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Asif Mohammad Sovon

Meet Asif Mohammad Sovon, an IT Assistant in the Bangladesh Air Force and a tech writer for Fileion....

Joined February 2025

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May 13, 2025

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Slack Faces Global Outage Due To Backend Database Issues

On May 12, 2025, millions of Slack users worldwide encountered major disruptions as the platform struggled with a widespread outage. The messaging service, popular among businesses for communication and project coordination, faced technical difficulties that left users unable to send messages, load channels, or access threads for hours.

Backend Database Routing Issues Lead to Outage

The problem stemmed from a backend database routing issue, preventing Slack’s servers from communicating effectively with its data storage systems. This technical failure disrupted core features, including messaging, channel loading, and the ability to access previous conversations.

Users across multiple regions, including Australia, the US, and Europe, faced challenges with connectivity and were left unable to send or receive messages.

“We have determined that our backend database routing is contributing to error spikes with many Slack features,” said the company in an official update.

The service issues were not confined to any particular region but affected a significant number of users globally. Slack’s support team quickly identified the problem and worked to resolve it.

Global Impact Felt Across Industries

The outage created frustration for many businesses, with Slack being a critical tool for communication in various industries. In Australia, for example, over 277,000 daily active users rely on Slack for their work tasks, and many of these users were unable to access essential workplace conversations during the downtime.

Social media platforms saw a storm of complaints from workers who found themselves unable to get their tasks done. Some took the opportunity to humorously embrace the unexpected break, with many commenting that it felt like an “adult snow day.”

“I’ve never been more grateful for an excuse to take a break,” one user joked.

Slack Restores Services, Apologizes for Inconvenience

As the day progressed, Slack's engineering team implemented changes that led to a gradual restoration of services. By the evening of May 12, Slack reported that the issue had been resolved.

The company reassured users by stating that communication and data flows were back to normal, with users able to send messages, load channels, and access old threads once again.

“We made a change and are seeing signs of improvement across Slack,” the company said in a statement. “Users will see success in sending messages, loading channels, threads, canvases, and Activity, as well as client boots. We apologize for any disruptions to your day.”

Despite the resolution, many users expressed their dissatisfaction with the timing of the issue, as it occurred during peak working hours in multiple time zones.

How Did Slack Respond?

Slack's official status page acknowledged the issues promptly and kept users informed throughout the day. The platform emphasized that the outage was not caused by a regional issue but affected a percentage of users globally.

While the company worked on resolving the backend routing issue, users were advised to wait for further updates on the progress.

The company also used monitoring tools like Downdetector to measure the size of the problem. The website showed a surge in user complaints starting just before 4 PM ET on May 12, with over 6,000 incidents reported in a short period.

Could This Happen Again?

While the root cause of the outage—backend database routing issues—has been addressed, the question remains: Could this type of problem affect users again in the future?

As companies increasingly depend on cloud-based communication platforms, a more robust backup and failover system may become necessary to avoid such widespread service interruptions.

Were you affected by the Slack outage? How did it impact your workday? Share your experience in the comments below, and stay tuned for updates on similar disruptions in the tech world.

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Fileion Daily

Fileion Daily is a dynamic Tech News community within Fileio...

Joined December 2024

Published by

Asif Mohammad Sovon

Meet Asif Mohammad Sovon, an IT Assistant in the Bangladesh Air Force and a tech writer for Fileion....

Joined February 2025

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•

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