Global Microsoft 365 outage disrupts email and Teams worldwide
Services including email, Teams and AI tools remain affected while Microsoft works to restore full capacity. Early signs of stabilisation have been reported.
Key points
- Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams and Copilot, were disrupted for more than 12 hours.
- Microsoft says a cyber-attack was not the cause and blames elevated load on its infrastructure.
- Downdetector recorded about 130,000 to 140,000 reports across 74 countries, though the true figure is likely higher.
- Government agencies, NHS services, police, schools and businesses in several countries have been affected.
- Microsoft says early signs of stabilisation are visible but capacity has not returned to normal.
A global outage affecting Microsoft 365 has disrupted email, messaging and AI tools for users and organisations around the world. According to Microsoft, the problem was not caused by a cyber-security incident. Recovery work is continuing, and the company says it has seen first indications that conditions are improving.
In its latest update, Microsoft said its systems are still running below standard levels. Health across its infrastructure remains uneven as traffic is gradually restored. The company has also extended its email timeout window to 48 hours, which is meant to protect messages that have been delayed.
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What has been affected
According to the BBC, Microsoft 365 services including Teams, Outlook and the Copilot AI software have experienced connectivity problems. Many users have been unable to send or receive emails, open some files or view calendar details. Others have been able to use Teams for messaging and online meetings without issues.
The Guardian reported that the disruption is patchy, with some users affected and others not. Microsoft says its Microsoft 365 apps are used by a very large global user base. The company also said that most of the Fortune 500 firms rely on Copilot, its AI chatbot.
AI firms have also been hit. OpenAI reported it was looking into a fault linked to its Microsoft connections, which meant some of its tools were malfunctioning. Anthropic, meanwhile, traced its problem to a third-party supplier that handles part of its Microsoft 365 link.
Impact on public services and businesses
The British government said it was in close contact with Microsoft and had backup arrangements ready to limit the disruption. The NHS in England, which has a five-year deal to use Microsoft 365, reported that some services, including remote therapy sessions, had been disrupted. Pharmacies reported difficulties contacting some GP surgeries about prescriptions, causing significant waiting times for medicines.
Several UK police forces asked people to phone rather than report crimes online. Some schools told parents that email and Teams were down and that attendance reports had to be made by phone. Two Indian carriers, IndiGo and Akasa Air, reported that their email help desks had been hit. Singapore’s government and Australia’s spy agency have also reported problems, according to the BBC.
In Japan, the shipping company Sagawa Express could not accept some online reservations, while the pharmaceutical company Taisho was handling orders by phone. In financial markets, some portfolio managers were unable to check emails, which made access to some trading platforms difficult.
What is still unclear
The full scale of the outage has not been confirmed. Downdetector figures rely mainly on users reporting problems, so the number of people affected is probably far higher than the reports show. Microsoft has suggested that faulty configuration on servers that keep its services running may have played a part, but it has not confirmed the root cause.
Microsoft said that several servers failed automated checks and became unavailable. This added traffic to the remaining servers and strained them. The company has promised a post-incident report with full details once the issue is fully resolved.
Why it matters
Microsoft 365 is widely used by companies, governments and schools, so a failure can spread quickly to other services. Troy Hunt, an Australian cyber-security expert, told the BBC that the outage shows how important email remains. Paul Spain of advisory firm Gorilla Technology said companies had effectively lost a business day.
Microsoft also reported an outage of its Azure cloud platform last month. Experts quoted in the reports have pointed to the wider reliance on a small number of large cloud providers. Further updates are expected as Microsoft works to restore full capacity.
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Frequently asked questions
What caused the Microsoft outage?
Microsoft has ruled out a cyber-attack. The company blamed elevated load on its infrastructure after a number of servers became unexpectedly unavailable.
Which Microsoft services were affected?
Microsoft 365 services including Teams, Outlook and the Copilot AI software were affected. Some users could not send emails or access files, while others could still use Teams messaging.
Is Microsoft back to normal?
Microsoft says it is seeing early signs of stabilisation, but its systems have not yet returned to standard levels. Recovery work is ongoing.
Sources
- BBC News: What we know about the global Microsoft outage
- The Guardian: Microsoft scrambles to fix global outage affecting Teams and Outlook
This article was written with the help of AI from reports by the outlets listed above. See our Editorial Policy. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
