In a whirlwind of connectivity hiccups, Cloudflare has confirmed that users are experiencing significant service disruptions, affecting a variety of popular applications and websites. The company announced on Friday, February 20, 2026, that it is actively addressing these issues, which may have left many online users frustrated.
Cloudflare’s Acknowledgment of Issues
Cloudflare, a pivotal player in the web infrastructure and security arena, has stated that it is investigating ongoing problems with its services. On their official website, they advised that users might encounter errors or timeouts when attempting to access their network.
“Cloudflare is investigating issues with our services and/or network,” the company reported, underscoring their commitment to resolving the disruptions swiftly. The service is essential for enhancing website performance and safeguarding against cyber threats, making these outages particularly impactful.
Affected Services and User Reports
Reports from users began to pour in on Friday afternoon, with many facing difficulties accessing popular platforms like UberEats and the sports betting site Bet365. Gamers also weighed in on social media platforms, sharing their frustrations with the Steam PC gaming service, which was reportedly impacted by the Cloudflare outages.
As the day progressed, Cloudflare provided an update at 2:45 PM Eastern Time, assuring users that they were diligently working to restore services. The company noted that they were conducting scheduled maintenance at a data centre in Portland that same day. However, it remains unclear whether this maintenance was a contributing factor to the service disruptions.
Comparisons to Previous Outages
While Friday’s service interruptions have understandably raised eyebrows, they seem far less severe than the extensive outages witnessed in November 2025. During that incident, a staggering 11,000 users reported issues through DownDetector, affecting high-profile platforms like X and ChatGPT, as well as e-commerce giants like Shopify and Dropbox.
In contrast, the peak number of outage reports on DownDetector for Friday hovered around 500, indicating that, while inconvenient, the scale of this disruption pales in comparison to the chaos of previous incidents. The company has a history of overcoming such challenges, including a brief outage in December that followed shortly after the November debacle.
Current Status and Continuing Updates
As of 3:30 PM EST on Friday, Cloudflare had yet to issue additional updates regarding the ongoing situation. Users observed that reports of outages peaked around 2 PM EST and began to decline thereafter, suggesting that the company’s efforts to rectify the situation may be effective.
Despite their current struggles, Cloudflare has remained communicative, addressing past outages on their “Cloudflare Help” account on X, although no messages pertaining to the most recent issues were available at the time of writing.
Why it Matters
The reliability of web infrastructure services like Cloudflare is crucial for both businesses and consumers, as they form the backbone of our online experiences. Disruptions can lead to substantial economic implications, particularly for e-commerce and digital services, where downtime directly affects revenue. As more businesses and users rely on a seamless online presence, incidents like this serve as a reminder of the vulnerabilities inherent in our digital age. Keeping a close eye on Cloudflare’s recovery efforts will be essential in understanding the potential long-term effects of these outages on the wider internet landscape.