Microsoft 365 outage hits Outlook, Teams and Copilot worldwide
The disruption began on November 12 and continued into Asia-Pacific hours on November 13, with more than 138,000 Outlook reports in the US.
Microsoft 365 services including Outlook, Teams and Copilot suffered access outages that began on November 12 and continued into Asia-Pacific working hours on November 13, according to aitimes.com. Outlook and Exchange Online were the most affected, with users unable to send or receive email or reach their inboxes.
Downdetector showed more than 138,000 user reports of Outlook problems in the US around 1 pm on November 12. Teams scheduling and meeting booking, along with Copilot's access to work data, also returned errors.
The disruption spread beyond Microsoft's own products. OpenAI said it was investigating errors in ChatGPT features connected to Microsoft services, and Anthropic reported that Microsoft 365 connectors for email, calendar and search tools were not working properly, including the ability to use Claude directly within Outlook.
Government agencies in the US House, Japan and Australia reported disruptions to work systems, and Indian airlines had trouble with email-based customer support.
Server health checks blamed for overload
Microsoft said some servers failed automated health checks and were removed, causing overload on the remaining servers. The company halted new software deployments and restarted servers, with some regions recovering while others were delayed. Microsoft said no evidence of a cyberattack or malicious activity had been confirmed and that the exact cause is still unknown.
Quick answers
Which Microsoft services were affected by the outage?
Outlook, Exchange Online, Teams and Copilot were affected, along with ChatGPT features connected to Microsoft services and Anthropic's Microsoft 365 connectors.
What caused the Microsoft 365 outage?
Microsoft said some servers failed automated health checks and were removed, overloading the remaining servers. It said no cyberattack or malicious activity had been confirmed and the exact cause is still unknown.