Reddit Down: What Happened During the January 2026 Global Outage

Understanding the Reddit Outage

On 13 January 2026, Reddit suffered a major global outage due to a backend configuration error, affecting millions with site inaccessibility and API failures. The disruption left users worldwide unable to access the popular social media platform, sparking widespread concern and frustration across the internet.

Timeline of the Disruption

Around 8:30 a.m. PT, the social platform Reddit began suffering an outage, with the main feed showing errors and over 5,000 reports on the outage tracking site Down Detector. The situation rapidly escalated as as of 11:52 AM EST, Downdetector.com showed 112,856 users reporting problems while using Reddit. Users encountered various error messages, including ‘We’ve encountered an error’ notifications when attempting to access their feeds or post content.

Reddit’s status page showed investigations beginning at 09:01 PST, with the issue identified and a fix being implemented by 09:53 PST, and monitoring of results by 10:04 PST. After a spike of close to 110,000 reports on Down Detector things quickly turned down after Reddit implemented a fix, with the outage lasting about an hour overall.

Part of a Broader Pattern

The Reddit outage did not occur in isolation. On Tuesday, January 13, 2026, three widely used digital platforms all experienced serious disruptions within hours of each other, leaving users around the world unable to connect. At around 9 a.m. Eastern Time, X (formerly Twitter) experienced a significant glitch that prevented users from accessing feeds and posting content, whilst banking app Monzo also reported issues later that day.

Why Reddit Outages Matter

With Reddit’s growing user base now exceeding 500 million monthly actives, service disruptions have increasingly significant impacts. Reddit serves as a vital platform for real-time information, community discussions, and professional networking. The outage highlighted how deeply integrated social media platforms have become in daily life, from casual browsing to critical work-related communications.

Whilst the platform has since recovered and returned to normal operations, the incident serves as a reminder of the vulnerabilities inherent in digital infrastructure. Users seeking to check Reddit’s current status can monitor the official Reddit Status page or use third-party tracking services like Down Detector for real-time updates on any future disruptions.