ChatGPT not working? A two-minute triage

When ChatGPT stops working, people usually start with the most destructive fix available: clearing all cookies, reinstalling the browser, or resetting the phone. That is backwards. You want the smallest test that separates the three possible causes.

If you typed chatpt and landed here during an outage, the order below still applies.

The two-minute triage

Run these in order. Stop when you find the layer that is broken.

1. Is it the service?

Open status.openai.com. If there is an active incident, you are done: the fix is to wait. Do not change your setup during an outage; you will not be able to tell whether your change helped.

No incident listed does not prove the service is fine — status pages lag — but an active incident is conclusive enough to stop.

2. Is it your network or device?

Take the phone off Wi-Fi and open the site on cellular data.

• Works on cellular, fails on Wi-Fi: the problem is your network, your DNS, or something on the router. Try a different Wi-Fi before touching the laptop.
• Fails on both: the service or your account is the more likely layer.
• Works in one browser, fails in another: you have narrowed it to the browser.

3. Is it the browser profile?

Open a private window. If the site works there, the fault is in your normal profile: cookies, an extension, or a stale session. Do not “clear everything” yet — disable extensions one at a time, or test in a fresh profile. You will learn which one caused it, and you will keep your other logins.

If the private window fails too, and another device fails too, go back to step 1 and check the status page again.

When the page loads but one feature fails

A working chat with a broken button is a different problem from a site that will not load. Match the feature:

“It says I am at capacity”

This message appears when demand outpaces capacity for your plan or region. There is nothing to fix on your device.

• Retry later, not immediately. Refreshing every ten seconds does not move you up a queue.
• Try the app if the web is failing, or the web if the app is failing; they do not always degrade together.
• If it persists for days, check your plan status and the official help centre rather than a random “fix” article.

Be careful with pages that promise a “capacity bypass”. There is no such setting. The usual payload is a browser extension or a credential form.

If the answer is wrong, not missing

A wrong answer is not an outage. It is the normal failure mode of a language model, and it has its own fixes:

• Ask for sources and open them.
• Ask it to mark claims that did not come from your message.
• Give it the source document instead of asking it to remember one.
• Start a new thread if the current one has drifted.

We cover that in A prompt is a brief, not a wish.

When to report it

Report to OpenAI support when:

• The status page says operational but the failure is reproducible on two networks and two devices.
• You are locked out in a way the official login article does not cover.
• You were charged for something you did not buy.

Include the exact error text, the time with your time zone, the device and browser, and the steps you already tried. Do not include your password or a verification code. If support asks for network logs, follow their instructions exactly; do not paste raw logs into a public forum.

What not to do

• Do not install a “ChatGPT fix” extension. There is no such product.
• Do not pay a third party to restore access. Only OpenAI can do that.
• Do not switch to a lookalike domain because it loads faster. You will be typing your password into someone else’s site.
• Do not delete your account to “reset” it. That is not a reset; it is a deletion.

The short version

1. Status page.
2. Second network.
3. Private window.
4. Then the specific feature.

Three tests, two minutes, and you will know whether to wait, fix your browser, or contact support.

Related

• Locked out? Work the list in order — organised by error message.
• When it will not cooperate — the full symptom table.
• Why it forgets, and what to do about it — when the problem is context, not connectivity.
• Open the workbench — write the prompt while you wait out the outage.