Gmail went down for a period of an hour or more today, affecting 2 per cent of users worldwide. Google just confirmed that it has now resolved the issue, and everything should be back to normal.
Hundreds of people began reporting Gmail was down today — on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and in our own comments. Google still hasn’t posted anything about it on its Gmail blog, or on its official Twitter account. (Update: it has now confirmed the outage. See below.) But reports are certainly widespread — many coming in via Twitter are in languages other than English.
While we haven’t been able to verify it ourselves, several people have sent us screenshots of a 500 error, which seems to be the common complaint.
Mine is up and running, as it seems to be for most people. Is yours down?
Update: Google just confirmed the outage on its Apps Status page, noting it is “investigating reports of an issue with Google Mail. We will provide more information shortly.”
Update 2: It also weighed in on Twitter, confirming the 500 error:
Update 3: Lots of people on Twitter are reporting it is back up again. Possibly a light at the end of the tunnel?
Update 4: And now Google is saying that Gmail should be coming back for many people.
Google notes that the issue affected less than 2 per cent of users. It also notes that “Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change.” So, um, get ready to be productive again. Or unproductive as the case may be.
Update 5: It should be back up and running, Google has given the all clear:
The problem with Google Mail should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.
Update 6: And here’s official confirmation to Gizmodo from a Google spokesperson:
We’re aware that some users are experiencing an error when accessing their Gmail. We’ve implemented a fix and users should now be able to access their mail. We apologize for the inconvenience.