Google Drive, Gmail hit by service disruptions
Google's online e-mail, file storage, and other services ran into a spate of problems this morning, according to Google's status page -- and lots of frustrated users.
Google Drive and Gmail both experienced service disruptions today.
As of about 6 a.m. PT, Google's Apps Status Dashboard was updated to say that Google was investigating reports of issues with both services and would provide more information shortly.
And things got worse from there. Some 10 to 15 minutes later, the dashboard also showed disruptions affecting Google Documents, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Presentations.
The Google Apps Status Dashboard also reported a service outage this morning with the Admin control panel / API.
But even amid the complaints, by 6:30 a.m. PT, some users were saying they'd regained access.
And then by shortly before 8 a.m. PT, Google's dashboard was showing green dots once again for all its app services -- green meaning "no issues." This status note for Google Drive was typical of the good-to-go notes showing at that time for each of the services:
The problem with Google Drive should be resolved. 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.
Throughout the episode, the issue seemed to be sporadic. Web site IsItDownRightNow said that its test of Google Drive passed without any errors, but numerous users have experienced problems in the last few hours, including some of us at CNET. DownRightNow indicates a likely service disruption with Gmail.
Frustrated users quickly took to Twitter to complain of the disruptions.
Convinced our school to move to @google apps because our local email was always going down, so OF COURSE #GoogleApps is down now.
— Mike (@kallm) April 17, 2013
Being told by #googleapps to "check back in a couple of hours" is not comforting.
— Shani Bagley (@ShaniBagley) April 17, 2013
Google Drive bumped into a similar problem almost a month ago. On March 18, the file storage site was inaccessible to a large number of people before Google was able to get it back online.
As of 7:45 a.m. PT, a Google spokesperson had confirmed the service disruptions to CNET, saying that it's currently investigating issues with Gmail, Drive and Docs as well as the Google Apps Control Panel. The company also promised to provide updates through its app status page and issued the following statement apologizing to affected users.
We will post the root cause of the issue [on the app status page] when our teams have completed their investigation. In the meantime, for everyone who is affected, we apologize -- we know you count on Google to work for you and we're working hard to restore normal operation for you.
Editors' note: This story was updated through the morning with additional details on the disruptions and their resolution.