Global Microsoft 365 outage: Outlook and Teams down for 15 hours
Since Thursday evening GMT, millions of people can't use Outlook email, Teams and Copilot properly, and Microsoft's first fixes did not work.
Event: November 12, 2026
Primary source: November 13, 2026
Published here: November 13, 2026 at 08:57 AM UTC
Read: 2 min
What happened
The outage started around 18:00 GMT on Thursday, November 12. Outlook, Teams, Copilot, OneDrive and other Microsoft 365 services are down or patchy. Downdetector got reports from 74 countries. Microsoft says it is not a cyberattack.
Why it matters to you
More than 430 million people use Microsoft 365. It runs email for companies, schools, hospitals and governments. While it is down, emails, login codes and invoices don't arrive. Traders say they can't log in to platforms that use email verification.
What to check and watch
The status page at status.cloud.microsoft and Microsoft's promised root cause report. Be careful with emails and calls from "Microsoft support": Australian officials already warned about scammers.
Where it’s happening
LIVEDrag to spin. Green dots: the exchange is trading right now (regular hours, holidays not counted). Shadow: where it is night now. Borders: Natural Earth, quakes: USGS. Layer idea: God’s Eye View (MIT).
What happened. Mass complaints about Outlook started around 18:00 GMT on Thursday. Downdetector data cited by the BBC shows a peak of nearly 140,000 reports, from 74 countries. Microsoft first talked about Exchange Online mailbox problems in the Americas. The outage then spread to Asia and Australia, and to Europe by Friday morning.
What is broken. Microsoft lists Outlook.com, OneDrive, OneNote, To Do, Teams and Microsoft 365 for the web, and warns other services may be hit too. Some users can't send or receive email, others can't open calendars. Teams works normally for some people.
Why it takes so long. Microsoft blames elevated load: many servers became unavailable at once and traffic piled onto the rest. Restarted servers failed again when traffic came back. At 02:54 GMT the company said its fixes had not worked. In the morning it reported "positive results" after patching an authentication and routing component on part of its servers. The status page still says users may be unable to connect to multiple Microsoft 365 services.
Who is hit. Japan's government switched to other channels, and its economy minister called the impact major. Several UK police forces asked people to report crimes by phone. OpenAI and Anthropic reported problems with their Microsoft connectors. A CMC Markets trader in Singapore said trades were confirmed by phone and messaging apps.
What next. Microsoft promises a detailed root cause report once the issue is fixed. It has not given a time for full recovery.
Confirmed facts
- The outage began around 18:00 GMT on Thursday, November 12, 2026.[2][3][4]
- Downdetector got Outlook reports from 74 countries, peaking at nearly 140,000.[2][4]
- Microsoft's status page shows service degradation for Microsoft 365 (Business or Enterprise) and consumer products: users may be unable to connect to multiple services.[1]
- Affected services include Outlook.com, OneDrive, OneNote, To Do, Teams, Microsoft 365 for the web and Copilot.[2][3]
- Microsoft says it sees no sign of malicious or cyber activity.[2][3]
- Microsoft blames elevated load: many servers became unavailable and traffic piled onto the rest.[2][4]
- At 02:54 GMT on Friday Microsoft said its latest changes had not worked as expected.[4]
- Later Microsoft reported positive server stability results after patching an authentication and routing component on part of its infrastructure.[3]
- More than 430 million people use Microsoft 365 apps, according to Microsoft's website.[2]
- OpenAI and Anthropic reported problems with their Microsoft connectors.[2][4]
- Japan's government email went down, and economy minister Ryosei Akazawa called the impact major.[3]
- Microsoft promises a post-incident report on the root cause.[3]
Implications
- ConfirmedThe outage has lasted about 15 hours and hit the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe.
- ConfirmedCustomers may be able to claim service credits under cloud contracts, the Australian Computer Society says.
- Our readingRepeated outages may push companies to keep a backup channel and not rely on one provider.
Still unknown
- When services will fully recover.
- The exact technical cause: Microsoft promises a report later.
- How much money companies lost and whether Microsoft will pay credits.
Who it affects
World, US, Europe, Asia. Anyone who works with Outlook, Teams and Microsoft 365
Sources
- Microsoft: Microsoft service health status November 13, 2026 · official
- BBC: What we know about the global Microsoft outage November 13, 2026 · media
- The Guardian: Microsoft outage live: 'positive results for server stability' reported, amid global disruption November 13, 2026 · media
- DW: Global Microsoft outage disrupts Outlook and Teams November 12, 2026 · media
Cover: Freekonomist graphic, a symbolic image, not a photo of the event. This is a news explainer, not financial advice.
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