Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp faced a massive global outage on Saturday, disrupting services for thousands of users across various countries, including India and the United States. According to real-time outage tracking platform Downdetector, users began reporting issues with the app around 5:30 p.m. (IST) on April 12, 2025.
As per Downdetector, nearly 600 outage reports were filed by 5:30 p.m., with the number increasing to 2,990 by 8:18 p.m. The majority of users—around 88 per cent—reported being unable to send messages, while 10 per cent complained about app-related problems. A smaller fraction, around 2 per cent, experienced difficulties logging into their WhatsApp accounts.
The issue appears to have affected users globally, with people in India, the US, and other regions taking to social media platforms to express their frustration and confusion over the disruption. Screenshots of undelivered messages were widely shared, with several users attempting to determine whether the problem was specific to their devices or a broader service failure.
There has been no official response from WhatsApp regarding the cause of the outage as of now.
Users Report WhatsApp Outage-Related Issues On X
A user named Kumar Subham expressed his concern on social media, writing, “Is WhatsApp down? I have been trying to upload the status but it couldn’t.”
Another user, Abdul Khalique, posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Hey @WhatsApp, is the app down? I’m having trouble sending messages – they’re just not going through. Anyone else facing this?”
Is WhatsApp down ?
I have been trying to upload the status but it couldn’t. #WhatsApp #whatsappdown pic.twitter.com/Wuph0ETdLm
— Kumar Shubham (@its_ShubhamK) April 12, 2025
Some users attempted to troubleshoot the issue by restarting their phones but were advised against it by others who confirmed that the problem was from WhatsApp’s end. “Stop restarting your phone. It’s not you. WhatsApp is down. Facebook and Instagram too,” one social media user stated.
Many also flocked to X to verify whether others were facing similar issues. A user named @relatablevijay posted, “Just came here on Twitter to check if WhatsApp is down for you guys or not.”
This disruption came hours after another technical glitch impacted digital payments in India, where users of UPI-based platforms like Paytm, PhonePe, and Google Pay reported being unable to complete transactions. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) later acknowledged the issue and said they were working to resolve it.
The cause behind WhatsApp’s global outage remains unknown, and users await an official explanation from the company.
