Google is so much more than just a search engine. Several online services like email, documents, and online storage are an integral part of our daily lives. Sadly for many users, Google's productivity services, Google Drive and Google Docs went briefly offline on Monday.
According to Down Detector, the website that tracks service disruptions, thousands of users reported problems with Google Drive and Google Docs itself. Most complaints were raised for Google Drive, with the majority of the users reporting issues with the service in the US.
Users trying to use the Microsoft Word alternative from Google received an error that said, "Google Docs encountered an error. Please try reloading this page, or coming back to it in a few minutes." Almost instantly, the complaints stacked up in huge numbers, prompting a response from Google and a fix that followed shortly after. Some users also reported that the Google Drive suite, including Google Slides and Sheets, were also inaccessible during the outage.
Google outage timeline
Google's G Suite Dashboard, which includes services Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Classroom, was experiencing issues due to a service disruption, a company spokesperson told Mashable.
The issues with Google Drive appeared to have started at around 11:18 p.m. IST on Monday and lasted until after midnight. In the west, it was a business day morning when users were unable to use Google Drive or Google Docs at around 10:30 a.m. PT. By 10:46 a.m PT, Google said the issue "should be resolved."
"The problem with Google Drive should be resolved." They also included a note: "We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better," Google noted on its dashboard.
Users weren't too happy about it
Google's productivity suite was offline for only about 20 minutes, but users weren't too happy about it. That's usually the case when the user base is massive - even the slightest disruption can lead to huge inconvenience. A lot of users expressed their dismay on Twitter and on the DownDetector site and some even took this on a light note and made humorous remarks.
Google drive is down and my assignment that’s due in 5 hours is on there unfinished pic.twitter.com/ke3XOMn2iF
— kennedy (@generalfinnpoe) January 27, 2020
me finally ready to do my work only to find google drive is down pic.twitter.com/e5cotyO9x2
— danny phantom (@glittrypoet) January 27, 2020
When Google Drive goes down at work... pic.twitter.com/ma3E8Do1P7
— Matthew Wong (@wongkmatthew) January 27, 2020
When google drive crashes 7 days out from #IACaucus pic.twitter.com/RYx6o10cKQ
— Jackson Sump (@JacksonSump) January 27, 2020
Everyone at the office today when Google Drive was down pic.twitter.com/Z0cXKJ5GW4
— mky (@MkyyR_) January 27, 2020