that’s a temporary overload, not a broken system, and it usually clears within minutes.
2. Your internet connection
A weak or dropped connection looks exactly like an app failure. Load another website to test; if nothing loads, fix your connection first. Toggling Wi-Fi or switching to mobile data resolves a lot of “ChatGPT not loading” complaints.
3. Browser cache and cookies
A stale cache or a corrupted cookie is the classic cause of a blank screen, an infinite spinner, or a login loop. The quickest test is a private window. If ChatGPT works there, clear the cache and cookies for the site in your normal browser.
4. Browser extensions
Ad blockers, script blockers, and privacy extensions can interfere with the chat interface, breaking message sending or page loading. Disable them for the site, or use incognito where most extensions are turned off by default.
5. A VPN or your region
ChatGPT isn’t available everywhere, and routing through a VPN can place you in an unsupported region or trigger extra security checks. If you use a VPN, turn it off and try again from your real location.
6. Account or login problems
An expired session or a sign-in glitch makes the app look dead. Fully sign out, close the tab, reopen, and sign back in. If sign-in itself fails while our status page shows logins are affected, it’s an incident, so wait it out.
7. The mobile app (cache or outdated version)
If the ChatGPT app keeps stopping or won’t load, force-close it, check your app store for an update, and reopen. Reinstalling clears a corrupted local cache as a last resort. Also confirm your device has a stable connection.
8. Rate limits and “at capacity”
Free and paid tiers have usage limits. If you’ve sent many messages quickly, you may be temporarily limited. This isn’t a malfunction. Wait a few minutes, slow your pace, or sign in to a paid plan for higher limits.
9. Corporate or school networks
Some workplace and campus firewalls block or throttle AI services. If ChatGPT works on mobile data but not on your office Wi-Fi, the network is filtering it. There’s nothing wrong with the service or your device.
Common ChatGPT errors and what they mean
The exact wording changes over time, but the categories stay the same. Here’s how to read the most common messages.
| What you see | What it usually means | First thing to try |
|---|---|---|
| “Something went wrong” | A single request failed, often a session or network blip | Refresh, then re-send; sign out and back in |
| A network or connection error | Your connection dropped, or an extension/VPN blocked the request | Test another site; disable VPN/extensions |
| “At capacity” / high demand | The service is temporarily overloaded | Wait a few minutes; retry |
| Stuck spinner / blank screen | Stale cache or a script blocked by an extension | Open a private window; clear site cache |
| Login loop | Expired or corrupted session | Clear cookies for the site; sign in again |
If the same error persists everywhere, across browsers, devices, and networks, and our status page confirms a problem, it’s an outage rather than something you can fix.
Is ChatGPT shutting down?
No. If you’ve seen rumors that ChatGPT is shutting down, they’re not accurate. The service is actively maintained and widely used. What people usually run into is a temporary outage, a regional restriction, or a capacity limit, all of which can feel permanent in the moment but aren’t. When ChatGPT is unreachable, it’s almost always a short-lived incident; the live status and outage reports on our ChatGPT status page will show you the real picture.
When it’s a real outage: what to do
If you’ve confirmed ChatGPT is genuinely down, stop troubleshooting. There’s nothing to fix. Instead:
- Subscribe to OpenAI’s status updates so you’re notified when it’s resolved, instead of refreshing.
- Save your last prompt somewhere so you can resume the moment it returns.
- Switch to an alternative to keep working. Another assistant handles most everyday tasks. Check whether Claude, Gemini, or DeepSeek are up right now.
For the full playbook across any AI tool, read what to do when an AI tool is down.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my ChatGPT not working but the internet is fine?
If your connection is fine, the cause is usually a stale session, a browser extension, or a temporary capacity limit. Test in a private window first; if it works there, clear ChatGPT’s cache and cookies in your normal browser. If it fails everywhere, check the live status for an outage.
Why isn’t ChatGPT loading at all?
A blank screen or endless spinner is typically a cache problem or a blocking extension. Open an incognito window; if it loads there, clear the site’s cache. If it won’t load anywhere, it’s likely a connection issue or an active outage.
Why does the ChatGPT app keep stopping?
Force-close the app, update it from your app store, and reopen. If it still crashes, reinstall to clear a corrupted local cache, and make sure your device has a stable connection.
How do I check if ChatGPT is down right now?
Open our Is ChatGPT down? page for a real-time verdict, recent uptime, and current outage reports, the fastest way to confirm whether the problem is OpenAI’s or yours.
Keep the ChatGPT status page bookmarked. Next time it stalls, you’ll know in seconds whether to troubleshoot or just wait.