Is Github Down? Current Status & Outage Report [March 2026]

Introduction

GitHub is the world’s largest platform for hosting source code, collaborating on projects, and automating CI/CD pipelines. Developers, DevOps teams, and hobbyists rely on it 24/7 to push commits, run actions, and review pull requests. When GitHub becomes unreachable, work stalls, releases are delayed, and teams scramble for answers.

Because GitHub touches almost every stage of modern software development, users frequently search “Is GitHub down?” or check its status page. This article explains how to confirm a real outage, what typically causes GitHub interruptions, and provides a clear troubleshooting roadmap you can follow right now.

How to Check if Github Is Down Right Now

Before assuming a personal network problem, verify the service’s health using multiple independent sources:

• Visit the official https://www.githubstatus.com page. The status banner shows real‑time incidents, scheduled maintenance, and component health.
• Use third‑party monitoring tools such as DownDetector, IsItDownRightNow, or our own statuschecker.io/github endpoint. These aggregate user reports and can highlight regional issues.
• Check GitHub’s official Twitter account @GitHubStatus for rapid announcements.
• Run a simple curl -I https://github.com command from your terminal. A 200 OK response usually means the front‑end is reachable; a 5xx or timeout suggests a problem.

If the status page shows all systems operational but you still cannot access the site, the issue is likely on your side (local network, DNS, or firewall).

Common Causes of Github Outages

GitHub’s architecture spans many data centers and services. Outages can stem from several broad categories:

• Infrastructure failures: Power loss, hardware degradation, or network backbone issues in AWS or Azure regions that host GitHub services.
• Software bugs: Deployments of new features or updates to GitHub Actions, Packages, or the API that unintentionally break existing functionality.
• Database or storage incidents: Corruption or latency in the underlying PostgreSQL clusters that store repositories and metadata.
• DDoS attacks: Large‑scale traffic floods that overwhelm load balancers, prompting automated mitigation that can temporarily limit access.
• Third‑party dependency outages: Problems with external services such as CDN providers, authentication providers (OAuth), or certificate authorities.

Understanding these root causes helps you interpret status updates and decide whether you can wait for GitHub to resolve the issue or need to implement a workaround.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

• 1. Verify the official status page. Open https://www.githubstatus.com. Look for a red banner or “Degraded Performance” label.
• 2. Test connectivity from a different network. Switch to mobile data, a VPN, or another Wi‑Fi network. If GitHub loads, the problem is likely local.
• 3. Flush DNS cache. Run ipconfig /flushdns (Windows) or sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder (macOS). Then retry the site.
• 4. Ping and traceroute. Execute ping github.com and traceroute github.com. High latency or a timeout at a specific hop indicates a network choke point.
• 5. Check local firewall or security software. Ensure that no rule blocks ports 443 (HTTPS) or 22 (SSH). Temporarily disable the firewall to test.
• 6. Review ISP outage reports. Some ISPs publish real‑time status dashboards. If your ISP reports a regional outage, you may need to wait or use a VPN.
• 7. Use a different DNS resolver. Switch to Google DNS (8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4) or Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) and retry.
• 8. Test API endpoints. Run curl https://api.github.com/zen. A successful “Keep it simple, stupid.” response proves the API layer is up.
• 9. Inspect browser console for errors. Open developer tools (F12) and look for CORS, SSL, or network errors that point to a specific failure.
• 10. If all else fails, contact GitHub Support. Provide the incident ID from the status page, timestamps, and a brief description of what you’ve tried.

FAQ

Is there a way to get real‑time notifications for GitHub outages?

Yes. Subscribe to the RSS feed on the status page, enable email alerts, or follow @GitHubStatus on Twitter for instant updates.

Why does GitHub sometimes show a “502 Bad Gateway” error?

A 502 indicates that a reverse proxy (like Cloudflare) could not get a valid response from GitHub’s backend servers. It often resolves automatically as the upstream service recovers.

Can I still push code via SSH when the web UI is down?

Usually, yes. SSH traffic uses separate infrastructure. However, if the outage affects the Git service itself, pushes will also fail.

Do GitHub Actions continue to run during a partial outage?

It depends on the affected component. If the runner fleet remains reachable, jobs may complete. A degraded API can cause workflow failures, especially when actions need to fetch secrets or artifacts.

What should I do if my organization’s internal CI pipelines rely on GitHub and an outage occurs?

Implement a fallback strategy: mirror critical repositories to a secondary Git host, cache Docker images, and use a “circuit breaker” script that retries failed Git operations with exponential back‑off.

Conclusion

GitHub downtime, while rare, can have a noticeable impact on development velocity. By checking the official status page, confirming connectivity from multiple sources, and following the systematic troubleshooting steps above, you can quickly determine whether the problem lies with GitHub or your own network. Stay informed through alerts, keep a backup plan for critical workflows, and you’ll minimize disruption even when the platform experiences an unexpected outage.