Microsoft restores services after massive global outage hits Outlook and Teams
A global Microsoft 365 outage that started Thursday knocked Outlook, Teams, and Copilot offline for nearly 24 hours across at least 74 countries. Microsoft apologized for the disruption, attributing it to overloaded connection servers during a network upgrade rather than a cyberattack.
Microsoft services began returning to normal on Friday following a prolonged global outage that disrupted communications for millions of enterprise, government, and consumer accounts across at least 74 countries. The disruption began around midday Thursday, crippling staple workplace tools including Exchange Online, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Copilot.[1][3][5][22][25]
The incident rippled through critical institutions worldwide. Government agencies, courts, schools, and hospitals lost access to digital communications, with Australia's federal police and intelligence agency among those affected. The disruption also forced financial market traders onto traditional telephone lines and prompted Japanese government offices to temporarily fall back to paper. External AI integrations that rely on Microsoft 365 connectors, including OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude, also reported disruptions.[3][8][17][18][21][26][28]
Microsoft explained that the problem was caused by a technical issue during a network capacity upgrade that led a process establishing secure connections to become overwhelmed. The resulting cascade caused servers to fail automated health checks and stop accepting requests. Although cyber expert Pavan Duggal had raised suspicions of an attack, Microsoft leadership explicitly ruled out malicious cyber activity or AI agents as the cause.[1][6][12][14][16][27][33]
Recovery proved slow after initial fixes struggled to hold, with restarted servers repeatedly becoming overwhelmed as user traffic flooded back in. To prevent lost messages while infrastructure was stabilized, Microsoft extended its email timeout window to 48 hours. By late Friday, the company stated it was deeply sorry for the outage and that core services were recovering.[9][10][15][19][29][30]
Key facts
- The Microsoft 365 outage disrupted Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and Copilot across at least 74 countries starting November 12, 2026, and lasted nearly 24 hours.
- Microsoft attributed the outage to a technical issue during a network capacity upgrade where overwhelmed secure connection processes caused servers to fail automated checks.
- Microsoft stated the outage was not caused by a cyberattack or AI agents, though cyber expert Pavan Duggal noted suspicions of a cyberattack during the incident.
- The disruption affected government operations, schools, and healthcare systems, including the Australian Federal Police and the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Connectors linking Microsoft 365 with third-party AI services from OpenAI and Anthropic were disrupted during the event.
- Microsoft temporarily lengthened its email timeout window to 48 hours to preserve delayed incoming emails during server recovery.
- Microsoft shares dropped amid the disruption, falling over 3% in premarket trade on Friday.
Sources · 27 sources
- FN
Fox News@FoxNewsPost on X ·
BREAKING: Microsoft services are beginning to come back online after a massive global outage left millions of users without access for nearly 18 hours. The disruption affected businesses, schools and government agencies in at least 74 countries, including the United States. Major services impacted included Outlook email, Microsoft Teams and Copilot. Microsoft says the outage was not caused by a cyberattack but by overwhelmed servers responsible for establishing secure connections, preventing them from processing requests. Download the FOX News app for the latest details: https://t.co/BAyV31y5kz
Open source - IN
Inc42@Inc42Post on X ·
. @microsoft365 Outage Disrupts Outlook, Teams Globally For Over 10 Hours. 👇 A widespread Microsoft 365 outage disrupted Outlook, Teams and several other services globally, leaving thousands of users unable to access emails, work files and productivity tools. Downdetector recorded over 38,000 reports of Microsoft 365 issues worldwide, while outages also affected users in India. Microsoft attributed the disruption to multiple servers unexpectedly going offline, putting additional pressure on the remaining infrastructure. The outage also affected OpenAI and Anthropic's Microsoft 365 connectors, highlighting the ripple effects of disruptions across interconnected cloud services. 🔗 Read more about the Microsoft 365 outage and its impact on businesses here: https://t.co/r8QOlmz7W0 #Microsoft #Microsoft365 #CloudComputing #Outage #News
