iCloud was down – Here's everything we know about issues with Apple's web apps, Photos, and more

If you’re having issues using iCloud.com and the various apps like Photos or Mail on the web, you’re not alone. Apple’s iCloud Status page is officially showing an outage for both ‘iCloud Web Apps’ and ‘iWork for iCloud’, as well as issues for two other facets of the wide-ranging service.

Apple officially notes the issues as starting at 2:36PM ET and TechRadar noticed that Down Detector is showing a spike nearing 1,000 reported outages as of 3:35PM ET. As of right now, I can sign into iCloud.com, though it’s a bit slow going.

Stick with us as we cover the issues hitting Apple’s iCloud right now with live reporting down below.

Additionally, we’ve reached out to Apple to request insight into this outage, but it’s reassuring that the status page at least acknowledges that something is wrong.

As of 2:36PM ET, Apple's iCloud status page shows an outage for 'iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com)' and 'iWork for iCloud', noting that some users are affected with issues accessing or using parts of these services.

While I was able to sign into iCloud.com just minutes ago, when I load it now nothing is appearing other than the logo in the top left.

And, Apple at least instructs its services to notify you when something is wrong. I am now seeing a 'Connection Error' screen appear, informing me that something is up.

I've also heard from colleagues and at least one friend that they're seeing this same pop-up either before signing in or trying to return to an active session on iCloud.com.

Photos is also having issues

While 'Photos' is only listed as an issue with Apple noting that some user might be having problems with the service, TechRadar's Editor-At-Large Lance Ulanoff let me know that when viewing pictures in the Photos app on his iPhone, images were reneding at lower resolution potentially pointing to issues accessing the shots from iCloud.

This has resolved, though, for him, and is now being loaded in full resolution. Attempting to view Photos on iCloud.com isn't working at all right now, as I'm still seeing a connection error there.

Here are the impacted parts of iCloud

Apple's service status page is quite handy during outages, so here's a look at the currently impacted parts of iCloud.

• iCloud Mail - Issue
• iCloud Storage Upgrade - Issue
• iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com) – Outage
• iWork for iCloud - Outage
• Photos - Issue

I've just checked the Photos app on my iPhone and on my Mac, and neither has synced in well over an hour for both. The iPhone shows it last synced at 2:03PM ET, while my Mac was slightly later at 2:11PM ET, and I can't force a sync for either.

I do back up my photos to iCloud, so I am in the impacted group, it seems, for now.

Find My is also having issues

Apple has updated its status page to note that 'Find My' as well as 'iCloud Account & Sign In' are both experiencing issues. The latter, pertaining to account and sign-in, have the same start time as the other issues and outage, but 'Find My' shows a start time of 3:57PM ET.

Find My appears to be working for me on my Mac, as it's pulling through updated locations. However, one of my friends just sent me a screenshot showing "Find My Unavailable."

iCloud.com is still loading, but it continues to display the same 'Connection Error' pop-up on my end. And here's a look at the current list of impacted issues on Apple's status page.

As of now, it's not spreading beyond iCloud, so there are no impacts on the App Store or Apple Music.

• Find My - Issue
• iCloud Account & Sign In - Issue
• iCloud Mail - Issue
• iCloud Storage Upgrade - Issue
• iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com) – Outage
• iWork for iCloud - Outage
• Photos - Issue

The only non-iCloud issue or outage is with 'Apple Business Essentials' – that's currently listed as one issue, one resolved outage, and one resolved issue.

I still can't get iCloud.com to load fully, but on my iPhone, I just had a pop-up for Apple Account Verification for my account. I went into Settings, but then had that error out when I tried to complete the request.

My colleague Lance Ulanoff's Apple Account page in Settings is presenting a 'Verification Failed' splash screen on his iPhone.

Although Apple's status page hasn't been updated with any new statuses, iCloud.com is loading for me again after a few minutes. Although my account photo is missing, I am seeing the regular old slate of apps, and I saw a mail notification slide through the top.

It appears that one of Apple's main services may be recovering, and Down Detector is also showing a decrease in reported outages. The iCloud page on that site currently sits at 380 reported outages as of 5:04PM ET.

Apple says the Find My issue is now resolved

As of a recent update to Apple System Status page, the Find My issue is now marked as resolved. Apple notes that from 2:40PM to 5:30PM, some users might have "experienced a problem with this service." That could have been in the form of locations not updating or the app stating "Find My Unavailable."

With Find My resolved, here's a look at the other services experiencing issues or outages. I can still access iCloud.com on my end, so it still might be recovering as well.

• iCloud Account & Sign In - Issue
• iCloud Mail - Issue
• iCloud Storage Upgrade - Issue
• iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com) – Outage
• iWork for iCloud - Outage
• Photos - Issue

In another update to the System Status page, Apple now lists 'iCloud Calendar' and 'iCloud Contacts' as also having issues since 2:36PM. These appear to be part of the broader outage affecting iCloud.

Here's the full list of services listed with either issues or outages that are still ongoing:

• iCloud Account & Sign In - Issue
• iCloud Calendar - Issue
• iCloud Contacts - Issue
• iCloud Mail - Issue
• iCloud Storage Upgrade - Issue
• iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com) – Outage
• iWork for iCloud - Outage
• Photos - Issue

Apple says the iCloud issues are resolve

Well, here's some good news – Apple's System Status page is now entirely green. After a nearly five-hour outage lasting from 2:36PM to 7:00PM, Apple has now resolved the 'iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com)' and 'iWork for iCloud' outages.

Additionally, the 'iCloud Account & Sign In,' 'iCloud Calendar', 'iCloud Contacts', 'iCloud Mail', 'iCloud Storage Upgrades', and 'Photo' issues are now all resolved.

Hopefully, if you were encountering issues using any of these, you're now back up and running. A sign-out and sign back in might do the trick if you're still seeing them.

Apple hasn't yet shared any information on what caused the outage, but if it does, we'll add that here.