Quick answer: Yes — Microsoft Outage Today is causing major disruptions as thousands of users report issues Microsoft is dealing with a major outage affecting Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft 365 apps. The trouble started around 1:26 PM ET on Thursday, 12 November 2026. Microsoft says it’s seeing “partial recovery” in some regions, but the issue isn’t fully fixed yet. Keep reading for live status, the cause, and quick fixes you can try right now.
What’s Happening With Microsoft Right Now?
If your emails are causing issues, Teams aren’t loading or Copilot has gone silent then you’re definitely not the only one. Over 130,000 people have reported issues with Outlook alone. Thousands have also reported problems with Teams and Microsoft 365 overall.
It’s not just a small issue affecting a few users within one country either. People across the US and other areas of the world have had their emails impacted. The state government of Michigan said that their email systems had also gone down due to this issue.
Which Microsoft Services Are Affected?
Here’s the full list of services people have reported issues with:
- Outlook (email sending and receiving)
- Microsoft Teams (calls, chat, messaging)
- Microsoft 365 Copilot (AI assistant)
- SharePoint Online
- Microsoft Defender XDR
- Exchange Online
- Microsoft Planner and To Do
- Microsoft Intune
- Power BI
Not every service is down everywhere at once. Some users have full access, others can’t log in at all, and some can send emails but not receive them. That patchy pattern is normal for outages this size.
What Caused the Outage?
Initially the company cited “increased load” but they later revised their statement to say that a number of servers went offline at once causing increased strain on the rest of the systems.
In an updated statement they said “A process on the impacted servers responsible for establishing secure connections became overloaded. This caused the servers to stop responding to requests.” Basically there were too many connection requests causing the system to crash.
The good news is that they have no evidence this was a cyber attack. It appears to be an infrastructure issue.
Is Outlook Back Up Yet? Live Status
As of the most recent update, Microsoft says it’s seeing partial recovery across some regions, with “positive results” from its efforts to restart the affected servers. That’s a good sign, but it’s not the same as “fixed.” The company is still working through it, so service may keep coming back gradually rather than all at once.
Because the situation is changing by the hour, don’t rely on this article alone for the absolute latest. Check these sources for real-time updates:
- Microsoft 365 Status page (status.cloud.microsoft) — official updates straight from Microsoft
- Downdetector – Outlook (downdetector.com/status/outlook) — see how many other people are having the same problem
- Microsoft 365 Status on X (twitter.com/MSFT365status) — the fastest place Microsoft posts updates
How Long Will the Outage Last?
No-one knows for sure, not even Microsoft. But outages of this scale have in the past taken anything from a few hours to over a day to fully resolve. Since this one has now been going for well over twelve hours with only partial resolution, you should be expecting a few more hours of downtime.
Quick Fixes to Try While You Wait
You can’t fix Microsoft’s servers yourself, but a few things can get you working again, or at least reduce the pain, while the outage continues.
- Try the web version instead of the app. Go to outlook.com or the Microsoft 365 web portal directly. Sometimes the browser version works even when the desktop app doesn’t.
- Restart the Outlook or Teams app. Fully close it (not just minimise) and reopen it. This sometimes forces a fresh connection attempt.
- Check if it’s just you. Head to Downdetector to confirm the problem is widespread and not something local to your device or network.
- Switch to mobile data briefly. If you’re on office Wi-Fi, try your phone’s mobile signal to rule out a local network issue.
- Use a backup way to reach people. For anything urgent, fall back on phone calls, text messages, or another email provider like Gmail until Outlook is stable again.
- Don’t keep retrying constantly. Repeatedly refreshing or resending the same email can add to server load. Wait a few minutes between attempts.
- Save your work locally. If you’re mid-task in a Microsoft 365 app and it’s acting up, save a local copy of anything important rather than risk losing it.
What This Means If You Rely on Microsoft for Work
If your whole team runs on Outlook and Teams, an outage like this is more than annoying — it can stop meetings, delay client emails, and hold up approvals. It’s a good reminder to keep a backup contact method on hand (a personal phone number, a secondary email, a messaging app) for anything time-sensitive, so one company’s bad day doesn’t become yours too.
The Bottom Line
Microsoft are working on the issue. They have dismissed any possibility of a cyber-attack but have mentioned things are improving in their own time. There is no known cause to this as it appears to be a capacity issue with the servers. Keep an eye on the status page and Downdetector for updates. The best thing to do whilst the issues are being resolved is to use the web based version of outlook.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Outlook down right now?
Yes, as of the most recent update Microsoft is still working through a major outage affecting Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft 365 apps. The company reports partial recovery in some regions, but the issue is not fully resolved.
What caused the Microsoft 365 outage?
Microsoft says a process responsible for setting up secure connections on affected servers became overwhelmed, causing those servers to stop processing requests. The company has ruled out a cyberattack as the cause.
Which Microsoft services are affected by the outage?
Reported services include Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Defender XDR, Exchange Online, Planner, To Do, Intune and Power BI.
How long will the Microsoft outage last?
There is no confirmed timeline. Past outages of this size have lasted from a few hours to more than a day. Recovery is happening gradually rather than all at once.
How can I check live Microsoft outage status?
Check the official Microsoft 365 Status page, the Downdetector page for Outlook, or the Microsoft 365 Status account on X for the latest real-time updates.
What can I do while Outlook is down?
Try the web version of Outlook instead of the app, restart the app, check Downdetector to confirm it is not a local issue, switch networks, and use a backup contact method such as phone or text for anything urgent.