Open source - CB
Coin Bureau@coinbureauPost on X ·
⚠️ALERT: A GLOBAL Microsoft outage has knocked out Outlook, Teams and Copilot across 74 countries, hitting software used by 450 MILLION work accounts. It has dragged on for more than 5 hours, and Microsoft has not confirmed the cause. At the centre of it is something most of us never think about, but rely on every day. Exchange Online, the system that delivers Outlook email for businesses, began failing around midday Eastern time on Thursday. By 1:25 PM, problem reports had jumped from fewer than 15 a minute to 19,650. Outlook reports alone ran 2,000 times above normal. A US state government and two hospital systems in Michigan lost access to email. It even reached ChatGPT and Claude, whose makers said their Microsoft connections were affected. Reports spiked for Amazon’s AWS too, until Amazon said it was “operating normally” and called the outage reports “inaccurate.” Microsoft says a number of its servers became “unexpectedly unavailable.” It paused all deployments and began restarting them. Hours later, it said its fixes “have not provided the anticipated relief.” Even Defender, the platform companies rely on to detect cyberattacks, is caught in the outage. Earlier the same day, Teams had already gone down for over an hour in North America. Microsoft has not said whether the two are linked, and it has not pointed to an attack. Reports have eased from a peak near 130,000 to about 37,000 as some servers return, but Microsoft has not declared it fixed or said how many customers were cut off.
Open source - BT
Bull Theory@BullTheoryioPost on X ·
BREAKING: Microsoft's Outlook, Teams and Copilot have been down for over 15 hours. Microsoft says it's not a cyberattack, but servers going down unexpectedly. $MSFT is down -3% in premarket. https://t.co/o4xpAG8e2F
Open source - BU
businessline@businesslinePost on X ·
Microsoft services began coming back online after a global outage left millions of users without access for nearly 18 hours, disrupting businesses, schools, government agencies, and airline operations across at least 74 countries, including the United States. https://t.co/pyCabvpNZt
Open source - ET
Economic Times@EconomicTimesPost on X ·
#MicrosoftOutage | Cyber expert #PavanDuggal suspects possible #Cyberattack 🔗 https://t.co/FU9C9CocJ7 https://t.co/LySTMyKlYf
Open source - MA
MarketWatch@MarketWatchPost on X ·
Microsoft stock is dropping amid continued outage of key services: live updates https://t.co/JFA0uwhX4p
Open source - RE
Reuters@ReutersPost on X ·
Australia's spy agency, federal police hit by Microsoft outage https://t.co/wjhVLt44n5
Open source - MN
Mario Nawfal@MarioNawfalPost on X ·
Microsoft says the Outlook and Teams outage is only partially fixed, with recovery repeatedly delayed. The company has restarted servers and rerouted traffic, restoring service in some regions. But servers are still getting overwhelmed as traffic returns, preventing a stable recovery. Microsoft is reviewing further steps to stabilize its infrastructure as users continue reporting connection errors. A recovery that keeps failing is still an outage for everyone waiting on emails and meetings. Source: Digital Trends / Writer: Lucas
Open source - MA
Mashable@mashablePost on X ·
When will the global Microsoft outage be over? The outlook isn't good. "The servers we returned to service can become unresponsive again once they receive traffic," Microsoft wrote in its most recent update. https://t.co/INK5Gz3hl0
Open source - RE
Reuters@ReutersPost on X ·
Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams and other apps of the company remained disrupted for thousands of users for more than five hours on Thursday, with the outage also hitting connectors used by OpenAI's and Anthropic's AI services https://t.co/tYUgleOIzu
Open source - TH
The Hindu@the_hinduPost on X ·
Microsoft said that a portion of its infrastructure was “experiencing elevated load” — which it said was “likely contributing to the connectivity errors”; it determined a number of servers were “unexpectedly unavailable” due to a problem that caused them to fail during automated checks. #MicrosoftOutlookDown https://t.co/AkvM8xMTqw
Open source - BA
Barron's@barronsonlinePost on X ·
Microsoft stock fell ahead of the open Friday as a global office outage hits users across the world. https://t.co/Lc1qkqjL2x
Open source - TE
Techmeme@TechmemePost on X ·
Microsoft apologizes for the outage, calling it a "technical issue" from a "network capacity upgrade", and says it was "not related to cyber or AI/agents" (@microsoft) (Visit Techmeme dot com for the link and full context!)
