Is Cloudflare Down? How to Check Status and Fix Issues

Last Updated: February 13, 2026

Cloudflare sits in front of roughly 20% of all websites on the internet. When Cloudflare goes down, the impact is massive — millions of websites become unreachable, APIs fail, and entire businesses grind to a halt. This guide helps you determine if Cloudflare is experiencing an outage, whether it's affecting your specific region, and what to do about it.

Quick Status Check: Is Cloudflare Down Right Now?

Before troubleshooting, verify Cloudflare's current status:

1. Check API Status Check: Visit apistatuscheck.com/api/cloudflare for real-time Cloudflare monitoring
2. Cloudflare Status: Check cloudflarestatus.com for official status
3. Try a Non-Cloudflare Site: If a Cloudflare-protected site is down, try one that doesn't use Cloudflare to rule out your internet
4. Check DownDetector: downdetector.com/status/cloudflare for user-reported issues

If multiple sources confirm problems, Cloudflare is likely experiencing an outage. If only you're affected, follow the troubleshooting steps below.

Why Cloudflare Outages Are Different

Cloudflare outages are uniquely impactful because:

1. Cascading failures: When Cloudflare goes down, every website and API behind it goes down too
2. Regional outages: Cloudflare runs 300+ data centers globally — outages often affect specific regions, not the entire network
3. You might not even know you use Cloudflare: Many services you depend on (APIs, SaaS tools) use Cloudflare without advertising it
4. DNS propagation: If Cloudflare DNS goes down, even switching providers takes time to propagate

Cloudflare Services: What Can Break

Service	What It Does	Impact When Down
CDN	Content delivery	Websites load slowly or not at all
DNS	Domain resolution	Websites completely unreachable
WAF	Web application firewall	Security features disabled
Workers	Serverless compute	Edge functions and APIs fail
Pages	Static site hosting	Hosted sites go offline
R2	Object storage	Stored files inaccessible
D1	Database	Edge database queries fail
Tunnels	Secure connections	Private network access breaks
Zero Trust	Security platform	Remote access may fail
Stream	Video delivery	Video content unavailable

Common Cloudflare Error Pages

When Cloudflare has issues, you'll see distinctive error pages:

Error Code	Meaning	Who's at Fault
520	Web server returns unknown error	Origin server issue (not Cloudflare)
521	Web server is down	Origin server is offline
522	Connection timed out	Origin server too slow to respond
523	Origin is unreachable	DNS or network issue to origin
524	A timeout occurred	Origin server took too long
525	SSL handshake failed	SSL certificate mismatch
526	Invalid SSL certificate	Origin SSL cert expired/invalid
530	1XXX error + 530	Cloudflare + origin issue combined

Important: Error codes 520-526 usually mean YOUR origin server has a problem, not Cloudflare itself. True Cloudflare outages typically show completely unreachable pages or generic "This site can't be reached" errors.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting

Step 1: Determine If It's Cloudflare or Your Origin

• If you see a Cloudflare error page (520-526) → likely YOUR server, not Cloudflare
• If you see "This site can't be reached" or DNS errors → could be Cloudflare DNS
• If multiple Cloudflare-protected sites are down → Cloudflare infrastructure issue
• Check cloudflarestatus.com for your region

Step 2: Check Regional Status

Cloudflare outages are often regional. Check:

• Which data center serves your region
• Whether other regions are affected
• The Cloudflare status page shows per-data-center status
• Try accessing from a VPN in a different region

Step 3: For Website Visitors

• Hard refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac)
• Try different DNS: Switch to 8.8.8.8 (Google) instead of 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare's own DNS)
• Disable VPN: Some VPNs route through affected Cloudflare regions
• Try mobile data: Different network path may route through unaffected data center
• Wait: Most Cloudflare outages resolve within 15-45 minutes

