A team member was using ChatGPT to write some content the other day, when all of a sudden, everything stopped working.
“ChatGPT is down?” She said.
It wasn’t long until we used these five steps to fix this issue.
Let’s see what solved Alex’s problem; it might solve yours, too.
But first,
Why Is ChatGPT not Working?
You might wonder, “How can a website as big as ChatGPT experience a downtime?”
Like, isn’t that common only for small and medium websites?
Well, you’re not alone. We all believe ChatGPT shouldn’t be down at any time at all.
The best part? Most of the time, it’s not down; the problem is from your side, not the website’s.
Let’s see what causes both apparent and real ChatGPT downtimes:
1. A Technical Issue In The Website
This is the rarest of all the causes. It’s possible for big websites to be down sometimes.
For example, we all know Facebook was once down for a few hours due to a glitch in the system.
2. Your Accounts Status
This was the cause of Alex’s issue. His account’s login credentials were compromised. So, ChatGPT appeared to be down from his own point of view.
Moreover, OpenAI may restrict your account due to some policy violations. This happens when you keep trying to use ChatGPT for illegal tasks.
3. The Integrity of Your Internet Connection
Have you ever tried accessing ChatGPT using a VPN? What was the outcome?
It appeared to be down or at least inaccessible, right?
That is what happens when your Internet connection isn’t secure. Using a VPN changes a lot of information about your device’s internet.
So, you can’t access ChatGPT with a connection that’s compromised or not secure.
4. Browser Issues
Browsers are the tools we use to surf the internet. So, if the tool you use to do something is corrupted, it’ll affect how effective your usage is for sure.
Now, how do we fix those problems? Let’s look into that.
Steps to Fix “ChatGPT Is Down”
1. Clear Your Browser’s Cache
Heads up, this means that you’ll clear all the information that your browser has stored of that website.
After clearing the ChatGPT website’s cache, you’ll access it as if you have never accessed it before… and you’ll also be logged out of ChatGPT after doing this.
Clearing browser cache is so important and efficient. I’m sure you’ve seen it in almost all website accessibility tutorials.
It works; that’s why everyone recommends it.
Once you clear the cache, try accessing ChatGPT again. It should work perfectly this time.
If it doesn’t work, let’s update your browser.
2. Update Your Browser
Go to your device application store and update your browser, or simply download the latest browser.
ChatGPT uses the latest web technologies, and an outdated browser may be unable to work with those technologies.
Sometimes, even after updating your browser, you’ll be able to access the website, but you can’t chat with ChatGPT. How do we solve that?
That’s what step three solves.
3. Update Your Login Credentials
We’re at Alex’s solution. His account’s login credentials were used by someone else in a suspicious manner, and ChatGPT kind of restricted the account temporarily.
After he updated his login credentials, he could use ChatGPT without any issues.
We’ve been talking about browsers and login credentials. What if the problem is with your Internet connection?
So, you should…
4. Confirm the Integrity of Your Internet Connection
What type of connection are you using to access ChatGPT? Is it a good connection?
If it’s not an uncompromised connection, simply turn off anything (like VPNS) that might affect your device’s internet.
We’ve been talking about client-side problems, how about the server-side ones? Like, when ChatGPT is really down worldwide.
Let’s go to the next step to know what to do.
5. Wait for Some Minutes
If there’s a global downside of some of the models of ChatGPT, there’s nothing you, as a user, can do about it. You can only wait until OpenAI rectifies the issue.
But how do you know that this downside is really a global one? You can check OpenAI’s status page to see if there’s something like that on it.
Alternatively, you can use downside testers like WebPageTest to know if ChatGPT is really down worldwide.
That’s all for the steps to solve ChatGPT is down.
What to Do When Nothing Works?
What if you tried all the above steps and nothing worked? And you can’t wait for ChatGPT to be accessible again (when it’s a worldwide issue)?
Sometimes you have an urgent task to do, like an assignment or something, and ChatGPT isn’t cooperating. What I recommend is that you use other AI tools.
Among all the AI tools I’ve used, ChatGPT comes first, then Gemini, then Perplexity.
So, if you urgently need an AI tool to assist you with something, you can use any of the ones I’ve mentioned as an alternative to using ChatGPT.
Let me hear from you: When ChatGPT isn’t working and it’s an urgent task, which tool do you use instead?