Microsoft users report outages amid tech giant 'connectivity issues'
Tech giant says elevated load from unexpectedly unavailable servers caused connectivity errors worldwide
Quick Look
- Microsoft is addressing global connectivity problems affecting Teams, Outlook, and Copilot after users worldwide reported outages on Thursday.
- The company said elevated load from unexpectedly unavailable servers strained remaining infrastructure and caused servers to fail automated health checks.
- Downdetector showed a spike in UK user reports around 18:30 GMT, and Microsoft said problems could affect users in any region.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Microsoft reported that a part of its infrastructure was experiencing elevated load, likely contributing to connectivity errors. The issue was originally reported in the US but could affect users in any region. Downdetector showed a spike in UK user reports around 18:30 GMT on Thursday evening.
Microsoft says it is working to tackle "connectivity problems" after users worldwide reported outages on Thursday.
Services including Teams, Outlook and Microsoft's AI software Copilot were affected.
The tech giant said a part of its infrastructure was experiencing "elevated load", which was likely contributing to connectivity errors.
While the issue was originally reported in the US, Microsoft said the connectivity problems could affect users "in any region".
At around 18:30 GMT on Thursday evening, monitoring website Downdetector showed a spike in UK users reporting issues with Microsoft products.
"We determined the elevated load isn't driven by an increase in traffic, but by a number of servers being unexpectedly unavailable; straining the remaining infrastructure," Microsoft said in a statement.
In a further update issued at 19:50 GMT, Microsoft said it was "testing a configuration" to fix the problem, which was "causing servers to fail automated health checks and become unavailable".
All affected servers had been restarted, it added.
Open Questions
- What caused the servers to become unexpectedly unavailable?
- How many users were affected globally?
- How long did the outage last?
- Will Microsoft issue a post-incident report?
