Google restores GMail, other services after facing massive outage

Downdetector, a platform which collects status reports from a series of sources, including Twitter and reports submitted, verified the issues that Google services were facing

Tech giant Google is restoring services for users after facing a massive outage since Thursday morning.

Thousands of users, mainly in India and parts of Malaysia, Japan, US and Australia, among other countries, had reported disruption of service and were not being able to access various Google services. These included Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Slides. Some users also reported trouble accessing Google Sites, Google Groups, Google Chat, Google Keep and Google Voice.

“Gmail 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,” said Google on its G Suite Status Dashboard. The company has posted similar messages related to the restoration of other services as well.

“The problem with Gmail should be resolved. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. System reliability is a top priority at Google. We are making continuous improvements to make our systems better,” said Google on its G Suite Status Dashboard.

Downdetector, a platform that collects status reports from a series of sources, including Twitter, verified the issues that Google services were facing. It said that nearly 62 per cent of the users, who reported problems with Gmail, were in relation to attachments. Many users were not able to log into their Gmail accounts, while others complained about not being able to upload attachments on the email or new documents to the cloud, or even sent or receive emails.

Hashtags such as #GmailOutage, #GmailDown and various memes around the disruption of Google services were also trending on microblogging site Twitter.