Is Paramount Plus Down (Or Is It Just You)? Here's How To Tell

When the weekend rolls around and you've got no commitments whatsoever, there's nothing quite like popping on your favorite streaming service, turning on autoplay, and seeing where the waves of content binging take you. If you use Paramount Plus, those waves will probably include a lot of "Star Trek" of varying flavors, not to mention other big shows like "South Park" or "Joe Pickett." Of course, there's not going to be any waves if the proverbial wave generator, i.e., Paramount Plus itself, isn't working.

When you can't get into Paramount Plus to get your streaming fix, it's difficult to discern at a glance whether the problem is on your side or the service's side, and how you're supposed to go about fixing either. Luckily, there are quick and easy ways to determine where the issue is, and in some cases, remedy it. All you need is your remote and your smartphone.

The first thing you need to do is determine whether Paramount Plus is down entirely, or if the problem is only affecting you, as that will decide your next step. Since website and service outages are such a common concern these days, there are plenty of resources available to gather information.

The first thing you should do is visit the official Paramount Plus help site, specifically its outage detection page. If there are any server-side issues that the service's operators are aware of and working on, they'll be displayed on this page.

Besides the official site, you can also use a third-party outage detector for some more user-sourced data. The best option for this is Downdetector, which will tell you if there is a statistically significant number of user outage reports coming in and how long they've been coming in for, as well as comments from affected users.

If Paramount Plus is down on the server side, there isn't anything you can do about it beyond waiting for the problem to be fixed. If, however, the service doesn't seem to be down and the problem is only on your end, then there are a few proactive fixes you can try.

The first and simplest thing you can do is close the Paramount Plus app, then open it back up. Whether you're on a PC or a smart TV, a quick refresh can work wonders. With smart TVs and streaming players in particular, you can also try restarting your TV to clear out temporary files. If you're using Paramount Plus on a computer, you should try temporarily disabling things like ad blockers and VPNs, as they can mess with the Paramount Plus client.

No matter what kind of device you're using, you should also double-check your internet connection. If you're experiencing interruptions and signal drops, there could be a problem with your service, which is an entirely separate matter. Call or use the app of your wireless provider to see if there are any local outages.

If you're still not sure what to do, use the Paramount Plus contact page to send a help request, and a helper will get back to you with advice as soon as possible.