Is Slack down? Not anymore, but some users are still facing the lasting effects of the Slack outage from yesterday. If you don’t work in the corporate field or rely on other messaging platforms like Microsoft Teams, you may not have faced any interruptions to your day, but the Slack outage has caused chaos across workplaces.
Users realized the Slack was down around 11 AM ET, on February 26, and Downdetector reports soon started pouring in, in larger numbers. As users tried to log in to work and reach out to their colleagues, they realized that Slack was facing some connection problems that prevented them from getting anything done. Unfortunately for them, this did not mean a day off from work, so many had to turn to alternate means to get the job done.
Slack’s service status shows that most functions have been restored, but users are still reporting some issues with sending messages to colleagues. With Slack going down, there was considerable chaos at organizations that relied on the platform, but some workers used that time to share memes about being freed from the shackles of technology.
Did Slack Go Down For You Too? The App Outage Caused Considerable Chaos For Workers
Stable communication channels are an essential part of working at any organization, more so today than ever before. Most companies rely on messaging apps for collaborating with each other, especially at businesses that allow for remote work.
These communication apps have been in use for years now, but the pandemic was a turning point for our reliance on messaging apps that allowed teams to stay in touch with each other instantaneously.
Meetings, group calls, and emails still make up a big chunk of our communication mode today, but apps like Slack have closed an important gap that we didn’t know existed. This is why Slack outage was such a big deal for users, many of whom had to turn to more inconvenient means to collaborate for the hours Slack was down. Some even worried they had been fired and removed from the company Slack because of what they saw during the outage.
Fully remote workers when they notice Slack is down: pic.twitter.com/F1jg4qglDp
— Parker Billings (@caffeined__) February 26, 2025
Is Slack down or did I get fired
— Jarvis (@jarvis_best) February 26, 2025
This is not the first time the San Francisco-based workplace communication platform Slack has gone down. It has consistently faced a major issue almost every year since 2021. The last time was in July 2023, when users found they were unable to send or receive messages correctly and conduct some of the actions.
What Do We Know About the Slack Outage?
Around 11 AM ET on February 26, users began to find that Slack was down and unable to start up. As they reached out to colleagues via other means, they found that some still had access to the platform, but that changed very quickly. Soon, everyone was seeing the message, “We’re having trouble loading your workspace,” when they tried to use the app.
Slack suggested restarting the app or trying some troubleshooting methods, but none of these resolved the issue. Downdetector, the website where everyone goes first when a website or service stops working correctly, received a growing number of reports on the issue. Slack quickly replied that they were working on understanding what went wrong.
News platforms like TechRadar also stated that they were affected by the Slack outage, and it was particularly inconvenient since they had the Amazon Alexa+ event to cover. Slack was not sending messages or allowing for interactions among users. By mid-morning on Wednesday, some began to report that the services were functioning for them again, but not everyone saw their connection restored until later.
“We’ve restored full functionality to all affected Slack features such as sending messages, workflows, threads, and other API-related features,” the company said in a post, but there does appear to be some lingering issues. At the time of writing this, Slack is still reporting some issues with messaging and custom apps, “Some custom apps not sending messages and some trouble with Slack Connect.”
Why Was the Slack App Not Working on February 26?
Although the Slack outage has been resolved for the most part, there are still some lingering issues that might be causing a problem with some of the features on the platform. Slack has not released a full incident report on the issue but it has provided a few updates during its attempts to resolve the matter.
When Slack went down, the company reported “We’re still working to restore functionality to affected Slack features such as sending messages, workflows, threads, and other API-related features. Users may also experience issues when attempting to log in. Thank you for your continued patience as we continue investigating. We’ll be following up with further updates as they become available.” Further updates with “regard to deprecated functionality” for Slack were provided but nothing concrete was shared regarding the cause.
The company repeatedly indicated that it was working on the problem and apologized for the inconvenience caused, but we’re still not sure why Slack went down. While the issue was marked as resolved, the Slack app is still not working properly. “We have identified the cause of the issue as a symptom of an earlier incident, and are working on a solution with the highest priority,” Slack revealed in an update.
What to Do If Slack Is Still Not Working For You
Slack’s connection problems have been addressed and there should be no login issues for most users. If you’re still facing some trouble, it is best to report it to Slack—and your teammates waiting for a response—to ensure it is resolved. If you have issues with custom apps/bots, this is a consequence of Slack going down, and the company is still working on fully resolving the matter. Keep an eye on the Slack status page so you know when it will be fully restored.
If you have issues with Slack Connect and tagging channel members, the company suggests clearing your cache and refreshing the page. To do this,
- Go to the Slack desktop app
- Click on “Help” in the top menu bar, or if you’re on Windows 10, click on the icon with the three horizontal bars on the top left corner of the app
- Click on “Troubleshooting”
- Click “Clear cache and restart”
This should help resolve the minor issues you encounter on the app. Slack is no longer down but if issues persist, notify the company so they can take a look.
How to Stay Prepared for Another Slack Outage or Similar Issues with Other Messaging Apps
When Slack went down, it showed many of us how heavily reliant we are on our apps and software to help us do our jobs. This is an inevitable problem with the modern world and is likely not the last time we’re going to see issues with Slack and other services being impaired or compromised.
It was great to see Slack take a more hands-on approach to keep users informed that they were working on the problem, unlike what we saw with the PlayStation Network outage two weeks ago. While we still don’t know what caused the Slack outage, it is best to stay prepared for such scenarios in the future so it doesn’t have too big of an impact on the organization. Employees should not have to hear about an outage from Twitter/X.
There are a few different things you can do to stay prepared:
- Establish a system of notifying employees about an issue early on when the problem is detected. The first person who realizes it should know who to contact so the company can raise the alarm and alert everyone else. This puts an end to the initial confusion and uncertainty
- Determine an alternate means of communication with workers—it is never ideal to put all your eggs in one basket. A teamwide group chat on another platform is usually a good idea
- Ensure everyone’s contact information is up-to-date and easily accessible in case it is required
- Chart out a plan of action for what to do next—inform IT, contact the service provider, identify who will track the problem, move the conversation to the secondary platform, determine how employees should track their work and who they should direct their technical questions to, etc.
- Conduct trial runs for different emergencies and educate employees on what to do next. A network outage with a more critical service than the messaging platform should not be met with panic
- Identify a plan for how you will check that the issue has been resolved and assess how it affected the business when it went down. Some application failures may be due to security breaches that are more dangerous than you’d expect
- Look at offline resources at your disposal and explore alternate strategies to ensure the workflow is not interrupted
- Go easy on workers for the duration of the issue—it isn’t easy to make the switch and it often takes longer to get things done in a new and unfamiliar way. An afternoon off never hurt anyone
Slack’s recent connection problems are a good reminder that no technology is infallible. No matter how many people work on keeping it running, there are always unexpected problems and errors that slip through the cracks. Most often, these issues are identified and resolved by the end of the day, but in case it goes on for longer, it is best to stay ready with alternatives so that another company’s failure doesn’t become the reason for yours.
Were you affected by Slack going down? How did your workplace handle the outage? Let us know. For more news stories on the chaotic world of technology, subscribe to Technowize.
No Comments