Microsoft experienced a major outage on November 12, affecting its Outlook, Teams, and Copilot services. Reports showed that nearly 130,000 users worldwide had issues accessing the Microsoft 365 suite. Problems were especially noticeable in the Americas. Users faced challenges in sending and receiving emails, accessing mailboxes, and loading documents in Word and Excel.
Key Details
According to Downdetector, the outage peaked with over 120,000 reports from U.S. users alone. Microsoft confirmed that part of its infrastructure was under higher than normal load, which caused connectivity issues. The company first tried to redistribute traffic to ease the problem. However, it later admitted that these fixes did not provide the expected relief.
Background
In a series of updates posted on X, Microsoft said it was looking into the outage. The company found that some servers were unexpectedly unavailable due to failures during automated checks. By 9 PM UTC, Microsoft reported progress in restoring service to affected servers and was applying fixes more widely. The company is also reviewing recent configuration updates as a possible cause of the outage.
The outage could hurt Microsoft’s stock performance. Users and businesses depend heavily on its services for communication and productivity. Investors may respond to any long-lasting service disruptions or further announcements about the outage. Keep an eye out for updates on service restoration and any potential effects on Microsoft’s upcoming earnings report.
Based on reporting by: euronews.com, theguardian.com