ChatGPT Not Working? Common Errors & Fixes

'Network error' means your device couldn't keep a stable connection to OpenAI while the answer streamed. Check the status page, turn off VPNs and security extensions, switch networks, and start a new chat for long prompts.

'Something went wrong' (and 'Hmm...something seems to have gone wrong') is OpenAI's generic error: either a temporary server problem or something in your browser or network. Refresh or start a new chat, check status.openai.com, then clear cache and disable extensions.

If chatgpt.com shows a blank page, spins forever or says 'There was a problem preparing your chat', it's usually an outage, a script blocker or extension, or stale cache. Check the status page, then try a private window with extensions off.

'Too many requests' (or 'Too many concurrent requests') is rate limiting, often during incidents or when several tabs or agent tasks run at once. It doesn't usually mean you've run out of messages: close extra tabs, stop background tasks and wait a few minutes.

'Conversation not found' means ChatGPT can't load that chat: it was deleted, belongs to another account or workspace, was a temporary chat, or the page loaded during a glitch. Confirm the account, reload, and search your history.

'Error in message stream' means the answer's stream broke before it finished, usually server-side during an incident or on very long Thinking runs. Click Regenerate, then start a new chat, and split long tasks.

Voice mode failures ('Connection failed, tap to retry', no audio, cutting off) are usually a Voice incident, a missing microphone permission, or another voice session already open. Check status, end other voice chats and re-grant mic access.

Missing chats are usually archived, in another account or workspace, moved into a Project, or hidden by a sidebar glitch. Deleted chats can't be recovered, so check Archived chats and search before assuming they're gone.

An endless Cloudflare 'Verify you are human' loop at chatgpt.com is usually caused by a VPN, a privacy extension blocking referrers or cookies, or stale browser data. Disable them, clear cookies, or try another browser.

'Unusual activity has been detected from your device' appears when your traffic looks automated, most often because you share a VPN or proxy IP with many users. Turn off the VPN, use a private window, and secure your account.

When ChatGPT won't create images, check the status page first: image generation had several 2026 outages (July and September). Otherwise you may have hit the separate image limit, or the prompt or reference image is causing failures.