MidJourney Stuck on Waiting to Start: Fixes and Solutions

It’s frustrating when all you want is to create a soothing image but the website freezes. Sometimes, that’s the fault of too many users making requests at the same time. 

With a user base of 16 million+, MidJourney is an AI image generator. You probably face one prominent issue with this tool – its servers get overwhelmed and a message ‘Waiting to Start’ starts displaying on your screen. Do you know why this happens and how to get rid of it?

Let’s find out!

What Makes MidJourney Stuck on Waiting to Start?

When you’re trying to create an image using this tool, it might take a few seconds to 5 minutes to process your prompt. In the meantime, you’ll get the ‘Waiting to Start’ message from MidJourney. 

So, seeing this sign is normal ― especially if you’re subscribed to the slower ‘Relaxed’ payment plan as its speed is based on your subscription mode. It pushes down requests from Relaxed and Fast accounts while prioritizing Turbo subscribers. Moreover, Relaxed accounts have to wait between submitting prompts.

However, your prompt shouldn’t take a whole day to process. If it’s taking an unusually long time to create your image, something might have gone wrong. Here’s why you might keep seeing a ‘Waiting to Start’ sign:

• Slow Server: This image generator might have technical issues. You can check if that’s the case on their ‘Status’ Discord channel. Alternatively, they could be adding updates that can disrupt the servers.
• Connection Issue: If you don’t have access to the internet, your message can’t reach their servers. And so, they can’t fulfill your command.
• Midjourney outage: When their servers shut down, it clears the queue of picture requests. Therefore, your prompt disappears and the website will keep displaying that message.
• Peak Use: At certain points during the day, there are more users. If you ask for a picture at that time, it’s more likely to get pushed very far down the queue.
• Faulty Prompt: The command you send to it can’t be complex or riddled with typos. Otherwise, it either takes a long time to create the picture – if it even manages to do so.
• Discord Issues: The program uses this social media platform to receive your orders. Thus, if there’s an issue on their side, you won’t receive your image. You can find out if that’s the issue by going on Discord and looking for the warning ‘Elevated API Latency Errors’.

How to Fix MidJourney Waiting to Start?

As you have seen above, there are a variety of ways that this program could fail. Hence, there are just as many ways to solve these issues ― at least for the ones that are in your power to fix. If MidJourney or Discord have a problem on their back end, there’s nothing you can do but wait for them to fix it.

Here’s how you can solve this issue and create your AI images:

1. Cancel and Resend the Prompt 

The first thing you should try is to simply resubmit your request. If you have a spotty internet connection or you have made a faulty request, this might fix the issue. And even if you have a different problem, this is a process that other solutions also require.

To re-enter your command, you should:

1. Find Your Request: To begin canceling your order, you should find it in the queue.
2. Delete Your Prompt: Once you’ve found it, hover your mouse over the sentence. This will trigger an X mark to appear – click on it. 
3. Create a New Sentence: After you’ve removed it from the queue, it’s time to rephrase it. This sentence needs to be free of errors and simple enough for the AI to process. And so, you should read it over multiple times to ensure it’s clear in meaning and it’s spelled correctly.
4. Submit the Sentence: Now that you’ve created it, go to the Discord Channel. There, you’ll type in: /imagine [your prompt]. 

The AI should begin creating your picture soon. If not, you can try the next solution.

2. Select a Faster Algorithm and Mode

If midjourney is stuck on waiting to start, you should consider increasing the website’s speed. To do so, you should use the fastest payment plan: Turbo. 

Alternatively, you could switch from Relaxed to Fast. However, that’ll reduce the number of pictures you can create this month.

Additionally, they offer multiple algorithms for you to choose from. And each of them has an estimated time for how long they’ll take to generate a picture. Therefore, you should select the algorithm that’ll take the least time to do the job. You should verify their speeds on the AI’s website. 

After you’ve changed your settings, you should delete your old prompt and resubmit a new one.

3. Send Your Prompt Outside of Peak Time

If the queues are too long, you should give it time. To know how much time you’ll need to wait for the service, you can check their website. 

Once you know when you should send your commands, you should delete your request. Then, you should wait until fewer users are sending in orders. 

After you’ve confirmed that it’s a good time to resubmit your idea, you should send it again. 

4. Check Your Connection

The reason why midjourney is not working might be that it’s not receiving your messages. In that case, you should verify that you’re connected to the internet. You’ll need to ensure that your device has airplane mode disabled. Then, you should ensure that you’re connected to your source of internet such as a Wi-Fi network, internet cable, or modem. 

After, you should confirm that the internet source has access to a transfer of data. That might mean checking that your router is on with a steady blue light. Alternatively, you’ll find whether your phone has internet access by looking in its settings or checking the internet icon. 

If your tests fail at any point, you should reconnect your computer to the internet. Then, you’ll need to delete your order and send a new one.

5. Contact MidJourney Support

If you’re unable to get rid of the ‘Waiting to Start’ message through the above methods and neither MidJourney nor Discord have announced an issue, you should report this. You can reach out to the AI company through their Discord server.

To Summarize 

Whether the midjourney is stuck on waiting to start due to server overload, connection issues, peak usage times, or prompt errors, there are easy steps you can take. Try resubmitting your prompt, choosing a faster mode or algorithm, sending your request during off-peak hours, checking your internet connection, or reaching out to MidJourney support.

Generally, your best option is to delete your prompt and resubmit it. So, go back to Discord, try one of the above solutions, and let us know in the comment section about which one works for you.