Is Hulu Down... Or Is It You?

If you can't connect to the Hulu service or its app, or you're questioning why Hulu is not working, it may be down. Fortunately, there are some key ways to figure out if the Hulu problems are just yours or if the service is unavailable to everyone. 

How to Tell If Hulu Is Down

If you think Hulu is down for everyone and not just you, try these simple steps to check if you're correct. 

1. Check the Hulu Support Twitter account for up to date information.

   This should always be your first port of call as the official Twitter account should always have the most relevant information.

2. Search Twitter for #Huludown. If the site is down for everyone, somebody has probably already tweeted about it. Check for tweets, but pay attention to the tweet timestamps to ensure that they're not discussing an earlier time that Hulu was not working.

   Can't access Hulu? Try other major sites like Google or YouTube. If you can't view them either then the problem is almost certainly on your end or with your ISP.

3. Use a third-party "status checker" website. Popular options include Down For Everyone Or Just Me, Downdetector, Is It Down Right Now?, and Outage.Report. All of them will tell you if Hulu is working for everyone else.

What to Do When You Can't Connect to Hulu

If no one else is reporting a problem with Hulu, then the problem is likely something on your side.

There are a few things you can try if Hulu seems to be working fine for everyone else, but not you.

1. If you can't access Hulu from your web browser, try using the Hulu app on your smartphone or streaming device. If the Hulu app seems to be down, try using the browser on your smartphone or tablet instead. 

2. Close all of your browser windows, wait 30 seconds, open one window, then try accessing the Hulu site again. Do the same with the Hulu app if you're on a tablet or smartphone. Make sure you're closing down the app properly. Learn how to close Android apps and how to quit apps on iPhone the full method rather than simply closing them.

   If the app or browser window seems to be stuck and not closing fully, try restarting your device instead.

3. Clear your browser's cache.

4. Clear your browser's cookies.

5. Check your computer for malware.

6. Restart your computer.

   Alternatively, restart your smartphone or streaming device, like a Roku, depending on what you're using to access Hulu.

If You Still Can't Access Hulu

If nothing has fixed Hulu for you, you may have a problem with your internet connection. One such issue can be when you have too many devices using up your network bandwidth eventually slowing down your internet so you can't use it, but it can be more complicated than that. Contact your internet service provider to gain further help.

Hulu Error Messages

Hulu can display standard HTTP status code errors such as 500 Internal Server Error, 403 Forbidden and 404 Not Found, but Hulu also offers dozens of its own error codes. Here are some of the most common ones you may see.

• Hulu Error Code 3 and 5: These tend to mean there's some kind of internet problem and a show can't be played. Try restarting your device or restarting your router.
• Hulu Error Code 500: There's an issue with the server connection. Try refreshing the page to fix it.
• Hulu Error Code 400: Your account information can't be accessed. Try restarting or removing and re-adding your device to your account. 
• Hulu Error Code 16: An invalid region code which usually means you're trying to access Hulu from behind a VPN or proxy. Switch the VPN off to fix this. 

If the problem still isn't solved, try waiting it out. When Hulu is in heavy demand, it can throw up these error messages when the issue is on the app or website's end, not yours.