Microsoft Global Outage Disrupts Outlook, Teams and Copilot; Millions Face Service Issues

A major global outage affecting Microsoft services has disrupted businesses, government organisations and individual users across several countries. The disruption, which began on Thursday, November 12, 2026, has affected key platforms including Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft 365 services.

The outage has left many users struggling to access email accounts, send or receive messages, manage meetings and use essential workplace applications. Microsoft's efforts to restore normal services have continued into Friday, November 13, with the company acknowledging that its recovery measures are not progressing as expected.



Microsoft Outage Affects Multiple Services Worldwide

The disruption has primarily affected services connected to Microsoft's Exchange Online email infrastructure. Since several Microsoft 365 applications depend on this system, the problem has extended beyond Outlook.

Affected services include:

- Microsoft Outlook: Users have reported difficulties accessing inboxes and sending or receiving emails.

- Microsoft Teams: Some users have experienced problems with communication, calendars and meeting-related features.

- Microsoft Copilot: Certain AI-powered features connected to Microsoft 365 have also been disrupted.

- Microsoft 365: applications and business services that rely on Exchange Online have experienced interruptions.

According to reports, the outage has affected users across approximately 74 countries. Downdetector recorded more than 138,000 reports of Outlook-related problems at the peak of the disruption, highlighting the scale of the incident.



Microsoft Struggles to Restore Normal Services

Microsoft has been working to identify the infrastructure problems and restore affected services. However, the company has faced difficulties stabilising some of its systems.

In its service updates, Microsoft indicated that parts of its infrastructure were experiencing elevated load. Some servers that were restarted reportedly became unresponsive again when traffic returned.

The company has been testing configuration changes, restarting affected infrastructure and redirecting traffic to alternative routes to reduce pressure on the impacted systems.

Microsoft also acknowledged that an earlier recovery measure was not working as expected and that it was exploring alternative approaches to improve service capacity.



Microsoft Rules Out Cyberattack

The outage also raised questions about whether the disruption was caused by a cybersecurity incident.

However, Microsoft Executive Vice President Charles Lamanna ruled out a cyberattack as the cause, according to media reports. The company has not yet provided a complete explanation of the underlying technical issue.

Investigations into the infrastructure problems are continuing, and Microsoft is expected to provide further details after the incident is brought under control.









Businesses and Government Organisations Face Disruptions

The outage has affected organisations that depend on Microsoft's cloud-based services for daily operations.

Businesses have faced communication difficulties, delayed emails and interruptions to workplace collaboration. Government organisations in several countries have also reported problems with their digital systems.

The disruption has highlighted how heavily organisations rely on cloud-based platforms for communication, document management and business operations.

In India, the outage has also attracted attention among Microsoft 365 users as reports of service interruptions continued into Friday.



When Will Microsoft Services Be Fully Restored?

Microsoft has been working on multiple recovery measures, but a confirmed timeline for complete restoration has not been established in the latest reports.

The company is monitoring affected infrastructure and attempting to restore services gradually while preventing already-recovered servers from becoming overloaded again.

Users may continue to experience intermittent problems until the affected systems become stable.



Conclusion

The Microsoft global outage has demonstrated the widespread dependence of businesses and individuals on cloud-based digital services. With Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft 365 applications affected, the disruption has created communication and operational challenges across several countries.

Microsoft is continuing its recovery efforts, but the underlying technical cause and a complete restoration timeline remain unclear. Further updates from the company are expected as engineers work to stabilise the affected infrastructure.



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