Outlook also affected: Worldwide disruptions in Microsoft services
Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams and Copilot shut down in 74 countries and regions
Quick Look
- Microsoft's cloud services such as Outlook, Teams and Copilot have been disrupted worldwide for hours.
- Companies, authorities and private users in 74 countries are affected.
- Microsoft rules out a cyber attack and suspects a faulty update.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Microsoft's cloud services including Outlook, Teams and Copilot are affected by a massive disruption worldwide. According to Downdetector, 74 countries and regions are affected. Microsoft suspects a faulty update and rules out a cyber attack. Similar incidents previously occurred by CrowdStrike in 2024.
Microsoft's cloud offerings such as the Outlook email service have been affected by a massive disruption for hours. Companies and authorities worldwide are affected, as are private users of Microsoft services.
As the disruption platform Downdetector reported, the disruption quickly spread worldwide and paralyzed Microsoft services in 74 countries and regions. According to Microsoft, the measures to resolve the problem “did not go as hoped” on Friday night. The company is looking for alternative ways to increase server capacity. Functions of Microsoft 365, which are based on the cloud-based email platform Exchange Online, are particularly affected.
Initially, Microsoft only investigated reports of problems from America. The US software company later announced that the connection problems could affect users of Microsoft 365 services in all regions of the world. The platform also registered thousands of fault reports with the Microsoft Teams communications service and the AI assistant Copilot. Both applications belong to the Microsoft 365 cloud offering.
Failures in Australia's secret service
Sensitive government areas are also affected by the disruption. In Australia, the secret service and the federal police reported failures. The Canberra government activated an agreement with Microsoft to ensure priority system restoration. Australian Home Affairs and Cybersecurity Minister Tony Burke said Microsoft was not expecting a cyberattack. Rather, it is apparently a faulty update, similar to the global IT breakdown caused by the security company CrowdStrike in 2024. The US House of Representatives also reported restrictions for its users.
The effects also spread widely throughout the economy. Artificial intelligence (AI) developers OpenAI and Anthropic investigated issues with interfaces to Microsoft services not working as expected. The US electric truck manufacturer Workhorse Group postponed the presentation of its quarterly figures due to IT problems.
"Limited improvement" - then not
According to Microsoft, "some infrastructure in multiple regions was subject to increased utilization." This "likely contributes to the connection errors," the company told X. "We are aggressively pursuing all options to reduce the impact."
The company later reported only “limited improvement.” An attempt is being made to redirect user data traffic from the affected servers. "Once capacity is restored, the situation for users should gradually improve," it said. However, the problem had not been resolved hours later. "We have monitored the status of the changes made to improve service availability and determined that they are not having the expected effect," Microsoft said on Friday night at X. It is unclear when the servers will be running again.
Disturbances usually only last for a short time
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Microsoft will restore server capacity and the problem will be resolved.
Likely · Within hours
Microsoft publishes an official root cause analysis of the problem.
Likely · Within days
Open Questions
- When will the servers be fully functional again?
- Which exact update caused the problem?
- How many users are affected in total?
- Are there long-term effects on companies and authorities?
