A global technical outage on Thursday disrupted several Microsoft platforms, including Outlook, Teams, and its artificial intelligence assistant, Copilot. The disruption affected users' ability to send and receive emails, communicate through workplace platforms, and access some Microsoft 365 applications. This interruption impacted normal operations for individuals and organisations that rely on these services. The outage was reported in 74 countries and territories within about an hour, with users experiencing problems in parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
According to Downdetector, an online platform that tracks service disruptions through user reports, nearly 130,000 reports of Outlook problems were recorded in the United States shortly after 1 pm Eastern Time. The figures represent reports submitted to the platform rather than a confirmed count of affected users. Microsoft said the disruption was linked to problems within its infrastructure, where several servers became unavailable, placing additional pressure on the remaining systems.
Microsoft initially redirected traffic and restarted affected servers as it worked to restore capacity. The outage extended beyond email services, with disruptions to several Microsoft 365 services, including SharePoint, Copilot, and some Teams functions. Some features relying on Exchange Online, Microsoft's email service, were also affected, while other functions continued operating.
The scale of the incident highlighted the dependence of businesses, public institutions, and individuals on cloud-based services for communication, document sharing, and other daily operations. Microsoft 365 had more than 430 million paid commercial seats, according to figures disclosed by the company in 2025, illustrating the reach of its workplace software.
The outage also affected some services connected to Microsoft 365, including tools used by other technology companies. By Friday, Microsoft was reporting gradual progress in restoring services, although access remained inconsistent in some regions. The company said it was continuing to address infrastructure problems and warned that users could still experience intermittent disruptions as systems recovered.
The incident has renewed attention on the risks organisations face when essential communication and workplace systems depend on a small number of major technology providers. It also highlights the importance of having alternative arrangements to maintain operations when digital services become unavailable. This incident serves as a reminder of the potential consequences of relying on a few key technology providers.
As Microsoft continues to address the infrastructure problems, users are advised to stay informed about the progress of the restoration efforts. The company is working to prevent such incidents in the future and ensure that its services are reliable and resilient. The outage may have caused significant disruptions, but it also underscores the need for organisations to be prepared for such events and have contingency plans in place.
Key points
- The outage affected users in 74 countries and territories, disrupting access to Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint.
- Microsoft 365 had more than 430 million paid commercial seats as of 2025.
- The incident highlights the risks of relying on a small number of major technology providers for essential communication and workplace systems.
