Global Microsoft Outage Disrupts Major Technology Services
Microsoft is working to restore services after a global outage disrupted its Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The incident began on November 12, 2026, and continued into November 13. It affected businesses, government agencies and technology companies across several regions.
The disruption affected Outlook, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and Microsoft Copilot. Consequently, organisations had difficulty accessing email, workplace applications, and cloud-based tools. Moreover, the incident exposed the operational risks of relying on centralised cloud infrastructure.
As of November 13, Microsoft had reported improvements following a new infrastructure patch. However, the company had not confirmed full service restoration.
Microsoft 365 Outage Disrupts Essential Services
The disruption affected several services connected to Exchange Online and Microsoft’s wider cloud infrastructure. Users reported email delivery delays, failed connections and problems accessing their accounts.
According to Microsoft’s service advisory, the incident affected:
-
Outlook and Exchange Online
-
Microsoft Teams
-
SharePoint Online and OneDrive
-
Microsoft 365 Copilot
-
Microsoft Defender XDR
-
Microsoft Intune and Purview
-
Microsoft Planner and To Do
-
Power BI and Microsoft Graph
However, the disruption did not affect every feature equally. Core Teams messaging and online meetings remained largely functional. Similarly, users could still access files stored directly in SharePoint Online.
The outage also affected users across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Meanwhile, Downdetector recorded a sharp increase in complaints from India, Australia, Japan and the United States. At its peak, reports approached 130,000 worldwide.
Server Failures Trigger Infrastructure Problems
Microsoft initially attributed the disruption to elevated infrastructure loads across multiple regions. However, its investigation identified unexpectedly unavailable servers as the underlying technical problem.
The affected servers failed to process incoming requests. Consequently, their traffic shifted towards the remaining infrastructure, increasing pressure on available capacity.
Microsoft later identified an overwhelmed process responsible for establishing secure connections. This process caused affected servers to stop responding when traffic returned.
The company also investigated a recent network configuration change that coincided with the beginning of the incident. In addition, engineers tested configuration changes and server restarts across selected infrastructure.
Microsoft paused deployments and redirected traffic through alternative network routes. Nevertheless, its initial recovery measures failed to deliver sustained improvements.
Microsoft Applies New Fixes as Recovery Continues
Microsoft’s recovery efforts faced several setbacks on November 13. Earlier configuration changes failed to produce lasting improvements. Therefore, engineers explored additional measures to stabilise the affected infrastructure.
By Friday afternoon, Microsoft reported progress after applying a new patch to part of its infrastructure. The company said the patch improved server stability. However, it had not provided a confirmed timeline for complete restoration.
The disruption also affected organisations outside Microsoft’s customer base. OpenAI and Anthropic reported problems with services connected to Microsoft 365. Government agencies in Australia and Japan also experienced operational difficulties.
Airlines and businesses also faced communication problems. Air India and IndiGo reported email support disruptions, although their flight operations continued normally. Meanwhile, Australian government agencies, including the Australian Federal Police and ASIO, encountered service interruptions.
Microsoft said it had found no evidence of malicious activity behind the incident. Instead, the investigation focused on server availability, network configurations and connection management.
The outage raises further questions about enterprise dependence on large cloud providers. For businesses, even a temporary disruption can interrupt communication, customer support and internal operations. Therefore, organisations may need stronger backup systems and alternative communication channels.
Microsoft’s latest updates indicate progress towards recovery. Nevertheless, customers must wait for confirmation that all affected services have returned to normal.
