Widespread Microsoft Outage Disrupts Outlook and Teams Services Worldwide, Businesses and Government Agencies Hit
A major global outage affecting Microsoft’s workplace applications, including Outlook, Microsoft Teams and several Microsoft 365 services, has disrupted business communications, government operations and essential digital services across multiple countries. The disruption, which began on Thursday, November 12, continued into Friday, November 13, 2026, leaving thousands of users struggling to access their email accounts and workplace applications.
The outage primarily affected Microsoft’s Exchange Online infrastructure, the cloud-based platform responsible for managing email and calendar services. Users reported difficulties opening Outlook mailboxes, sending and receiving emails, accessing calendars and connecting to other Microsoft 365 applications. Several users also experienced intermittent connectivity problems even when services appeared to be recovering.
Microsoft Teams was also affected, particularly features connected to calendars, meeting scheduling and certain organisational services. Although core functions such as joining meetings and sending messages remained operational for many users, the disruption created significant difficulties for organisations that depend on Microsoft’s integrated workplace ecosystem.
The incident quickly developed into a worldwide technology disruption, affecting businesses, financial institutions, government departments and public-sector organisations. Reports of problems emerged across the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific, highlighting the widespread dependence on Microsoft’s cloud-based infrastructure for everyday communications and business operations.
According to outage-monitoring platform Downdetector, reports of Microsoft service disruptions surged sharply on Thursday, with Outlook-related complaints reaching nearly 130,000 at their peak. Users reported being unable to load inboxes, access accounts and complete routine workplace activities.
In India, users also experienced difficulties accessing Outlook and other Microsoft services. The disruption became particularly noticeable on Friday morning, with outage reports increasing as users began their working day. Airline IndiGo also confirmed that its email support services were affected, warning customers that it might not be able to receive emails during the disruption. The airline advised passengers requiring urgent assistance to use alternative support channels.
Several government agencies and public institutions internationally also reported operational difficulties. In the United Kingdom, the disruption affected court proceedings, online police reporting systems and services connected with healthcare administration. Government departments in Norway and organisations in other countries also reported difficulties accessing Microsoft-based email systems.
Financial institutions and trading organisations faced additional complications because email communications and authentication systems are important components of their daily operations. Some traders reportedly had to rely on telephone calls and alternative communication methods to confirm transactions and coordinate activities.
Microsoft acknowledged the disruption and said its engineering teams were investigating the underlying infrastructure problems. The company identified unexpected server unavailability and connectivity issues as major factors contributing to the incident. Traffic was redirected towards functioning servers, but the reduced infrastructure capacity created additional pressure on the remaining systems.
The company subsequently began deploying software patches and infrastructure adjustments to stabilise affected servers. Microsoft reported positive signs of server stability and gradual improvements in service availability across several regions. However, it cautioned that some customers could continue experiencing intermittent access problems and delayed email delivery while recovery operations remained underway.
Microsoft also stated that it had no evidence indicating that the incident was caused by a cyberattack or malicious activity. The company said it would provide further information about the underlying cause and corrective measures through a detailed post-incident report after the disruption was fully addressed.
The outage has also raised broader concerns about the growing dependence of businesses, governments and public institutions on a limited number of major cloud service providers. When a widely used platform experiences a major technical failure, the consequences can extend far beyond individual users, affecting communication networks, administrative operations and commercial activities across multiple countries.
As recovery efforts continue, Microsoft is working to restore normal service availability across its affected infrastructure. Although improvements have been reported, a complete restoration for all users had not yet been confirmed in the latest reports available on November 13.
