A widespread outage hit Microsoft platforms, including Outlook, on Thursday, with many users encountering trouble using their email accounts and other errors across the tech giant's suite of apps. Nearly 130,000 users on outage tracker Downdetector reported problems accessing Outlook just after 1 p.m. ET. The outage affected users in the Americas, with many unable to send and receive emails or load their inboxes.
Thousands of users also reported issues with Microsoft's workplace messaging app Teams, as well as its AI assistant Copilot and wider Microsoft 365 services. Microsoft said it was investigating disruptions, notably related to its email and Teams applications. The company posted updates on social media, stating that it was aware of users experiencing issues accessing Exchange Online mailboxes through multiple connection methods.
According to Microsoft, a portion of its infrastructure was experiencing elevated load, which was likely contributing to the connectivity errors. The company determined that a number of servers were unexpectedly unavailable due to a problem that caused them to fail during automated health checks. However, Microsoft later said it was testing a fix and rolling out an alternative method for these checks to bring impacted servers back online.
The outage was reported to have started just after 1 p.m. ET, with many users taking to social media to report their issues. Some users reported being unable to access their emails, while others experienced errors when trying to load their inboxes. Microsoft's 365 Status account wrote on X that the company was aggressively pursuing all pathways to reduce the impact of the outage.
Earlier in the day, Microsoft said it had successfully restored problems related to Microsoft Teams in North America, although some users continued to report connectivity issues. The company did not provide an estimated time for when the issues would be fully resolved. Users were advised to check the Microsoft 365 Status account for updates on the outage.
The cause of the server failure during automated health checks was not immediately clear. Microsoft did not provide further details on the issue, but said it was working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. The outage affected users across the Americas, with reports of issues coming in from multiple countries.
The widespread outage highlights the reliance on Microsoft's services for many businesses and individuals. The company's efforts to resolve the issue and restore services were ongoing, with users advised to check for updates.
Key points
- Nearly 130,000 users reported problems accessing Outlook.
- Microsoft said it was testing a fix and rolling out an alternative method for health checks.
- The outage affected users in the Americas, with issues reported in multiple countries.