Step 4: For Website Owners Using Cloudflare

• Check Cloudflare dashboard: dash.cloudflare.com
• Review Analytics → Traffic to see if traffic dropped
• Check if your origin server is accessible directly (bypass Cloudflare)
• Review recent DNS or configuration changes
• Enable "Under Attack" mode if you suspect a DDoS attack
• Consider enabling "Always Online" to serve cached pages during outages

Step 5: For Developers Using Cloudflare APIs

• Check cloudflarestatus.com for API status
• Test API connectivity: GET https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/user
• Check Workers/Pages dashboard for deployment issues
• Verify R2/D1 access if using storage services
• Check rate limits (1200 requests/5 minutes for most endpoints)

Step 6: DNS-Specific Issues

If websites using Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) are unreachable:

• Switch to alternative DNS: Google (8.8.8.8), Quad9 (9.9.9.9), OpenDNS (208.67.222.222)
• Flush DNS cache: ipconfig /flushdns (Windows) or sudo dscacheutil -flushcache (Mac)
• Check if the issue is specific to 1.1.1.1 resolver or Cloudflare authoritative DNS

Historical Cloudflare Outages

Notable Incidents

June 2022 — Major Global Outage
A network configuration change caused 19 Cloudflare data centers to go offline simultaneously. Affected major websites including Discord, Shopify, and Fitbit. Lasted approximately 90 minutes. Root cause: a BGP routing change that went wrong.

February 2023 — DNS Resolver Outage
Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver experienced intermittent failures for several hours. Websites were accessible via alternative DNS but unreachable for users relying on Cloudflare DNS. Affected millions of users who use 1.1.1.1 as their default resolver.

November 2023 — Dashboard and API Outage
The Cloudflare dashboard and management API went down for 4+ hours. Existing sites continued to work (CDN and DNS unaffected), but administrators couldn't make any configuration changes. Caused by a database issue in their control plane.

March 2024 — Workers and Pages Platform
Cloudflare Workers and Pages experienced degraded performance for 6+ hours. Serverless functions timed out or returned errors. Static sites on Pages were intermittently unavailable. Affected a growing number of businesses that rely on edge compute.

September 2024 — Regional CDN Degradation
Multiple US data centers experienced packet loss and increased latency for approximately 3 hours. Not a complete outage but caused significantly degraded performance for North American users. Origin servers were fine but Cloudflare's edge was struggling.

Outage Patterns

• BGP/routing changes: Most catastrophic outages stem from network configuration changes
• Regional, not global: Most incidents affect specific regions or data centers
• CDN vs control plane: The CDN rarely goes fully down; the dashboard/API fails more often
• Fast recovery: Cloudflare typically restores service within 30-90 minutes
• Cascade effect: When Cloudflare fails, thousands of seemingly unrelated websites fail simultaneously

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Cloudflare down right now?

Check apistatuscheck.com/api/cloudflare for real-time status. Also check Cloudflare's official status page at cloudflarestatus.com for detailed per-data-center status.

Why are so many websites down at the same time?

If multiple unrelated websites are down simultaneously, it's likely a Cloudflare outage. Cloudflare proxies roughly 20% of all web traffic, so when it fails, the blast radius is enormous. Check cloudflarestatus.com to confirm.

Does Cloudflare error 522 mean Cloudflare is down?

Usually no. Error 522 (Connection Timed Out) typically means your origin server isn't responding to Cloudflare. It's usually an issue with the website's hosting, not Cloudflare itself. If you see 522 on many different sites, then Cloudflare might be the issue.

How long do Cloudflare outages usually last?

Most Cloudflare outages resolve within 30-90 minutes. Regional CDN issues are typically faster (15-30 minutes). Major infrastructure outages (like the June 2022 incident) can last 1-2 hours. DNS resolver issues may take longer to fully propagate.

What should I do as a site owner when Cloudflare is down?

Enable "Always Online" mode in your Cloudflare dashboard (if accessible) to serve cached pages. If you can't access the dashboard, wait for Cloudflare to resolve the issue. Consider having a failover plan with an alternative CDN for critical infrastructure.