--- description: Operations at the fast-food chain’s outlets across Asia and beyond have been affected by an IT system failure. title: McDonald’s Down: What to Know About Outages Affecting Fast-Food Restaurants Worldwide image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt284ddea0cab54cef/698a54e14ee26233dd31de3a/McDonalds-System-Outage.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # McDonald’s Crashed? Outages Reported at the Fast-Food Chain’s Outlets Around the World by [Koh Ewe](/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 9:19 AM CUTPublished: Mar 15, 2024 10:30 AM CUT  People stand in front of a temporary closed McDonald's in Shimbashi district of Tokyo on March 15, 2024. People stand in front of a temporary closed McDonald's in Shimbashi district of Tokyo on March 15, 2024.Philip Fong—AFP/Getty Images by [Koh Ewe](/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 9:19 AM CUTPublished: Mar 15, 2024 10:30 AM CUT Operations at the global fast-food chain McDonald’s have slowed Friday, as widespread IT system outages hit stores in multiple countries across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, leaving staff unable to process electronic orders and hungry customers frustrated. McDonald’s Japan [posted on X](https://twitter.com/McDonaldsJapan/status/1768531382136136024 "undefined") on Friday afternoon local time that they were experiencing a “system failure” and in another [post](https://twitter.com/McDonaldsJapan/status/1768552729729958306 "undefined") said that “many stores nationwide are temporarily closed.” Screens of self-ordering kiosks as well as order terminals used by employees were either black or displaying “out of service” messages, according to photos taken in restaurants in [Singapore](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/mcdonalds-outage-down-app-singapore-japan-china-asia-australia-widespread-global-4197806 "undefined") and [Australia](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/15/mcdonalds-outage-australia-restaurants-update-details "undefined"), while customers have complained that they have also been unable to order on the McDonald’s app. Australian media [reported](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-15/mcdonalds-service-outage-apology-inconvenience/103595222 "undefined") that some stores have shut down entirely while others are only taking cash orders. In [Singapore](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/mcdonalds-outage-down-app-singapore-japan-china-asia-australia-widespread-global-4197806 "undefined") and [Japan](https://twitter.com/TedsTechTed/status/1768533695177359808 "undefined"), McDonald’s employees have been spotted accepting cash from customers and calculating orders on paper. “We are aware of a technology outage currently impacting our restaurants nationwide and are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for McDonald’s Australia told media outlets. “We apologize for the inconvenience and thank customers for their patience.” “The issue is now being resolved,” McDonald’s Corporation, headquartered in the U.S., said in a statement to TIME. “Notably, the issue is not related to a cybersecurity event,” it noted, as rumors have swirled on social media of the company being targeted by hackers. McDonald’s did not clarify at the time the known extent of the outage nor details of how or when it would be fully fixed. Hours after this story was published, McDonald’s publicly shared a [statement](https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-stories/article/global-tech-outage.html "undefined") that was sent to global employees, franchisees, and development licensees and attributed to Global Chief Information Officer Brian Rice, explaining that the “global technology system outage” was caused “by a third-party provider during a configuration change” and “was quickly identified and corrected.” “Many markets are back online,” the statement continued, “and the rest are in the process of coming back online. We are closely working with those markets that are still experiencing issues.” Stores in New Zealand had also been affected, with a spokesperson [telling local media](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/reports-mcdonalds-stores-nationwide-cant-take-any-orders-serve-food/OUGOYINTHJCCZN5A3R6FE77SXU/ "undefined") that they’re “experiencing an IT issue that’s impacting their ability to process orders.” McDonald’s Hong Kong [posted on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/mcdonaldshongkong/posts/798999278923595?ref=embed%5Fpost "undefined") that mobile orders and self-ordering kiosks are not working due to “computer system failure,” urging customers to order directly with staff at the restaurant. The McDonald’s Taiwan [website](https://www.mcdelivery.com.tw/tw/error/maintenance-complete.html "undefined") said that its delivery service has been suspended for “system maintenance.” The outage also apparently affected the fast-food chain’s stores in China. On Weibo, the phrase [“McDonald’s crashed”](https://s.weibo.com/weibo?q=%23%E9%BA%A6%E5%BD%93%E5%8A%B3%E5%B4%A9%E4%BA%86%23 "undefined") is among the top trending topics, with a total of over 48 million views and counting on posts related to the issue. On social media and [Downdetector](https://downdetector.com/status/mcdonalds/ "undefined"), a platform where users can report and view outages in real time, people flagged similar technical problems with orders in Austria, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Since its establishment in 1940 in California, McDonald’s has grown to become one of the world’s largest fast-food chains, with around 40,000 stores [globally](https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/content/dam/sites/corp/nfl/pdf/Restaurants%20by%20Country%202023.pdf "undefined"), including more than 12,000 across Asia and more than 1,000 in Australia. “Reliability and stability of our technology are a priority, and I know how frustrating it can be when there are outages” the statement from Rice, McDonald’s chief information officer, said. “What happened today has been an exception to the norm, and we are working with absolute urgency to resolve it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6957249/mcdonalds-global-outages-asia-ordering-system-crash/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6957249/mcdonalds-global-outages-asia-ordering-system-crash/"},"headline":"McDonald’s Crashed? 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