![Illustration of the WhatsApp bubble logo on a dark blue background](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qyKMGk9rcaGXPXpfOHfg3XQhMW8=/0x0:2040x1360/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73253504/acastro_210119_1777_whatsapp_0001.0.jpg)
WhatsApp is down worldwide, impacting the 2 billion users of the messaging service. Users started experiencing issues connecting to WhatsApp in multiple countries just after 2PM ET today, with the service stuck on “connecting” for many. The Meta-owned messaging service appears to be experiencing a major outage worldwide.
WhatsApp doesn’t have its own status page, and it’s not listed on Meta’s own service status, either. Other Meta services like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads aren’t experiencing any issues right now, so it’s only WhatsApp that’s impacted by some type of service issue. You can still send messages, but they won’t be delivered until WhatsApp is back online.
The WhatsApp outage comes just weeks after a massive Meta outage locked users out of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads. The outage lasted around two hours but never impacted WhatsApp. It’s rare for WhatsApp to be affected by outages, with the last major outage taking the service offline for two hours in 2022.