Having Gmail problems? You're not alone – reports of slowdowns and issues are growing

Gmail is having a bad day, it seems

· TechRadar

News By Mark Wilson last updated 30 October 2024

(Image credit: Future)
  • Gmail users are reporting issues with the email service today
  • The problems include long loading times and sluggish performance
  • Google hasn't yet acknowledged an issue – we've contacted it for a response

If you've been trying to use Gmail today and found it to be sluggish, unresponsive, or unusably slow, you aren't alone – a growing number of reports suggest there could be a widespread issue, even though Google hasn't (yet) officially acknowledged a problem.

A large spike in reports from around 8.30am ET / 12.30pm GMT on Downdetector show that hundreds of people are reporting Gmail issues including long loading times, lost server connections, and an inability to send or receive emails. At the time of writing, there were over 500 reports in the US on Downdetector, with the numbers continuing to rise.

Google's Workspace dashboard isn't currently showing any problems and Google hasn't officially commented on the reported issues. We've asked Google for a response and will update this story when we hear back.

The issues have been experienced across the TechRadar team today when accessing Gmail in a desktop browser, though some on Downdetector are reporting problems in the app, too. Some other symptoms we've experienced include blank screen and sluggish performance. The issue is potentially a caching problem, as we've found that refreshing or reloading the web page has occasionally helped.

A significant spike

At the time of writing, there were over 500 reports of Gmail issues in the US on Downdetector (above) (Image credit: Downdetector)

Today's Gmail issues have mostly been reported in the US, but also seem to be global with users in regions like the UK also reporting similar frustrations.

The majority of the reports are for the browser-based version of Gmail, though a small number (5%) say the app is also affected.

Google hasn't yet commented on its social channels, but on the likes of X (formerly Twitter) many Gmail users are venting about the problems, which include "infinite loading" and "slow and laggy" performance.

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