Widespread Google outage cuts access to Gmail and services across the US
Downdetector reports the disruption began around 10:30 a.m. ET, affecting Gmail, Drive, Workspace and other Google services in major cities nationwide.
A widespread outage affected Google services across the United States on Thursday, knocking users offline from Gmail, Google Drive, Google Workspace and other tools. The disruption began around 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, according to Downdetector, which tracks reported outages and service disruptions. Users reported being unable to log in or access emails, calendars, files or other Google-linked tools as the issue rippled through major metropolitan areas.
Gmail users were among the most affected, with many people unable to connect to the Gmail servers. That prevented sending or receiving emails, accessing inboxes, and using calendar, contacts or video-call features tied to Gmail accounts. The outage also impacted other Google properties, including Drive, Workspace and Cloud services, according to the initial reporting.
The scope of the disruption spanned several large markets. News outlets and users in New York, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco reported widespread service outages, illustrating how dependent many individuals and organizations have become on Google’s cloud-based ecosystem. While these reports described the breadth of impact, the exact root cause of the outage was not disclosed in the early updates.
In the hours after the outage began, users and businesses faced interruptions to routine communications, scheduling, file sharing and collaboration that rely on Gmail and Google Drive. Analysts and IT teams typically monitor such events for patterns that could indicate a configuration issue, a software bug, or a problem with a downstream network provider, but no definitive cause had been publicly confirmed at the time of this writing.
Google and its various services have been affected by the outage across the U.S., and the company had not immediately provided a public explanation in the initial reporting. This is a developing story, and additional updates are expected as Google's engineering teams investigate and work to restore full service.