Open source - TH
The Hindu@the_hinduPost on X ·
A widespread global outage disrupted Microsoft platforms, including Outlook, Teams, Copilot, and other Microsoft 365 services—affecting individuals, businesses, and government institutions worldwide. At its peak, nearly 1.3 lakh users reported issues accessing Outlook, while Microsoft extended its email timeout window to 48 hours as recovery efforts continue. https://t.co/fMDgNpNSIB
Open source - SE
SecurityWeek@SecurityWeekPost on X ·
Microsoft 365 Outage Update - A process that establishes secure connections was becoming overwhelmed, causing affected servers to stop handling requests. Microsoft began rolling back a recent network configuration change that coincided with the start of the disruption and was monitoring whether the rollback helped. https://t.co/GTFowzCSR9
Open source - MN
Mario Nawfal@MarioNawfalPost on X ·
🚨 Claude AI is experiencing a major OUTAGE as Microsoft's global tech meltdown enters its second day. More than 3,800 users reported problems with Claude... Meanwhile, Microsoft's outage has disrupted Outlook, Teams, and other services used by businesses, schools, hospitals, and even police departments. Are you guys experiencing these issues? Source: Reuters / Writer: Samuel
Open source - CO
Cointelegraph@CointelegraphPost on X ·
🚨 UPDATE: Microsoft outage surpasses 12 hours, disrupting banks, governments and courts across 74 countries. https://t.co/7aLHDVtCar
Open source - PR
ProtosArticle ·
Microsoft extends email timeout by 48 hours amid major outage The ongoing Microsoft outage impacting Outlook, Teams, and its AI assistant Copilot has led to the $3.88 trillion tech giant extending an email “timeout” by 48 hours. Microsoft’s outage began yesterday and has rendered these services, and more, incapacitated for its 430 million Microsoft users. By extending the timeout, Microsoft hopes to allow any emails that have been delayed by the issue to catch up as systems slowly restore. We’re opening all available pathways to restore service, as our actions taken thus far have not provided the anticipated relief. We found a core process on affected servers is becoming overwhelmed, causing capacity loss. To validate a potential recovery, we're isolating a portion… — Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) November 12, 2026 One of Microsoft’s first statements on the matter. Read more: LIVE: Jensen Huang resigns from Nvidia after affairs with spy, employee Microsoft reportedly attributed the outage to an “elevated load” within its infrastructure and claims there’s no evidence of “malicious activity.” The company’s latest update said , “We’re seeing continued recovery progress across affected regions, with broader improvements in North America, sustained improvements across much of Europe, and encouraging recovery signals in Asia Pacific.” “Some users may still experience intermittent issues as recovery actions continue. We’re focused on recovery for the remaining affected environments while prioritizing email queue and backlog reduction.” Bad week for tech The outage arrived at the end of a turbulent week for the tech industry after Nvidia’s former CEO Jensen Huang resigned from the company following a series of exposed extramarital affairs. Nvidia’s stock has fallen 15% in the last 5 days and appears to have had a negative impact on the wider financial markets, including Bitcoin, which fell to $68,000 over the last few hours. Outages have also plagued Japanese credit unions and UK and Australian banks over the last few weeks. These were also not attributed to any malicious activity, such as the cyberattacks targeting European supermarket fridges. Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks . For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X , Bluesky , and Google News , or subscribe to our YouTube channel. The post Microsoft extends email timeout by 48 hours amid major outage appeared first on Protos .
