Microsoft Outage Disrupts Work Across The Globe. Nearly 20,000 Problems Reported Per Minute At Peak

A Microsoft outage that began at 11:17 a.m. ET on Thursday disrupted Outlook, Teams, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Copilot, SharePoint and security tools, spreading to 74 countries and territories within about an hour, according to Downdetector data. Downdetector recorded a peak of 19,650 reports per minute across five Microsoft services, versus fewer than 15 on a typical Thursday, and Outlook alone drew nearly 130,000 U.S. reports at its peak. Microsoft said several servers unexpectedly became unavailable, applied a patch to an authentication and routing component with "encouraging results," and reported gradual improvements by Friday morning with capacity still below normal; the company said it found no indication of malicious activity and plans a detailed report once the incident is resolved.

Microsoft Outage Disrupts Work Across The Globe. Nearly 20,000 Problems Reported Per Minute At Peak Microsoft reported gradual improvements Friday, but some services remained unstable as engineers worked to restore affected infrastructure. A massive Microsoft https://www.ibtimes.com/microsoft-has-offered-buyouts-tens-thousands-expert-says-company-falling-behind-ai-race-3809040 outage disrupted workplaces, government agencies and businesses worldwide on Thursday, with reports of problems reaching 74 countries and territories within about an hour. The disruption stretched into Friday, affecting Outlook, Teams and other Microsoft 365 applications as the company struggled to restore services. The scale of the outage became clear as reports flooded into Downdetector, which recorded a peak of 19,650 reports per minute across five Microsoft services, compared with fewer than 15 on a typical Thursday. The affected services included Outlook, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Copilot and Teams. Outlook alone drew nearly 130,000 reports in the United States at its peak, with users complaining about inaccessible inboxes, failed email deliveries and difficulties connecting to workplace applications. The figures represent user-submitted complaints rather than the total number of people affected. Microsoft said the disruption began at 11:17 a.m. ET on Thursday, initially affecting Exchange Online, the cloud-based email service behind Outlook. The problems extended to other Microsoft 365 applications, including some Teams functions, Copilot, SharePoint and security tools. The company initially suspected that unusually heavy traffic was overwhelming part of its infrastructure. Further investigation found that several servers had unexpectedly become unavailable, putting additional pressure on the remaining systems. Engineers attempted to restart affected servers and redirect traffic, but some servers stopped responding again when connections resumed. Microsoft subsequently applied a patch to an authentication and routing component, which it said produced encouraging results. By Friday morning, Microsoft was reporting gradual improvements, although its systems had not fully recovered. In its service health updates https://mailservices.isc.upenn.edu/computing/email/penno365/alerts/ms-incidents.html?q=MO1550821 , the company said recovery work was progressing in phases and that monitoring data and customer reports showed improvements across several applications. However, service capacity remained below normal levels, and engineers were continuing to carefully restore traffic to affected servers. Government agencies were among those dealing with the disruption. Japan confirmed problems with communications between ministries, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara saying several services, including Outlook, had become unavailable. Kihara said there had been no reported problems with medical care or electronic patient records. Japan's major financial institutions were also not experiencing significant disruptions to customer-facing services. Australia's federal police and intelligence agency were affected, while Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he had spoken with Microsoft's regional leadership about the outage. Burke said Microsoft did not believe the disruption was caused by a cyberattack https://www.ibtimes.com/europe-refrigeration-hacks-security-threats-3809552 and compared the situation to the 2024 CrowdStrike incident, when a faulty software update caused widespread computer failures. Microsoft has separately said it has found no indication of malicious activity. The company has not yet confirmed the underlying cause and plans to release a detailed report after the incident is resolved. Businesses across Europe and Asia also faced communication problems, with some financial firms forced to find alternative ways to complete routine transactions. In Taiwan, one financial company resorted to using fax machines to confirm trades after its email systems became unavailable, while another cancelled a bond repurchase transaction because of the disruption, Reuters https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-365-outlook-down-thousands-us-users-downdetector-shows-2026-11-12/ reported. European stock exchange operator Euronext experienced email problems affecting its listing teams, while British insurer Aviva prepared backup arrangements for its earnings calls. Danish shipping company Maersk also warned customers about possible delays in email communications and updates. The outage interfered with corporate earnings announcements as well. U.S. electric truck manufacturer Workhorse Group postponed its quarterly results conference call from November 12 to November 16, while Swiss luxury goods company Richemont briefly delayed the release of its first-half results. Airlines in India reported similar difficulties. Air India, IndiGo and Akasa Air said their email support services had been affected, although flight operations continued normally. Air India redirected customer messages through alternative systems to maintain support. The disruption also reached artificial intelligence companies that rely on Microsoft's workplace software for some of their services. OpenAI https://status.openai.com/incidents/01M78GAT3AK9P9W8Z230KHFVE8 reported elevated errors affecting its Microsoft 365 connector, warning that new connections could fail and some tools might not work as expected. Anthropic https://anthropic.statuspage.io/ experienced similar problems involving Microsoft 365 mail, calendar and search functions. Its Claude for Outlook integration was also affected, preventing some users from accessing the add-in or completing email-related tasks. Not every Microsoft application was completely unavailable. Core Teams functions, including messaging and calls, continued working for many users, while features dependent on Exchange Online experienced problems. Some SharePoint functions also remained accessible. Microsoft said engineers were prioritizing delayed emails during recovery and had extended the email timeout window to 48 hours to help prevent messages from being lost while services were restored. The outage follows other disruptions involving Microsoft's cloud services, including a Microsoft 365 incident earlier this year and an Azure outage in October. Microsoft has not provided a confirmed timeline for full restoration. Its Friday morning updates indicated that server stability was improving as engineers expanded their fixes across affected infrastructure, with a detailed post-incident report promised once the problems were resolved. © Copyright IBTimes 2026. All rights reserved.