Fix: Claude Isn’t Working Right Now (2026)

You open Claude and get an error, a blank screen, or a message that says “This isn’t working right now.” This guide covers every known cause and fix, organized from most common to least common.

Quick Diagnostic Checklist

Run through these five checks in order. Most issues resolve within the first three.

1. Check Anthropic status: Visit status.anthropic.com. If there is an active incident, wait for resolution.
2. Check your internet: Open any website. If other sites load, your connection is fine.
3. Check your plan: Log in to claude.ai/settings. Verify your subscription is active and not expired.
4. Hard refresh: Press Ctrl+Shift+R (Cmd+Shift+R on Mac) in your browser. This clears cached data.
5. Try a different browser or incognito: If Claude works in incognito, a browser extension is causing the issue.

Scenario 1: Anthropic Service Outage

Symptoms: Everyone sees errors. Claude.ai shows error pages. API returns 500/503 errors. Claude Code fails with connection errors.

What to do:

• Wait. Anthropic usually resolves outages within 30 minutes to 2 hours.
• Subscribe to status updates on the status page for email/SMS notifications.
• If using Claude Code with an API key, there is no workaround (the backend is down).
• Check Twitter/X for “Claude down” or the Anthropic Discord to confirm it is an outage vs your issue.

Scenario 2: Rate Limited (429 Error)

Symptoms: “You’ve sent too many messages” or HTTP 429 error. Works for a while, then stops.

On Claude.ai (Web)

You hit the usage limit for your plan tier.

• Wait for the limit to reset (rolling 5-hour window for most plans)
• Switch to a less powerful model (Haiku uses less quota than Opus)
• Upgrade from Pro ($20/month) to Max ($100 or $200/month) for higher limits
• Reduce message length to consume fewer tokens per message

On Claude Code (CLI)

• Check remaining rate limit from the error message headers
• Wait for the reset window (usually 1 minute for request limits)
• Switch to Haiku for less demanding tasks: /model haiku
• Use /compact to reduce context size
• See rate limit handling strategies

On the API

Exceeded requests per minute (RPM) or tokens per minute (TPM) for your tier. Implement exponential backoff:

import time
import anthropic

client = anthropic.Anthropic()

for attempt in range(5):
    try:
        response = client.messages.create(
            model="claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
            max_tokens=1024,
            messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
        )
        break
    except anthropic.RateLimitError as e:
        wait_time = 2 ** attempt
        print(f"Rate limited. Waiting {wait_time}s...")
        time.sleep(wait_time)

Scenario 3: Account or Subscription Issues

Symptoms: “Unable to access” or “subscription required” messages. Previously worked, now shows errors.

Expired Subscription

• Renew your subscription payment method
• Check for failed payment notifications in your email
• Update your credit card if it expired
• Contact support@anthropic.com if your subscription shows active but access is blocked

API Credits Exhausted

• Add more credits to your account at console.anthropic.com
• Set up auto-recharge to prevent interruptions
• Review your spending to understand what consumed credits

Scenario 4: Browser-Specific Issues

Symptoms: Claude works in one browser but not another. Works in incognito but not regular mode.

Browser Extension Conflicts

Common conflicting extensions:

• Ad blockers (uBlock Origin, AdBlock Plus) blocking Anthropic API requests
• Privacy extensions (Privacy Badger, Ghostery) interfering with WebSocket connections
• VPN extensions routing traffic through unsupported regions
• JavaScript-modifying extensions breaking the Claude.ai frontend

Fix: Temporarily disable all extensions and try again. Re-enable them one by one to identify the culprit. Then add an exception for claude.ai in the blocking extension.

Cached Data Issues

Open browser developer tools (F12), go to Application tab, under Storage click “Clear site data”, then reload the page.

Scenario 5: Claude Code CLI Issues

“ANTHROPIC_API_KEY not set”

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-your-key-here"

Add to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc) for persistence.

“Connection refused” or Network Errors

• Check your internet connection
• Check if a corporate firewall blocks api.anthropic.com
• If using a VPN, try disconnecting
• Test connectivity: curl -I https://api.anthropic.com

Claude Code Hangs (No Response)

• Press Ctrl+C to cancel the current operation
• Start a new session: exit and run claude again
• Use /compact before large operations to reduce context
• Check if extended thinking is consuming time (thinking tokens take longer)

“Module not found” or Installation Errors

npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Scenario 6: API Integration Issues

Invalid API Key

• Verify the key in console.anthropic.com
• Generate a new key if the old one was revoked
• Check for whitespace or invisible characters in the key
• Ensure the key is sent in the x-api-key header (not Authorization: Bearer)

Model Not Found

Use the exact model ID from Anthropic's documentation:

• claude-opus-4-0520 (not “claude-opus-4” or “claude-4-opus”)
• claude-sonnet-4-20250514
• claude-3-5-haiku-20241022

Scenario 7: Regional Access Issues

Symptoms: Claude works from some locations but not others. VPN changes fix/break access.

• Check Anthropic’s supported regions list
• If using a VPN, connect to a US or EU server
• If on a corporate network, ask IT if api.anthropic.com is blocked
• Try from a personal network to isolate the issue

Prevention Strategies

Set Up Monitoring

1. Status page alerts: Subscribe to status.anthropic.com updates
2. Health checks: If running API integrations, add a ping endpoint that verifies Claude API connectivity

Keep Software Updated

# Check for Claude Code updates weekly
npm outdated -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

# Update
npm update -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

FAQ

How long do Claude outages usually last?

Most outages resolve within 30 minutes to 2 hours. Major incidents are rare and Anthropic communicates updates through status.anthropic.com.

Why does Claude Code fail but Claude.ai works?

Claude Code uses the API, while Claude.ai uses a web interface with separate infrastructure. If the API is having issues but the web interface is not (or vice versa), they can fail independently. Also check that your API key is valid and has credits.

Does clearing my browser cache delete my conversations?

No. Conversations are stored server-side. Clearing cache only removes local session data. You will need to log in again.