Open source - EN
Engadget@engadgetPost on X ·
The House of Representatives, health care providers, schools and many other organizations were affected. https://t.co/v7B1DhPGyb
Open source - CT
Coin TelegraphArticle ·
Microsoft 365 outage hits Outlook email and Teams calendars worldwide Microsoft began a wider patch rollout Friday as the outage disrupted government email and Microsoft 365 connectors in ChatGPT and Claude.
Open source - MC
MacRumors.com@MacRumorsPost on X ·
Microsoft 365 Outage Resolving After Nearly 24 Hours https://t.co/RP4FwTvuf7 https://t.co/tVP7CabBGT
Open source - BT
Business Today@business_todayPost on X ·
#TechToday | Microsoft 365 outage hits 74 countries; Outlook, Teams and Copilot knocked offline https://t.co/rTF2WcIb2g
Open source - DE
Decrypt@DecryptMediaPost on X ·
UPDATE: Microsoft Sees "Early Stabilization" in Outage, Extends Email Timeout to 48 Hours. Microsoft said at 4:24 AM EST it is seeing early stabilization and capacity improvements, and it extended the email timeout to 48 hours to help preserve delayed mail. https://t.co/xjpDCdMzSv
Open source - CN
CNBC@CNBCPost on X ·
Microsoft suffered a widespread outage on Thursday and Friday, as engineers scrambled to fix server issues that caused disruption to millions of its customers around the world. Connectivity issues began shortly before 1 p.m. ET on Thursday and continued into Friday, with Outlook and Teams, along with multiple Microsoft 365 services such as Sharepoint and Copilot, affected. External services that connect with Outlook features such as Calendar were also hit. Read more: https://t.co/UrNCnfUYr2
Open source - TN
TNW@thenextwebPost on X ·
74 countries reported Microsoft problems within an hour. Japan’s government went back to paper. Even ChatGPT and Claude’s Microsoft connectors had problems. https://t.co/9jqnDv2MXh https://t.co/48WdHs162H
Open source - ET
Economic Times@EconomicTimesPost on X ·
Microsoft says this outage was not a cyberattack, but the fix is still stuck | As a global outage continued to disrupt Microsoft's services, including Outlook, Teams and Copilot, the company's executive vice-president Charles Lamanna on Friday ruled out malicious or cyber activity as the cause. Efforts to restore normal operations faced fresh hurdles. 📑 FULL STORY ➠ https://t.co/5Ww4v32SPv #Technology #Microsoft #Outage #Cybersecurity #Business
Open source - TS
The Straits Times@straits_timesPost on X ·
Microsoft outage gums up markets, forces traders to use phones https://t.co/glrPWE5doI
Open source - TS
The Straits Times@straits_timesPost on X ·
Microsoft ‘deeply sorry’ as outage triggers global chaos https://t.co/tCFVQ0S7Td
Open source - SC
South China Morning Post@SCMPNewsPost on X ·
Microsoft ‘deeply sorry’ for global outage, says issue not caused by AI https://t.co/gmNrPFxsOu
Open source - CB
Coin Bureau@coinbureauPost on X ·
JUST IN: Microsoft stock, $MSFT, drops amid a global outage disrupting services for 450 million users.
Open source - TW
The Wall Street Journal@WSJPost on X ·
Microsoft said it is working to resolve an outage that has disrupted services including Outlook and Teams, with government departments and schools from the U.S. to Australia among those affected. https://t.co/hnkt6Bkr3s
Open source - CB
Crypto Briefing@Crypto_BriefingPost on X ·
🚨 UPDATE: Microsoft says it is seeing broad recovery following reported outages across multiple services. The company confirmed the disruption was caused by a technical issue during a network upgrade, not a cyberattack or AI agents. https://t.co/JOa9SHfr36
Open source