Worldwide Outages: From Amazon to Microsoft (October 2025)
Global web browser and app outages
The month of October has been a time of tricks rather than treats, as far as technology is concerned.
If you’ve tried to use an app or a web browser for a big business like Amazon or YouTube, then you’ve probably been wacked in the face with an “Error” or a “We’re experiencing technical issues” message.
Reports of internet outages have flooded Downdetector.com, where users can report a web browser or app blackout, over the course of the three weeks.
Here’s a rundown of every website and app that has experienced an outage from October 21st to October 29th.
October 21st
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
US-EAST-1, one of its biggest and oldest Amazon Web Services, was the source of the problem. The company cited its EC2 internal network specifically.
The EC2 internal network is a subsystem — an independent system within a larger system. It’s like the equivalent of a crossing guard at a busy intersection. It ensures traffic from different servers goes to the right places.
The network is connected to their Elastic Compute Cloud service, which controls on-demand cloud capacity within AWS. Users can access what they need online thanks to on-demand cloud capacity. Do you need to access storage or a server? Boom, they’ve got you.
It’s a pay-per-use model that keeps operations from being astronomically expensive. Companies that use this model are only billed for resources that are running. This means that if they only eat half of the burger, they won't be charged for the entire meal.
The outage caused countless companies that rely on AWS for its cloud infrastructure to go black, including Canva, Delta Air Lines, Disney+, Fortnite, Hulu, McDonald’s, Pokémon, Roblox, Snapchat, and United Airlines.
Amazon reported issue resolution around 3 PM on Monday in a statement issued to users:
“all AWS services returned to normal operations. Some services such as AWS Config, Redshift, and Connect continue to have a backlog of messages that they will finish processing over the next few hours."
October 28th - 29th
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) problems were also reported by users after 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
More than 54,000 people were affected.
Although Amazon denied any current or ongoing issues on the AWS Health Dashboard.
“AWS is operating normally and this reporting is incorrect.”
Starbucks app
If you noticed the Starbucks app wasn’t working while you were trying to order an espresso during your lunch break, then you’re not alone.
You might have been one of 2,158 customers who experienced issues around 12:15 PM on Wednesday, October 28th.
Downdetector also received reports of service issues into the next day. The number of impacted users climbed to 2,309 at 12:03 PM.
The cause of the outage is unknown, and Starbucks has not released a statement acknowledging the outage.
October 29th
Costco
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Costco.com and costcobusinessdelivery.com were also down.
October 29th must have been auditioning for the April Fool’s Day gig because 721 customers ran into trouble with the Costco website.
Around 2:20 PM, reports of service issues flooded Downdetector.
Customers across the nation were met with a notice produced by Costco that stated:
“Some members are currently experiencing site performance issues. We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve.”
The cause of the outage is unknown, nor has Costco released a statement acknowledging the outage. The tweets and replies on the company’s X account have been deleted since 2023, and the content on their Facebook isn’t available.
Kroger
The Kroger outage started at 11:51 AM with 459 reports.
The web browser was still functioning while the app took a timeout.
The issue reached a peak at 2:21 PM with 663 user complaints.
The company released a statement to reassure concerned customers that they were working on resolving the issue:
"We are currently experiencing problems providing some digital services. We are working to restore all of our services as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience."
Microsoft
Outages took out Microsoft Azure for more than 131,000 people.
Microsoft acknowledged the issue in an X post at 1:15 PM.
Other Microsoft products took a hit, including Minecraft, Xbox, Microsoft 365, and the Microsoft Store.
A Microsoft representative informed CNBC of their progress in resolving the issue:
“We are working to address an issue affecting Azure Front Door that is impacting the availability of some services. Customers should continue to check their Service Health Alerts and the latest update on this issue can be found on the Azure status page.”
The outage grounded Alaska Airlines flights, which use Microsoft systems to run various operations, including their website. Bewildered passengers, angered by the delays and cancellations, shook their fists on social media.
At 3:01 PM, Azure updated customers on its status page:
"We have pushed our ‘last known good’ configuration, and customers may begin to see initial signs of recovery.”
Other retailers that are linked to Microsoft infrastructure, including Publix, Kroger, Costco, and Starbucks, were also affected by the Azure outage.
Azure promised a recovery time of 7:20 PM. The team got the systems running at 98% by 7:56 PM.
As of 1:30 PM on October 30th, 2025, there were no active events on the Microsoft Azure status page.
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