October 20, 2025 — Millions of users across the globe are reporting that Snapchat is down, with the app failing to load messages, send Snaps, or refresh Stories. The issue isn’t isolated to Snapchat alone — a widespread Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage has knocked out dozens of major online platforms, including Alexa, Fortnite, Signal, and Perplexity AI, according to reports from BBC News.
What’s Happening Right Now
As of Monday morning, AWS confirmed elevated error rates and latencies in its US-EAST-1 region — one of its largest and most critical server hubs. This region supports many globally popular apps, and when it goes down, the effects ripple across the internet.
Platforms like Snapchat, which depend on AWS for storage and data delivery, have been among the hardest hit. Users in North America, the UK, and parts of Asia are reporting that their Snaps are stuck on “Sending,” chats won’t load, and the app freezes when trying to refresh feeds.
The Numbers Behind the Outage
Here’s what we know from outage tracking and AWS reports:
- More than 50 AWS services were affected by the disruption in the US-EAST-1 region.
- Outage-tracking platforms such as Downdetector and IsDown recorded thousands of Snapchat outage reports within an hour of the first AWS failure alert.
- Historically, Snapchat outages linked to cloud issues see between 3,000–5,000 user complaints per hour during peak disruption periods.
- AWS reported service degradation starting around 5:00 AM ET, with gradual recovery beginning around 7:30 AM ET — but residual delays are ongoing.
The outage appears to be global but uneven, hitting some regions harder than others. Users in the United States, Canada, the UK, and India are experiencing the most consistent problems, while other regions report intermittent issues.
For Snapchat users, the symptoms include:
- Snaps or chats not sending or loading
- Stories and Spotlight content timing out
- Login or connectivity errors
- Temporary loss of notifications or streak data
These problems stem from Snapchat’s reliance on AWS cloud infrastructure, which handles both message delivery and media storage.
Why It Matters
This isn’t just another app glitch — it highlights how dependent the modern internet is on cloud providers like Amazon Web Services. When a major AWS region falters, even briefly, the impact can be massive: from gaming platforms to home devices and messaging apps, everything connected to that data backbone starts to stumble.
In this case, Snapchat’s service disruption underscores a single point of failure in digital infrastructure. A single regional outage can ripple across continents, affecting millions of users simultaneously.
User Reactions
Social media has quickly flooded with complaints and memes under the hashtag #SnapchatDown.
Some users are joking about “accidentally ghosting” friends because their Snaps won’t send, while others are frustrated over lost streaks and unsent messages.
On X (formerly Twitter), the official @SnapchatSupport account acknowledged the issue, saying:
“We’re aware some Snapchatters are having trouble sending and receiving Snaps. Our team is working with our partners to get things back to normal as soon as possible.”
What Users Can Do
If Snapchat isn’t working for you right now, here are a few quick troubleshooting steps:
- Restart the app or toggle between Wi-Fi and mobile data.
- Check Snapchat’s official support page or social media accounts for updates.
- Avoid reinstalling the app — this won’t fix a server-side issue and might delay reconnection.
- Switch to alternate channels for urgent communication until the service stabilizes.
For creators or brands using Snapchat for campaigns, it’s best to pause uploads or promotions temporarily, as engagement and delivery metrics will be unreliable until the outage clears.
Related Read: How to get Unbanned from Snapchat
What’s Next
AWS has begun restoring services in affected regions, but complete recovery could take several hours as networks rebalance and queued data requests clear. Snapchat users may continue to experience lag, missing messages, or delayed notifications even after the service is officially restored.
The AWS engineering team said in its latest update that they are “seeing signs of recovery across multiple services,” though investigation continues into the root cause of the disruption.
Final Thoughts
While the outage may not last long, it serves as a strong reminder of how interconnected our digital world has become. A single infrastructure issue within AWS can ripple out, leaving millions without access to daily apps like Snapchat.
For now, users are advised to stay patient and avoid panic — the problem lies not with their device, but with the backbone of the internet itself. Once AWS services are fully restored, Snapchat should return to normal operations.
Until then, it might just be the perfect excuse to take a short break from snapping — at least until the cloud clears.
Anas Hasan
October 20, 2025
1 day ago
