Google mail gmail problems – solved. Hooray! (Oh, I spoke too soon …)

February 24, 2009 at 3:45 am | In Email, Google | 56 Comments
Tags: Gmail, Google

Persistent temporary! Google Mail Server Error @ 11:16 GMT 24 February 2009

Here in the UK, I have not been able to access mail.google.com since 10am GMT today. Are you experiencing gmail access problems, such as persistent temporary server errors, Stateside?

Update: AOK now at 12:40pm GMT.

But not working for long … Oh dear Only a few minutes’ relief, from 500, 502, and 503 errors.

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Here is France we lost gMail about 11.30am (10.30am gmt). Now half an hour later – still nothing!

bob

Comment by Bob Toovey — February 24, 2009 #
Unable to access googlemail either

Comment by Mike — February 24, 2009 #
Yes. For the past 30 minutes. It is now 3:07 A.M. Pacific time. I’m in Palo Alto, California…right near google’s home. Makes no difference.

Comment by A.B. — February 24, 2009 #
Same problem here

Comment by maureen — February 24, 2009 #
I’ve been trying to access it since 4 am Central Standard Time today, to no success.

Comment by Needs E-mail — February 24, 2009 #
same problem in australia…

Comment by caroline — February 24, 2009 #
Same here, in snowy Lithuania. And it is for already 1.5 hours!

Comment by Lietuvis — February 24, 2009 #
The same problem in Paris, France. I was not able to log-in from ca. 10 a.m.

Comment by RG — February 24, 2009 #
Same issue in eastern USA

Comment by Loretta Donovan — February 24, 2009 #
Yes, the same with my account (access from Poland). Read on Yahoo Answers Google claims to get everything back, matter of hours…

Comment by barilotti — February 24, 2009 #
I experience the same problem.

//cso

Comment by cso — February 24, 2009 #
It’s the same on mailand. Slovenia, EU. Since around 11:00 UTC.

Comment by Jernej — February 24, 2009 #
Just to add.
I live in Ireland, and was using my gmail since 7 a.m. until, as you did, since 10 a.m. to be unable to access it.

You at least allayed fears that it was only me.

Comment by Joe — February 24, 2009 #
yes having same problems….since an hour

Comment by Latte — February 24, 2009 #
I’ve had the same difficulty with my account since about 10-i’m in the uk.

Comment by cje — February 24, 2009 #
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7907583.stm

Comment by cje — February 24, 2009 #
It’s a 502 error – server overloaded. Unlikely to affect users Stateside, as they’ll be hitting US servers. NTL/Virgin London area has some broadband outages at the mo, which sometimes points to problems higher up the network (i.e. they could have a knock-on effect on systems not on NTL/Virgin Media lines).

Comment by Hekai — February 24, 2009 #
Same here in Spain.

Comment by Matt — February 24, 2009 #
Oh, and JUST after submitting that comment it was working again.

Comment by Matt — February 24, 2009 #
Thanks for all your comments. Working at home, it helps to know I’m not alone

I soaked my iPhone in Greek salad yesterday (by accident, not by design), so am not doing very well on the communication front today.

It’s now 12:19 and still Google Mail’s temporary problem persists … also I noticed Apple have scheduled server maintenance for tonight 10-11pm Pacific Time, which is 6-7am GMT tomorrow:

Announcements
Feb 24 – Maintenance – 2/24/2009, 22:00-23:00 PT
Due to scheduled maintenance, MobileMe members may be intermittently unable to access the http://www.me.com web apps. Normal service is expected to be restored at the end of the maintenance window. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Comment by inel — February 24, 2009 #
seems to be working again

Comment by cje — February 24, 2009 #
Like a lot of the above messages, my gmail has gone to pot. Takes FOREVER to load, get error messages constantly. You need to get this fixed before we have to go for another service. Thanks.

Comment by Elsie Sikes — February 24, 2009 #
Its 1 March and I haven’t been able to access gmail for hours/anyone know whats wrong now?

Comment by Troy Krause — March 1, 2009 #
Is it just me or is Google mail continuing to have problems? anything we can do about it??

Comment by Satmi — March 9, 2009 #
March 18 th Gmail service is non working what’s up terrible service

Comment by Vincent Wilson — March 17, 2009 #
UK, can view listing on emails but can’t open them. What’s wrong!!! Yahoo never did this to me.

Comment by Emily P — March 19, 2009 #
its march 24, I am writing from South Africa and I cannot say how frustrated I have been with gmail for the last two months. Can’t access my email, despite logging in , sometimes it freezes then I have to retype a message. I sometimes have to close the browser in the middle of a request, so that it can reload again. Waiting for 10mins or more is normal here. Sometimes one has to go on with other work and keep trying. This has been so frustrating as my main account is gmail. However, there are no issues with yahoo and hotmail they load faster.
Can anyone provide any info/insight to this recurring problem. I am seriously considering to move to yahoo and redirect all my emails there.

