On April 21, 2025, Reddit, the widely used social media and discussion platform, encountered a significant outage that disrupted access for users worldwide. The issue began around 11:20 a.m. Eastern Time (ET), with users reporting difficulties accessing the site and its mobile applications.
Downdetector, a website that monitors online service disruptions, recorded over 90,000 outage reports at the peak of the incident. Users attempting to access Reddit were met with error messages, indicating a widespread problem affecting the platform’s functionality.
Reddit’s official status page acknowledged the issue at 11:52 a.m. ET, stating that the company was investigating elevated errors across its website and apps. By 12:10 p.m. ET, Reddit reported that it had identified the cause of the problem and implemented a fix. The company continued to monitor the situation to ensure stability. By 12:21 p.m. ET, Reddit confirmed that all systems were operational, and users could access the platform without issues.
A Reddit spokesperson provided further insight into the cause of the outage, explaining that the disruption was due to a temporary inability to connect to one of the company’s databases. The spokesperson emphasized that a fix was quickly deployed, allowing Reddit to resume normal operations promptly.
This incident is not isolated; Reddit has experienced similar outages in the past. For instance, on November 20, 2024, the platform faced a four-hour-long outage that affected thousands of users globally. During that event, users encountered error messages such as Upstream connect error or disconnect/reset before headers, and the mobile app displayed a lifeless version of Reddit’s mascot, Snoo. Reddit attributed that outage to a bug in a recent software update, which was subsequently addressed by their engineering team.
In another instance, on April 25, 2024, Reddit experienced a significant outage that left tens of thousands of users without access for over half an hour. The company deployed a fix, and the platform was restored to full functionality. These recurring outages highlight the challenges associated with maintaining a large-scale online platform and the importance of swift responses to technical issues.
Reddit’s prompt identification and resolution of the April 21, 2025, outage demonstrate the company’s commitment to maintaining a reliable service for its global user base. While the exact technical details of the database connection issue were not disclosed, the swift response minimized the impact on users and restored normal operations within approximately one hour.
As Reddit continues to grow and evolve, the company faces ongoing challenges in ensuring platform stability. The recent outage serves as a reminder of the complexities involved in managing large-scale online services and the necessity for robust infrastructure and rapid response protocols to address unforeseen technical issues.
Users are encouraged to monitor Reddit’s official status page for real-time updates on platform performance and to report any issues they encounter. By maintaining open communication channels and promptly addressing technical problems, Reddit aims to provide a seamless and reliable experience for its diverse and expansive community.
