Microsoft is facing difficulties restoring its services following a major global outage that has left millions of users unable to access Outlook and other platforms.
The disruption began shortly after 1pm Eastern Time on Thursday, with users reporting problems opening their email inboxes and sending messages.
More than 10 hours after the initial reports, many customers were still experiencing difficulties accessing the affected services.
The company acknowledged on Thursday night that its recovery efforts were not progressing as expected, raising concerns about how long the disruption would continue.
Microsoft has more than 430 million users across its subscription-based services, although it has not disclosed the exact number of people affected by the incident.
Microsoft Identifies Infrastructure Problems Behind Outage
The technology company said infrastructure experiencing unusually high demand across several regions was likely contributing to the connectivity problems.
Earlier in its investigation, Microsoft disclosed that several servers had become unexpectedly unavailable after failing automated health checks.
The company did not immediately establish what caused the servers to fail.
Microsoft subsequently began testing a potential fix while introducing an alternative method of bringing the affected servers back online.
In an update on Thursday night, the company said it was exploring alternative ways to increase system capacity and address persistent imbalances in traffic management.
Microsoft said it was working to identify additional recovery options as it continued efforts to restore normal operations.
Company Rules Out Cyberattack as Cause
Charles Lamanna, a Microsoft executive vice president, addressed concerns about the cause of the disruption in a post on X on Thursday night.
He said there was no indication that the outage resulted from malicious activity or a cyberattack.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke also said Microsoft had informed him that the company did not believe the incident was caused by a cyberattack.
His comments followed reports that Australian government agencies, including the country’s spy agency and federal police, had experienced disruptions linked to the Microsoft outage.
Microsoft Faces Questions Over Earlier Recovery Announcement
Earlier on Thursday, Microsoft’s 365 Status account announced that mitigation measures had successfully restored service health and functionality across North America.
However, users continued reporting problems with the affected platforms despite the announcement.
The complaints suggested that the recovery measures had not resolved the disruption for everyone.
Microsoft later acknowledged that its efforts to restore services were not progressing as anticipated, indicating that further work was required to address the underlying problems.
Teams, Copilot and Other Platforms Also Affected
The disruption has extended beyond Outlook, with users reporting difficulties accessing Microsoft’s Teams workplace communication platform, its Copilot artificial intelligence assistant and other Microsoft 365 services.
The outage has also affected services operated by other technology companies that rely on Microsoft’s infrastructure.
OpenAI reported problems with its Microsoft connectors on Thursday afternoon, saying new connections could fail and some tools were not functioning as expected.
The company also disclosed that ChatGPT was experiencing degraded performance as a result of the disruption.
Anthropic, another major artificial intelligence company, reported related problems affecting its Microsoft 365 connector.
According to Anthropic, email, calendar and search functions were failing for most requests.
US Jails and Government Operations Disrupted
The effects of the outage have extended into government and public services in the United States.
The Arapahoe Sheriff’s Office in Colorado announced on Thursday evening that it could not receive the email notifications required to process online bond payments.
As a result, people seeking immediate release after posting bond were instructed to complete the process in person at the jail.
In New York City, the Department of Investigation announced that evictions scheduled for Friday had been suspended because of the Microsoft disruption.
The incidents highlight how the service interruption has affected organisations that depend on Microsoft’s platforms for routine administrative and operational activities.
Copilot Used by Majority of Fortune 500 Companies
The disruption comes as Microsoft continues expanding the adoption of its artificial intelligence products and subscription services.
The company has previously stated that more than 90 per cent of Fortune 500 companies use Copilot, its AI-powered assistant.
Microsoft’s subscription-based services also have a reported global user base exceeding 430 million people.
However, the company has not provided a breakdown of how many customers or organisations have experienced problems during Thursday’s outage.
Microsoft Security Update Released Earlier This Week
The outage occurred during the same week Microsoft released a security update addressing an unrelated vulnerability that could allow hackers to obtain users’ sign-in information.
The vulnerability could potentially enable attackers to impersonate victims and gain access to their accounts or workplace systems.
Microsoft issued a security fix on November 10 as part of its regular security updates.
However, computers remain exposed until the relevant patch is installed.
Users can install the update by opening an Office application, such as Microsoft Word, selecting File, then Account, and choosing Update Options followed by Update Now.
In some versions of classic Outlook, the account section may instead appear under the name Office Account.
Microsoft’s security vulnerability has already been exploited in real-world attacks.
Users have therefore been advised to avoid opening unexpected attachments or message files, even when they appear to come from familiar senders.
