PayPal handles online payments, transfers between people and checkouts on millions of shops, with your card or bank account linked behind it. Most of the time you meet it as a button at checkout or as an app for sending money. The test at the top of this page contacts paypal.com from a remote server and shows the answer it got, how many milliseconds it took and which certificate the site presented.
Two signals: this check and PayPal’s status page
PayPal publishes an official status page at paypal-status.com, where it lists its services and posts incidents it has confirmed. The check on this page is independent of it: it simply asks paypal.com for a response, right now, from outside your network. Use them together. If both look normal, the problem sits with the shop, your browser, your account or your bank. If the status page shows an incident or the check fails, PayPal is the cause and retrying will not help until it recovers.
A reachable result does not test the checkout button on a particular shop, the app’s login or the bank behind your account. It confirms that PayPal’s main site answers.
Before you pay a second time
PayPal checkouts move through two parties, the merchant’s website and PayPal, and the error you see can come from either one after the payment is already complete. Before trying again, open Activity in PayPal. A completed or pending payment to that merchant means the money is on its way, and the merchant should confirm the order. Also check the card or bank used to fund it. Only when neither shows the payment should you start a new checkout.
Login and payment fixes
- Compare the check with the status page
If either shows a problem, wait before changing anything.
- Turn off VPNs and ad blockers
They trigger security checks and can hide the PayPal button on shop websites.
- Open a private browser window
Old cookies cause sign-in loops that a fresh session avoids.
- Confirm your security details
Under Settings, then Security, check the phone number and passkeys used for sign-in codes.
- Check the funding source
An expired card or a bank account that needs confirmation makes payments fail.
- Update the PayPal app
Older versions stop working after security changes.
Common PayPal situations
| What you see | Likely cause | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Payment declined at checkout | Funding card declined or security check | Choose another funding source, verify the account |
| Login keeps returning to the start | Cookies, VPN or extension | Private window, VPN off |
| Payment shows as pending | Recipient has not accepted, or review | Read the payment details in Activity |
| PayPal button missing on a shop | Ad blocker or shop setup | Try another browser |
| Account limited message | Review of account activity | Follow the steps shown in your account |
Busy shopping days
Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the weeks before the holidays bring the highest volume of checkouts across all shops at once. Payment pages can be slower than usual and shops can show timeouts while PayPal is technically working. A slow result in the check during these days points to load. Keep an eye on Activity rather than retrying several times in a row.
Transfers to your bank that seem stuck
Money moved from a PayPal balance to a bank account does not arrive at once unless you pay for speed. In the US, a standard transfer is free and is typically completed within one business day, though PayPal’s help pages allow one to three business days because banks process at different speeds. Transfers started after 7:00 p.m. Eastern, on a weekend or on a bank holiday can take an extra day. Instant Transfer reaches an eligible bank account or debit card in minutes and carries a fee.
That timetable explains many reports of PayPal being down that come in on Mondays and after public holidays. A transfer shown as completed in PayPal while the bank still shows nothing is normally waiting at the bank, and PayPal’s advice for transfers beyond the stated window is to contact the bank. A transfer still pending inside PayPal is a different case. Read its details in Activity, because a transfer under review says so there.
Venmo, Xoom and PayPal’s other services
PayPal operates several separate brands. Venmo, Xoom for international money transfers and PayPal’s checkout products each have their own apps or pages and can fail on their own. When a friend says PayPal is down, ask which of them they mean. Venmo and PayPal accounts are separate, so a login that works in one app says little about the other. Xoom transfers also depend on the receiving bank or cash pickup location in the destination country, which can add delays that have nothing to do with an outage. The is it just me checklist covers how to compare your situation with theirs.
Official PayPal help
- PayPal Statuspaypal-status.com
- Ask PayPal on X@AskPayPal
Questions about PayPal
Where does PayPal post outages?
PayPal runs a status page at paypal-status.com that lists its products and any incidents. Its support account on X answers customer questions. Use the status page for confirmed incidents and the check above to see whether paypal.com answers from outside your network right now.
A PayPal checkout failed. Did the money leave my account?
Open Activity in your PayPal account and look for the payment, including ones marked pending. If the funding came from a card or bank, check there as well. A payment can be completed while the merchant's page shows an error. If it is listed, contact the merchant instead of paying again.
Why is my PayPal payment pending?
Payments stay pending when the recipient has not accepted them yet, when PayPal is reviewing them, or when the funding source is a bank transfer that takes time to clear. The payment details in Activity usually give the reason and what happens next.
Why does PayPal keep asking me to confirm it is me?
PayPal adds security checks for new devices, unusual locations, VPNs and changes to your account. Complete the code or passkey step. If the code never arrives, check that the phone number on the account is current and try another verification option.
Is Venmo down when PayPal is down?
Venmo belongs to PayPal but runs as its own app and service. They can fail together, but often do not. Check Venmo separately before assuming both are affected.
Why does the PayPal button not appear at a shop's checkout?
The button is loaded by the shop's website from PayPal's servers. Ad blockers, privacy extensions or a problem in the shop's setup can hide it. Try another browser or a private window. If the button is missing on many shops and the check above is slow, PayPal is the likely cause.