Comment by kalle — March 24, 2009 #
I’ve had the temporary error (404) for two days now. It’s incredibly frustrating. It’s telling me my mail account is currently unavailable and to try again in a few minutes, but meanwhile I can read incoming mail. Just can’t reply.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Is anyone else suffering?

Comment by K Crawford — April 5, 2009 #
Hello K,

gmail is working fine for me, but it often freezes … tells me it is still working, but doesn’t finish … so I end up opening a new browser window (Safari in this case) and carry on regardless. I have not had temporary errors like 404 for weeks, though I use gmail almost every day.

Comment by inel — April 5, 2009 #
Yes, I have also observed the same. For last two days my gmail is really very very slow, It takes a lot of time and I often get 404 error.

Comment by Abdul Rehman — April 6, 2009 #
Having problems with Yahoo, too, here in Eastern Canada. Had same problem yesterday — getting a 999 message.
I can sign on but when I go to check my mail, I cannot.

Comment by David Pinto — April 6, 2009 #
Yahoo is back now.

Comment by David Pinto — April 6, 2009 #
@ 05:00 can’taccess gmail Illinois, U.S. Back to Yahoo for me.

Comment by Jerry L. — April 13, 2009 #
my wife’s account cannot send from her Apple Titanium with 10Tiger. Gets error Temporary Error 404, code 7.

However her account works (sends without error) on my Wintel XP Laptop, and my Sprint 9Q. This started for us Easter Morning when the account was totally blocked. when it cam back it was entirely different GUI. Must have been a software upgrade. Can only wonder if Apple titanium 10/Tiger is not supported anymore.

Comment by Mike Maguire — April 17, 2009 #
8:10 day light savings time on 04-18-09.
Unable to get gmail. I have been having problems since early March.

Comment by pauline burkhart — April 18, 2009 #
Have been getting constant ’still working’ messages when I start typing emails or reading them. Gmail just freezes and I have to reload to start again, which of course loses anything I’ve typed, so I have to cut and paste and re-type the topic! This has been happening for nearly a month now and I don’t know how to fix it. Google error or possible virus? Anyone else have the same problem?

Comment by Brent — April 19, 2009 #
Hello Brent,

Yes, my gmail account continues to suffer ’still working’ messages on a regular (and persistent) basis, and I’ve been experiencing this sense of ‘being left hanging’ for a couple of months; my best guess would be that I first noticed those messages in early February.

Like you, I copy my message when ’still working’ appears, and then open another window and paste to the most recent autosaved draft of my message. I have wondered if it is anything to do with me using Safari v 3.2.1 on Mac OS X v 10.5.6 but haven’t switched back to Firefox to do a comparison (because I’ve had less time online lately).

Comment by inel — April 19, 2009 #
I thought it was my PC but recently changed to another and still the same issue.

Gmail appears to work fine for about 20-30 minutes and then just stalls with the “Still Working” (not!) notification.

I have now got so used to this that I just hit F5, that said it should not be doing this and really painful as I have pretty much been using Gmail as my main e-mail client = HELP!

Comment by Simon — April 26, 2009 #
I can get into my googlemail account but when i try to send a link using gmail i get the 404 Error, and have done for ages, despite being told to email tech support (have done this twice but no one ever gets back!) What a pain – and nobody seems to know exactly what Error 404 is!!!

Comment by Linda Drummond-Harris — April 29, 2009 #
Hello Linda,
‘Not Found’ or ‘404′ is an error message that is one of the HTTP response status codes. Wikipedia tells you more about the 404 Error and provides a list of HTTP status codes if you see others and are intrigued as to what they refer to.
.
If you are sending a link, I don’t understand how you could see a 404 Error code. On the other hand, if you were clicking on a link someone else had sent you in an email, it is easy to see how you could get a 404 Error code if the link they sent directed you to a server with a page that was inaccessible (i.e. ‘Not Found’) for some reason.
.
Basically, 404 confirms that you have reached a server—so your connection is valid as far as it goes—but the server is telling you that it cannot find the actual page you requested, so cannot serve that up to you.

Comment by inel — April 29, 2009 #
Using Firefox and Safari on an intel Imac 10.5.6…Gmail will not work..

However it allows me to send and receive messages through igoogle and when using Parallels, running Windows XP, It works fine.

I thought it was a Mac problem, but my other PC is experiencing the same problem.

Hopefully Gmail clears this up soon.

Comment by K — May 6, 2009 #
Had a month without the dreaded ’still working’ error messages, but they are back with a vengeance the last 3 days. I use IE8 (had same problem last month with IE7), and I see other browswers have the same problem; does anyone know what’s going on?

