Guides / Slack not loading: is AWS down?
Updated 3 Oct 2026
Slack not loading: is AWS down?
When to blame Slack, when to blame AWS us-east-1, and when it is your proxy eating websockets.
Slack is the office hallway. When it will not load, everyone becomes a status-page reviewer. Start with two tabs: the Slack page and the AWS page.
Slack's own API
Slack publishes status.slack.com/api/v2.0.0/current. If that says ok and active_incidents is empty, Slack does not think it is down. You can still be unable to load it.
The AWS question
Slack lists AWS as a hosting subprocessor, including in the UK. A hard us-east-1 event has historically lined up with Slack (and a dozen other tools) wobbling even when those vendors were still writing their status post. If AWS names N. Virginia / us-east-1 and Slack is slow to post, wait. You cannot region-fail Slack yourself.
If AWS is naming ap-southeast-2 and your workspace is not there, keep walking.
When both boards are green
- Desktop app vs app.slack.com in a private window. Website works: delete the desktop cache, do not rebuild the laptop.
- Corporate SSL inspection breaking Slack's websocket. One office, one proxy, green status pages — that is the giveaway.
- DNS to a resolver that is serving a stale NXDOMAIN. Try 1.1.1.1 from a phone.
What to tell the room
"Slack's API is green. AWS is quiet. The office proxy is resetting websockets — use the phone app on LTE until we put Slack on the bypass list."