Is Reddit Down... Or Is It Just You?

When Reddit goes down, it can be difficult to determine exactly why the site isn’t working for you. Here’s how to check if Reddit is down for everyone, if you have a problem with your internet service provider, or if there is an issue with the computer or network hardware on your end.

Is Reddit Down for Everyone?

If you suspect that Reddit is down for everyone, try these steps:

1. Visit the Reddit Status page. If there is an outage, it will be shown here.

   

   This page is hosted by Reddit, but it isn’t on the main Reddit domain, so it may or may not have up-to-date information depending on the problem they’re having.

2. Check the Reddit status X (formerly Twitter) account. This account will typically post information about Reddit outages.

   

3. Check X for #redditdown. Check both the Top and Latest tabs, and pay attention to the timestamps on the most recent tweets. If other people are having trouble with Reddit, you’ll typically see recent Tweets using this hashtag.

   

4. Use a third-party status-checker website like Down For Everyone Or Just Me, Downdetector, Is It Down Right Now?, or Outage.Report. If none of these sites reports an outage, then the problem is likely on your end.

Why Is Reddit Not Working?

If Reddit seems to be working for everyone else, or for most people, then there are a number of areas you can check on your end. The problem may be with your internet service provider or with the hardware or software you’re using to try and reach Reddit. Try these steps if you think Reddit is working for everyone but you:

1. Make sure that you’re really visiting Reddit's site. If you’re using the Reddit app, make sure you have the official Reddit app for iOS or Android.

   Get Reddit for iOS
   Get Reddit for Android

2. If you’re trying unsuccessfully to reach Reddit with your web browser, try the Reddit app on your phone or tablet. If you’re having trouble with the app, switch it up and try a web browser. It may also be useful to try a different phone, tablet, or computer as well.

3. Close your browser windows, wait at least 30 seconds, then open your browser again and try to access Reddit. If you’re using the app, try the same thing, but make sure to actually close the app before opening it again.

   To fully close an Android app or quit an app on iPhone is different from just switching to another app. If the web browser or app won’t fully close, restart your device and try again.

4. Clear your browser's cache. Your web browser stores information from the internet in a cache, which can speed up website load times. If you have outdated or corrupt data in the cache, you may continue to see a Reddit error message even if the site is back up. Open your browser's settings, search for cache, and choose to clear cached images and files.

5. Clear your browser's cookies. Outdated cookies can also prevent Reddit from loading or working correctly. If clearing your cache didn't do the trick, open your web browser settings again, search for cookies, and clear all of your Reddit-related cookies.
   

6. Scan your computer for malware. Some malware will affect your ability to view specific websites. Check Windows Defender if you have Windows, and consider running an additional malware removal tool to be safe.

7. Restart your computer. When you restart your computer, everything shuts down and is forced to start up fresh. That can fix a lot of pervasive problems, like issues with some websites not loading. Make sure to fully shut down the computer, and don't just suspend it or put it into sleep mode.

8. Restart your network hardware. There may be an issue with your modem or router that's preventing you from accessing Reddit. When that happens, you can unplug the modem and router from power, wait at least 30 seconds, then plug the modem back in. After an additional 30 seconds, you can plug your router in if you have a separate router. Wait a couple minutes, then check to see if you can access Reddit.

9. While it isn’t that common, your ISP’s default DNS server may be having issues. You can wait for them to fix it, or try switching DNS servers to a free and public option.

Reddit Error Messages

In addition to standard HTTP status code errors, like 403 Forbidden, 404 Not Found, and  500 Internal Server Error, Reddit sometimes provides an additional error message to help you figure out what went wrong. For example:

• You broke Reddit. Don’t worry, you didn’t break Reddit. This is a tongue-in-cheek reference to server overloads. If you wait a while, the site should start working again.
• All of our servers are busy right now. This error also appears when the servers are overloaded, so all you can do is wait for the site to start working again.
• Oops, something went wrong. Try again. When this message appears, you can try to access the site again immediately, and it will usually work. It typically indicates a temporary error.
• Our CDN was unable to reach our servers. When you see this error, Reddit’s servers are unable to access their content data network, so all you can do is wait.