Comment by Brent — May 7, 2009 #
Hello Brent, and all,
.
I have no idea what is going on, and I looked at the Google Group for Google Mail Problem Solving, and have read several threads on Still Working.
.
You can access the UK discussions here:
http://groups.google.com/group/Google-mail-help-discussion-group-uk
.
and enter ’still working’ (without the quote marks) to find the latest comments.
.
All I could find that appeared useful was a recommendation to switch back to the Older Version of Gmail. I have just done that, and only time will tell whether it improves things for me—I will let you know—but even that does not guarantee the switch will help others.
.
An intermittent problem, such as this ’still working …’ message with frozen window, makes it difficult (or at least time-consuming) for anyone outside Google support to give a true answer as to whether or how the problem can be fixed, or reduced in severity.
.
In the meantime, I will try to remember to switch away from the Newer Version and back to Older Version, every time I log on, to see if that helps (though I must admit I have not been online much recently, so it’s hard for me to compare one day’s Gmail responsiveness with another) … and my Gmail default seems to be Newer Version!
.
In any case, I think there are so many red herrings (e.g. to do with particular browsers, particular add-ons, …) and so much frustration that Google Support should be able to provide some answers by now! (If only we could find the answer, or reach support …)

Comment by inel — May 7, 2009 #
Well I tried taking off all my addons, extensions…and still nothing.

I cleared my “private data” in Firefox; cache, cookies..And it worked well for about 2-3min..then boom back to the BS..

So Im guessing its differently a problem on the Google side of things..Like I said in my previous post, when running Firefox through Parrells(windows xp), it works fine. No issues…

Comment by K — May 9, 2009 #
I have not been able send mail using Google mail today, anybody else experiencing the same problem.

Comment by asif — July 12, 2009 #
Google down here on the west coast of the US. Bad timing since my private email is down as well.

Comment by Marty — September 1, 2009 #
I am in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA, no gmail for last hour–but it was working up til then. Any word from Google?

Comment by loui — September 1, 2009 #
my Gmail quit tonight, Sept 1, 2009 9:30pm Madrid time- .
Hope this gets fixed asap- unfortunate to have no warning-
and I guess no deadline for when this is back on again..
Gmail has been quite reliable so far- hope this is not a trend.
Good luck everybody- hang in there.

Comment by Marialuisa — September 1, 2009 #
gmail does not work…cannot read messages. Have tried numerous times…nothing. My internet is working fine otherwise, so it’s something with gmail itself.

Comment by chs — September 1, 2009 #
Can anyone else not access gmail today 1st september in the UK or anywhere else

Comment by Helena Felix — September 1, 2009 #
Is anyone else having problems with gmail today Sept 1 2009 at 10 pm? UK time

Comment by Helena Felix — September 1, 2009 #
I was able to access umail, which is a partnership between my university and gmail at 9:50 this morning and I live in Indianapolis, Indiana.. whatever time that is lol.

I love the Notify me of follow-up comments via email box that I can check… too bad I can’t check my email account

Comment by Jessica — September 1, 2009 #
gmail was down in the UK between roughly 21:15 and 22:15 it seems to me.

Next time it goes down, see if you can access:

‘Visit the Gmail Help Forum’
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail?hl=en

then see if anyone else has started a discussion about gmail being down.

Currently, top of the Popular discussions list is:
‘Is gmail down?’
and the answer there links you to the Apps Status Dashboard here:

http://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en

You can see that gmail was down yesterday 8/31/09. There’s a cute wrench (spanner) denoting Service disruption. I guess we’ll have to wait awhile to see status for 9/1/09 …

Anyway, at least you can find out whether it is affecting others. (I couldn’t moderate these comments until gmail came back up.)

Comment by inel — September 1, 2009 #
I use googlemail. Will googlemail or a user please tell me how I can edit a received email message before forwarding it. Also how do I choose just the relevant email to forward when I have previous messages in an ongoing conversation. I can find no Edit tool in the frame that would enable me to CUT or PASTE. Why is it so difficult with googlemail. Would it be easier if I switched to Hotmail ? By using FORWARD I have at times sent previous messages that are not relevant which can be embarrassing.

Many thanks
GJ

Comment by g jones — September 12, 2009 #
Hello G Jones,

As you know, when you receive a googlemail message that you would like to forward, select “-> Forward” below its lower left corner. Then the message appears in a new editable frame headed with:

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: ………
Date: 2009/9/13
Subject: [inel] Please moderate: “Google mail gmail problems – solved. Hooray! (Oh, I spoke too soon …)”
To: ………

Inside this editable frame, use the cursor to select text you’d like to remove, and hit the delete button on your keyboard to cut it.

I use keyboard shortcuts to cut, copy or paste text (on a Mac these are cmd-x, cmd-c or cmd-v).

If you want to edit the message contents, just start typing in the editable frame.

You can also change the “Subject:” line to make more sense to the recipient.

Hope this helps,

inel

Comment by inel — September 13, 2009 #
Message ‘Unable to reach Google Mail. Please check your Internet connection.’ Logged in and checked and fuctioning. Still Working or if eventually sent postmaster message from Hot mail saying e-mail failed. Can you please help. This is wasting my time and making me think of changing e mail adress.

Comment by jbilclough — October 29, 2009 #