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The recent Cloudflare outage caused platforms like X, ChatGPT, Shopify and more to go offline for hours. Here’s a simple breakdown of what happened, why it occurred and how Cloudflare fixed the issue.
The internet faced a major disruption on Tuesday when a sudden Cloudflare outage knocked several well-known websites offline. Users across the world saw error pages, slow loading websites or complete service failures. Platforms like X, ChatGPT, Shopify, Indeed and even NJ Transit’s digital tools were impacted during the outage.
Cloudflare confirmed that the problem began early in the morning after the company detected a spike in unusual traffic passing through one of its services. This unexpected surge caused errors for websites that rely on Cloudflare’s network, which handles traffic for almost 20% of the web. Due to this huge dependency, the outage quickly spread across multiple online services.
What Caused the Cloudflare Outage?
According to Cloudflare, the trouble started around 6:20 a.m. ET when the system observed abnormal traffic activity. This led to disruptions across many websites connected to Cloudflare’s infrastructure.
The company said it is still investigating the root cause of the unusual traffic spike. For now, Cloudflare has confirmed that teams are “all hands on deck” to keep services stable and prevent further errors.
How Quickly Were Services Restored?
By 9:57 a.m. ET, Cloudflare reported that a fix had been deployed. Many websites began working again within hours, although some users continued to face minor issues accessing Cloudflare’s own dashboard.
Platforms affected included:
- X (formerly Twitter)
- OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sora
- Shopify
- Indeed
- Anthropic’s Claude
- Truth Social
- NJ Transit online tools
Even Downdetector, the website that tracks outages, briefly went offline due to the scale of the issue.
Cloudflare’s Role in Global Web Stability
Cloudflare is a key internet infrastructure provider. One of its major responsibilities is protecting websites from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, where hackers flood a site with fake traffic. Because Cloudflare handles such a large portion of global web requests, a sudden malfunction can cause widespread online disruption.
The company’s stock price dropped more than 3% following the outage, reflecting investor concerns about system reliability.
Comparing the Cloudflare Outage With Other Recent Incidents
In the past year, the internet has seen several large-scale outages. Here’s a quick comparison:
| Outage | Cause | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Outage (Nov 2025) | Spike in unusual traffic | Major websites offline for hours |
| AWS Outage (Oct 2025) | Platform disruption | Day-long slowdown across apps |
| Microsoft Azure Outage (Oct 2025) | Global cloud failure | Issues with 365 and cloud tools |
| CrowdStrike Outage (Jul 2024) | Faulty software upgrade | Flights halted, medical delays |
This pattern shows how dependent businesses have become on cloud and infrastructure services.
Why This Outage Matters
The Cloudflare outage highlights how a single issue in a major infrastructure provider can disrupt the digital world. Everything from e-commerce to public transport systems to AI tools felt the impact. For businesses, it is a reminder of the importance of having backup systems and transparent communication during downtime.
As Cloudflare continues to investigate the cause behind the unusual traffic spike, users and companies will be watching closely to ensure stability going forward.
