Proton Mail and VPN services restored after widespread outage, no data lost

Proton, the Swiss‑based privacy company that offers Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Lumo and other services, has largely restored operations after a major outage that began late on August 26, 2026. The company confirmed the incident at 6:09 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) when Downdetector reports spiked and users began reporting problems on X. Proton’s status page and social‑media updates indicated that the outage was affecting multiple platforms, including email, VPN, and its Lumo data‑loss‑prevention service.

By 7:37 p.m. ET, Proton’s status page announced that the initial investigation and mitigation efforts had turned the situation into a series of partial outages. The update read, “Our efforts to restore impacted services are now yielding results, and as a result are starting to recover for some users. Meanwhile, we are continuing recovery operations.” The company acknowledged that some users still faced delays in email delivery, reception, and notification delivery, but reassured that no data had been lost.

At 8:45 p.m. ET, Proton issued its latest statement, saying, “This outage has now been largely resolved, and services are back online. We are still clearing a few lingering issues, however, meaning some users will experience delays in email delivery and reception, and receiving notifications. No data has been lost as a result of this outage.” The message was posted on the company’s status page and mirrored on its X account.

The outage began when users began reporting that Proton Mail and Proton VPN were unresponsive. Proton’s engineering team quickly identified a problem with its backend services that prevented authentication and data access across several products. The company’s response included a public apology and a promise to keep users informed. “We’re investigating an issue affecting access to our services. Your data is safe and nothing has been lost. Our engineering team is working on a fix. Follow https://t.co/bQXBLIwzuO for live updates. We apologize for disrupting your day and we’re grateful for your patience,” the Proton account posted at the time of the initial announcement.

Proton’s status page lists the affected services as Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Lumo, Proton Drive, and Proton Calendar. While the outage primarily impacted email and VPN, the Lumo data‑loss‑prevention feature also experienced intermittent connectivity. Users of Proton’s paid plans reported the longest recovery times, but all services eventually returned to normal operation by the end of the night.

Proton’s transparency during the outage was consistent with its privacy‑first brand. The company emphasized that all user data remained secure and that no data was lost or compromised. It also noted that the outage was caused by a software bug in a recent deployment that triggered a cascade of failures across its infrastructure.

The outage’s impact extended beyond individual users to businesses and organizations that rely on Proton’s secure email and VPN for confidential communications. Several small‑to‑medium‑sized enterprises reported disruptions in their daily operations, prompting some to switch temporarily to alternative secure messaging platforms. However, the company’s quick response and clear communication helped mitigate longer‑term disruptions.

Proton’s engineering team has stated that it will conduct a post‑mortem review to identify the root cause and prevent a recurrence. The company has also announced plans to increase its monitoring and alerting capabilities, particularly for high‑traffic services. Users are encouraged to keep their apps updated and to report any lingering issues through Proton’s support channels.

The incident serves as a reminder of the growing reliance on encrypted communication services and the importance of robust incident‑response protocols. Proton’s swift acknowledgment, transparent updates, and reassurance about data safety helped maintain user confidence amid the outage. As of the last update, all services are fully operational, though some users may still experience minor delays in email delivery and notifications as the company completes final cleanup tasks.