Slack went down again - but it seems to be back now

If you experienced issues with Slack not working for you this morning, you're not alone. The online collaboration tool went down for many users across the world, affecting people as they tried to log in for work.

The issue began around 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm GMT on Tuesday 22 February, 2022, with thousands of users in multiple continents reporting issues as they tried to log in and send messages.

Slack has now confirmed it has identified and has fixed the issue - but you can still read about how the fuss all unfolded below.

As we mentioned above, issues with Slack began appearing just as many workers in the US were signing on for the day.

Outage tracker site DownDetector showed a huge spike in complaints, with users also flocking to Twitter to report problems.

The issues appear to be affecting users of the Slack desktop app, with multiple browsers affected.

Here's what we're seeing when trying to access Slack on Google Chrome - but users on other browsers have also reported not being able to access.

The official Slack status Twitter account isn't reporting any issues just yet, but we're keeping an eye on it - the outage reports have now topped six thousand within less than half an hour, so something serious must be wrong...

Slack is still saying there's no issues yet...but nearly eight thousand reports can't be wrong!

Ah - there we go - the official Slack status page is now showing some problems across the board.

Full details in the image below, but as you may have seen, some users are unable to access Slack. The issues appear to be affecting a range of areas, from logging in to the platform to being able to send messages and receive notifications.

"We’re investigating the issue where Slack is not loading for some users. We’re looking into the cause and will provide more information as soon as it's available," Slack has noted on its updates page.

How are we supposed to work like this?

In a strange twist, it seems that Slack may be working in some channels, but not others....

We're able to currently post in some groups, but trying to do some in others results in a "Slack couldn’t send this message" alert as shown below.

So your boss (or your employees) may not actually be ignoring you after all!

A further update from Slack, this time from the official Twitter account...

The number of issues on the Slack DownDetector page is starting to fall rapidly, so it seems Slack is returning for many users.

However with much of the West coast of the US set to wake up and log on for work soon, this could rise yet again....

The official Slack status page is still showing all the issues still present.

One possible solution - we've found that multiple clicking of the "try again" option that appears when posting in some channels does seem to force through the message.

So if you really have something important to say, that could be the answer!

A further update on the Slack status page - but sadly it's nothing too exciting...

"We're still working towards a full resolution. We'll be back with another update soon. Thank you for your patience."

It's also worth noting that only the desktop and web app versions of Slack seem to be badly affected - we're having a lot more luck logging in, sending and receiving messages on a smartphone.

Whatever this issue is, it's seemingly fairly tricky - as Slack seems to be having some trouble getting any of the problems sorted.

"Slack is not loading for some users. We are continuing to investigate the cause and will provide more information as soon as it's available," is the latest update on the official Slack status page.

We are still seeing outage reports on DownDetector falling, however, so you may be back in and chatting soon.

It's now over an hour and a half since Slack first started showing issues, and despite many users now being able to log in, some are still unable to use the platform fully.

As a reminder, Slack's official status page is still saying there are incidents affecting a range of areas, including logging in to Slack, sending messages and files, and receiving notifications.

Some serious-looking updates from Slack's status - a change from the previous mix of green and yellows, all areas of concern are now showing a red "outage" alert.

We're not seeing a spike in outage issues, but as the alerts come as many of the west coast of America comes online, this does possibly mean the issues aren't over just yet...

These alerts haven't come alongside any updates from Slack's official social media pages though, so stay tuned for more details.

Another update from Slack that doesn't give too much away...

"Some customers are unable to load Slack. We’re still actively investigating this issue, but we don’t have any new information to share at this time. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have an update."

If you're just joining us, here's the latest updates:

- Slack is suffering a variety of issues, ranging from users being unable to log in to being able send and receive messages

- The company says it is investigating the problems, but has no idea what is happening just yet

- Amazon Web Services (AWS)  is also down, which is affecting a number of other websites and online platforms across the world

Finally - some advice from Slack! The company says things do appear to be improving, and has offered this guidance to users:

Things are improving, Slack says, as much of the US and North and South America begins its working day.

"We're seeing signs of improvement. Please try reloading Slack, and if not a cache reset. We’re still monitoring the situation. We’ll confirm once this issue is fully resolved," the latest update from the company reads.

That seems to be a wrap on the great Slack outage of February 2022.

Although there are still some warnings on the Slack status website, the company is confident it has identified the issue, and has issued the following statement.

"We're continuing to see signs of improvement and are monitoring the situation. If you're still encountering any trouble, please reload Slack or clear the app cache."