Grok not working? 9 fixes, and how to tell when xAI is really down

How do you fix Grok when it is not working?

xAI's own Grok FAQ, published on 6 October 2026, puts the core fix in one line: "Restarting the app (or deleting and reinstalling it), logging out, and clearing the cache resolves most login/activation issues." Here are all nine steps, in the order that keeps your prompt. Steps 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 come from that FAQ, step 7 from xAI's consumer FAQ and Google's Android help, step 3 from Chrome's shortcut list, and step 2 from status.x.ai, read on 12 October 2026.

1. Copy your prompt. Then nothing below depends on Grok keeping it.
2. Check status.x.ai. Read the row for where you use Grok: grok.com, iOS, Android, Grok in X, Imagine or Voice. A green row isn't proof, as the next section shows.
3. Retry once, then hard refresh. On the web that's Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows or Command+Shift+R on a Mac.
4. Open grok.com in Chrome or Edge, in an incognito window. xAI says that "helps isolate browser-specific failures", and it switches off your extensions. Use grok.com, not grok.x.ai, where xAI says some users miss features like Projects.
5. Log out, then sign in with the login you paid with. xAI ties a subscription to the account that bought it, so your Apple, Google, X and email logins can each look like a different user.
6. Clear the cache, then restart or reinstall the app. Install any update the store offers first.
7. Turn off your VPN, then switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data. xAI says what Grok offers depends on your location, and a VPN changes where you appear to be. Switching networks is the test Google's Android help gives for connection trouble. If Grok works on one and not the other, the network is the cause.
8. Check Settings, then Usage. A spent weekly pool pauses paid features, and that can look like a broken Grok. Grok usage limit reached explains each meter.
9. Use Report an issue. xAI's FAQ sends bugs to the Report an issue feature in the app or on grok.com. Give your account email, the platform, your browser or OS, the exact message and a screenshot.

That's why step 2 rarely ends the hunt. We pulled every incident from xAI's status data on 12 October 2026. Six were posted for the 90 days from 15 July, and three of them touched grok.com. The iOS app, the Android app and Grok in X went down once, together, on 3 September. Imagine had no posted incident at all. So grok.com ran free of posted trouble for 99.8 percent of those 90 days. A Grok that fails on a green page is usually a fault on your side, or one xAI hasn't posted.

Is Grok down right now, or is it just you?

It's Grok when status.x.ai shows an open incident on your row, or when Grok fails on two devices and two networks at once. It's you when the row is green and Grok works on your phone over mobile data. Here is every incident xAI posted for the 90 days to 12 October 2026.

The big one was 3 September. xAI marked eight components and posted two updates in 3 hours 39 minutes. The first said: "Grok is experiencing issues. We are working on restoring service as quickly as possible." The second: "We have resolved the situation, and traffic is healthy again." The Sunday Guardian quoted a user that day who got "This model is temporarily unavailable. Please try a different model." Of the problems people reported to Downdetector, it said, 62 percent were in the app and 34 percent on the website.

A green page doesn't clear xAI, though. From 21 to 23 April 2026 a high demand banner locked out free and paid users for more than 48 hours, RoboRhythms reported, while the status page read "Service fully operational" for web, iOS, Android and the API. RoboRhythms, citing IBTimes Australia, put user reports at 813 in one 24 hour window. xAI also posts some incidents late. The Enterprise Voice slowdown of 6 October ran from 12:03 to 12:31 Pacific, and xAI's first update went up at 13:03, half an hour after it ended. To hear about the next one, follow status.x.ai/feed.xml, the feed xAI's own API docs point to.

What does "Something went wrong" mean on Grok?

"Something went wrong" is Grok's catch-all failure message, and it names no cause. xAI's FAQ doesn't explain it, so the message alone can't tell you whether to wait or fix your side. Google's autocomplete shows what people type after it as of October 2026: "please try again", "when logging in", "while processing your subscription" and "rendering this message". The table gives each Grok message we could trace to a source.

Two of those look like a broken Grok and aren't. The high demand banner is a capacity throttle, and paying doesn't always clear it. RoboRhythms' writer pays for SuperGrok and got it anyway during the April wave. The way around it costs money. On xAI's pricing page, "Priority access at peak times" sits on the SuperGrok Plus card, at $100 a month as of October 2026. The activate or upgrade prompt is a login mismatch. xAI says "those prompts shouldn't appear" on an active plan, and a plan bought with Apple's Hide My Email is only recognized when you sign in with Apple.

Why is Grok not working on X, in the app or in a Tesla?

Each place you use Grok fails in its own way, and status.x.ai tracks them as separate rows. Grok in X, the iOS app and the Android app had one posted outage each in the 90 days, all on 3 September. The grok.com row had three. So if Grok fails inside X while grok.com works, update the X app and sign in again. If X itself is the problem, xAI's FAQ says it has no "operational oversight of X's service" and sends you to X's Help Center or @premium on X.

In a Tesla, the car has to qualify first. Tesla's Grok support page, in its June 2026 version, lists an AMD processor, vehicle software 2025.26 or later, and Premium Connectivity or a Wi-Fi connection. Without connectivity Grok won't run at all. Navigation commands need software 2025.44.25 or later, and Tesla calls Grok "currently in Beta". Tesla's 2026.26.1 release notes of 28 July 2026 still mark the new Grok features AMD only, needing "Premium Connectivity or a WiFi connection". You'll find the processor under Controls, then Software, then Additional Vehicle Information.

On Android or the web, Companions won't load because they don't exist there. xAI's FAQ says they're "available on the iOS app only, and there are no plans to bring them to the web or Android." On the API, a 429 means you've hit a rate limit. xAI's debugging page sends anything that looks like a service problem to status.x.ai.

Why is Grok not generating images?

An outage is the least likely cause, because Imagine had no posted incident in the 90 days to 12 October 2026. Check your plan and your pool first. On xAI's pricing page that day, "Image and video generation" appeared on the SuperGrok card at $30 a month, and the free card listed web and X search, voice mode and connectors. Paid users spend images from the shared weekly pool, so check Settings, then Usage. xAI's FAQ adds one quieter limit: "720p videos automatically fall back to 480p once you hit the 720p cap for your tier."

What if Grok keeps failing and you need an answer now?

Report it to xAI once status.x.ai is green and steps 3 to 8 have failed. xAI's FAQ says to use Report an issue in the product and include your account email, the platform, your browser or OS, and a screenshot or a conversation share link. Its file section says "Still stuck? Ask for help in Help." Developers can email support@x.ai with the request, the response and the logs, which is what xAI's debugging page asks for. Add the UTC time, so support can match it against the status history.

If the deadline won't wait, use another assistant. Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini run on separate infrastructure, and what to use when ChatGPT is down lists each one's status page. Whizi, which publishes this page, puts Grok next to them in one chat. On Pro ($29.99 a month) Grok costs 6 of 2,500 monthly credits, which is 416 messages, per Grok in Whizi. Where it loses: no Imagine, no live X search, no Grok Bot or Grok Build, and credits refill only when the UTC month turns.