ChatGPT · Claude · Gemini “Too Many Requests / Usage Limit” Fix — 10 Legit Steps (No Tricks, No Account Lock)

When you’re in the middle of something and suddenly see:

Too many requests
You’ve reached your limit / Usage limit
We’re experiencing high demand
Temporarily restricted
Unusual activity detected
I paid, but it still feels like Free

…your brain instantly goes: “Server’s down.”

Sometimes it is. But most of the time it’s one of these three buckets:

Platform capacity / policy limits (model, plan, region, peak hours)
Your environment (browser cache/cookies, VPN, public Wi-Fi, extensions)
Account / billing / security state (subscription not applied, suspicious activity signals, 2FA/time drift)

This checklist is not about bypassing anything. It’s the clean way to restore normal access without making security lock you harder.

👉 [Korean version: ChatGPT·Claude·Gemini “사용 제한(Too many requests)” 뚫는 법? 꼼수 말고 정석 해결 10단계 (계정 잠김 예방)]

0️⃣ First split: “Can’t log in” vs “Can log in, but can’t send messages”

This decides half the problem.

A) Login is failing (loop, redirect, auth error)

Prioritize: extensions, cache/session, 2FA/time drift (Steps 4, 5, 7 first).

B) Login works, but sending messages / responses is blocked

Prioritize: rate limits, model caps, traffic/capacity (Steps 1, 8, 9 first).

✅ One more split: Work/School/Team account?
If you’re on an org account, admins can restrict models/features. If you see wording like Policy / Violation / Restricted, don’t fight your browser—ask your admin/IT. That’s usually the fastest path.

1️⃣ 30-second sanity check: “Is it just today?”

Before you touch anything, check your own pattern:

Only happening at certain hours?
Only one model failing?
You see “High demand” messages?

If yes, don’t over-tweak your setup. Jump to Step 8 (model/path changes) and keep moving.

2️⃣ “Phantom traffic” that makes security paranoid (easy to miss)

This one tricks people because it feels like an attack.

If you recently changed passwords or security settings but still see repeated “failed sign-in” style behavior, the culprit can be:

old phones/tablets
old desktop apps
extensions or automation tools retrying requests in the background

From the platform’s perspective, it looks like “someone keeps hammering the door,” so you can get temporarily restricted.

Fix: sign out of unused devices/apps, remove stored passwords, stop background sync/retry behavior.

3️⃣ VPN / public Wi-Fi / datacenter IP = “Unusual activity” magnet

Rate limiting and security checks are very sensitive to IP reputation.

If any of these are true:

it only breaks when VPN is on
it only breaks on café/airport Wi-Fi
you see “Unusual activity” wording

Do one clean test:

Turn off VPN
Try once on mobile data (LTE/5G)

⚠️ Claude users: be extra careful with VPNs

In practice, Claude tends to be less tolerant of VPNs/datacenter IPs than some other platforms. If you hit strict limits or even “account disabled” style messages right after using a VPN, turn it off specifically for Claude and retest on a normal residential/mobile connection.

👉 [VPN Troubleshooting Guide: When VPN breaks login or apps]

4️⃣ High success rate: Incognito mode to catch extension conflicts

This solves a shocking number of “limit” reports.

Common culprits:

translators
ad/script blockers
prompt automation tools that alter the chat UI

They can break the send button, modify scripts, or cause weird retries—leading to:

send failures
infinite loading
random “limit” warnings even when you didn’t spam

Test:

If Incognito works → it’s almost always an extension conflict
Disable extensions one-by-one (start with ad blockers + any “AI helper” tools)

5️⃣ Session/cookie glitches: try the easy stuff before wiping cookies

Cookie wipes are annoying because they log you out. So do this first:

⚡ Quick Fix: Hard Refresh (no cache)

Windows: Ctrl + F5
Mac: Cmd + Shift + R

If that fixes it, it was just stale UI/cache.

If it’s still broken:

clear site-only cache/cookies for that AI service
log in again

(Full browser wipes are overkill.)

6️⃣ “I didn’t log in anywhere” — check connected apps (OAuth) & automations

Sometimes the issue is a connected app repeatedly refreshing a token and failing, which can look suspicious to security systems.

Fix:

remove unknown/unused connected apps
pause automation tools (especially ones that send requests in the background)
retest clean

7️⃣ 2FA/OTP keeps failing? Your clock might be the real problem

If codes are “correct” but rejected, your device time can be slightly off.

Fix:

sync time on your phone
check PC time/timezone (wrong time can cascade into auth + security failures)

👉 [Fix OTP codes failing: Windows/Phone time sync checklist]

8️⃣ If it’s real traffic/policy limits: 5 legit ways to recover fast

No tricks. Just practical, within-rules routing:

Switch to a lighter model (heavy models hit caps faster)
Test text-only (remove files/images temporarily)
Switch Web ↔ App (one path can be flaky while the other works)
Shorten the thread (very long chats can be more fragile)
Log out → log back in (clean session reset)

“Did I actually use too much?”

Limits aren’t a single fixed number. They vary by plan/model/demand.
The best move is to stop burning messages: bundle your request, avoid sending lots of tiny follow-ups, and don’t spam retries when it fails.

9️⃣ Paid but feels like Free? Suspect billing mismatch or subscription not applied

If you see:

you paid, but features aren’t unlocked
repeated payment failures
“pending” behavior

Then it might not be “usage” at all. Common causes:

you paid on one account but you’re logged into another
web vs app-store purchase mismatch
payment authentication problems (especially on restricted networks)

Fix checklist:

confirm the email/account that actually owns the subscription
confirm whether purchase was web or app-store
log out/in after payment changes

👉 [AI subscription payment failed: web vs app store, 3DS, pop-up checklist]

9-1) 👨‍💻 For API users (OpenAI / Claude / Gemini): check Credit Balance first

This is huge: for API, “429 Too Many Requests” often gets misread as “speed limit,” but in practice a very common cause is prepaid credits hitting zero (or billing not active). Even if you added a card, confirm your Credit Balance is positive.

Important: API billing is separate from consumer subscriptions (like ChatGPT Plus). Paying for a chat subscription doesn’t automatically fund API usage.

🔟 When you contact support, send these 5 things (it gets solved faster)

Don’t send “it doesn’t work.” Send this:

Exact time (down to minutes if possible)
Exact error text + screenshot
Environment: web/app, browser, OS
Network: VPN on/off, Wi-Fi vs mobile data
Billing context: web vs app-store purchase, receipt details (and last 4 digits if relevant)

Wrap-up

“Too many requests / usage limit” is sometimes real server load—but more often it’s extensions, VPN/public networks, stale sessions, connected apps, or time drift.
Split it first (login vs send), then run the steps in order and you’ll usually find the bucket fast.
And if you’re an API user, don’t forget: 429 can simply mean your prepaid credits are gone, not that you’re “spamming.”