Yahoo and AOL services experienced a widespread outage on January 21, 2026, leaving thousands of users unable to access their email accounts and other services. The disruption began around 2:30 PM UTC, with users encountering error messages indicating that edge servers were blocking their requests due to excessive traffic loads.
Downdetector recorded a massive spike in user complaints, with Yahoo receiving over 15,000 reports at the peak of the outage while Yahoo Mail specifically accumulated more than 8,000 reports. AOL services, which operate under the same parent company, saw approximately 4,700 reported incidents as the problems cascaded across both platforms.
Users attempting to access Yahoo-owned services were consistently greeted with an error message stating 'Edge: Too many requests' when trying to log into their accounts. The edge server error suggests that the content delivery network responsible for distributing traffic was overwhelmed or misconfigured, causing legitimate user requests to be rejected as if they were part of a denial-of-service attack.
Yahoo remained largely silent about the technical issues affecting its services. A Yahoo Mail social media representative reportedly requested more information from affected users rather than providing status updates or acknowledging the scope of the problem. Both Yahoo and AOL are owned by Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm that acquired the digital media properties from Verizon in 2021.
The outage affected not only email services but also the Yahoo homepage and other Yahoo-owned properties. As of the latest reports, the issues were ongoing with escalating report numbers, suggesting that engineers were still working to restore normal service levels. Users were advised to wait and retry accessing their accounts periodically, as edge server issues typically resolve once traffic patterns normalize or infrastructure adjustments are implemented.
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