Before assuming Claude is actually down, it’s worth ruling out simpler causes first — a lot of “Claude isn’t working” moments turn out to be something local, not an outage on Anthropic’s end.
This guide walks through how to check real outage status, and what to actually try if Claude won’t respond.
Step 1: Check the Official Status Page First
Anthropic maintains a live status page that shows real-time system health, separate from social media rumors or guesses.
- Go to status.anthropic.com.
- Check whether any services are marked as degraded, experiencing issues, or fully down.
- Look at the incident history further down the page if something looks off — it often includes a live update timeline as Anthropic’s team investigates and resolves issues.
If everything shows as operational here, the problem is very likely on your end, not Anthropic’s servers.
Step 2: Rule Out Local Issues Before Assuming an Outage
Check your own internet connection. Try loading a different website to confirm your connection itself is working.
Refresh or fully restart the app. A simple reload fixes more issues than people expect, especially if a page failed to load properly the first time.
Try a different device or browser. If Claude works fine on your phone but not your laptop (or vice versa), the issue is local to that device or browser, not a wider outage.
Clear your browser cache. An old cached version of the page can sometimes cause loading or login issues that look like an outage but aren’t.
Check if you’ve hit a usage limit. On free and some paid tiers, hitting your message limit can look like Claude “not responding,” when it’s actually a usage cap rather than a technical failure.
Step 3: Check Third-Party Outage Trackers
Sites like Downdetector aggregate user-submitted reports of issues in real time. A sudden spike in reports around the same time you’re having trouble is a good secondary signal, though it’s based on user submissions rather than Anthropic’s own confirmed data, so treat it as a supporting clue rather than a definitive answer.
Step 4: Check Social Media for Real-Time Chatter
Searching “Claude AI down” on X (formerly Twitter) can sometimes surface real-time reports faster than official channels update, especially during a fast-moving incident. Still, treat this as informal signal rather than confirmation — official status pages remain the most reliable source.
What To Do If It’s a Confirmed Outage
Wait it out. Most outages are resolved within a relatively short window, and Anthropic’s status page typically updates as the issue is identified and fixed.
Save your work elsewhere if possible. If you were mid-conversation and it’s not loading, copy anything critical you can still access into a separate document so you don’t lose it if the session resets.
Check back on the status page periodically, rather than repeatedly refreshing Claude itself, which won’t speed up a server-side fix.
What To Do If It’s Not a Wide Outage But Still Not Working for You
Log out and log back in. This resolves a surprising number of account-specific glitches.
Check for an app update. Especially on mobile, an outdated app version can cause connection or loading errors that look like a broader problem.
Try a different network. Some corporate, school, or public Wi-Fi networks restrict certain domains, which can look identical to Claude actually being down.
Contact support if the issue persists. If the status page shows everything operational but you still can’t get Claude working after trying the above, reaching out to Anthropic’s support directly is the next step, since it may be an account-specific issue rather than a general one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often does Claude actually go down?
Like any large-scale service, occasional brief incidents happen, though Anthropic’s status page provides the most accurate ongoing record rather than relying on general impressions.
Does a Claude outage affect the API too, or just the chat app?
Outages can affect different services independently — the status page typically breaks down issues by specific service, so check which component is actually affected.
Will I lose my conversation history during an outage?
Generally no, your conversation history is stored separately from the temporary service issue itself, though an in-progress unsent message could be lost if the connection drops mid-response.
Is there a way to get notified automatically about outages?
Some status page platforms offer subscription or notification options directly on the page, letting you get an alert instead of manually checking.
Why does Claude sometimes respond slowly instead of being fully down?
High demand periods can cause slower response times without a full outage — this is a performance issue rather than a service being down entirely.
Final Thoughts
Most “Claude is down” moments turn out to be something local — a connection issue, a hit usage limit, or a browser hiccup — so checking status.anthropic.com first saves you from troubleshooting the wrong problem. If it really is a wider outage, the fastest path is simply waiting and checking the status page periodically rather than repeatedly retrying.
