Microsoft fully restores services after global outage disrupted more than 70 countries
Summary
- A global outage of Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams and Copilot, began around midday on 12 November 2026 in the United States.
- The outage disrupted governments, courts, hospitals, banks, airlines and businesses in more than 70 countries and territories for nearly two days.
- Microsoft said services were fully restored on 14 November 2026 and blamed an issue during an earlier network capacity upgrade.
- The company said the outage was not related to a cyberattack or AI agents and promised a full post-incident report once its review is complete.
- Microsoft said it restored services gradually to ensure stability, which took longer; the total number of people affected was not clear.
- More than 430 million people use Microsoft 365 apps, and Microsoft said in January 2026 that it had more than 450 million paid commercial subscriptions.
Reactions
- Microsoft apologized, saying it was 'deeply sorry for the disruption' and that services were restored gradually to ensure a stable restoration.
- British lawmaker Chi Onwurah said the outage highlighted the dangers that dependency on US technology providers can pose to security, economy and public services.
- Tim Clement-Jones, a former House of Lords AI committee chair, called the outages an 'I-told-you-so moment' highlighting Britain's dependence on US tech.
- William Blair analysts forecast manageable short-term financial fallout but said the outage could prompt enterprises to reassess their dependence on Microsoft's infrastructure.
- Former UK cyber security head Ciaran Martin said the disruption looked like 'one of the biggest outages of all time', possibly worse than Amazon's or CrowdStrike's.
- Online memes joked that Microsoft 365 should be rebranded as Microsoft 364.
Timeline newest first
Microsoft said on 14 November 2026 that services were fully restored, with service returned to the remaining impacted customers and regions.
Microsoft said Microsoft 365 had fully recovered shortly after 2:30 p.m. Japan time on 14 November 2026, nearly a day after the outage began, and said a detailed report would follow.
Hundreds of Microsoft engineers and top executives worked overnight on a video conference during the outage, with Scott Guthrie telling teams to prioritize restoring Outlook.
Microsoft apologized on 13 November 2026 for the disruptions and said services were broadly recovering nearly 24 hours after the issues first began.
Microsoft shares dipped 1.1 percent to $516.86 when Wall Street trading opened on 13 November 2026.
Microsoft said on 13 November 2026 that a process establishing secure connections became overwhelmed, causing servers to stop responding, and rolled out a patch to improve server stability.
Microsoft said on 12 November 2026 that its initial attempts to fix the problem were 'not taking as expected'.
Microsoft confirmed early on 13 November 2026 that the email timeout was extended to 48 hours to preserve delayed mail during the outage.
The outage grew to knock out Microsoft's Copilot AI tools, Defender security screening software and Intune dashboards as engineers struggled to recover downed servers.
Japanese workers turned to fax machines and other analog measures as the outage passed nearly 24 hours on 13 November 2026.
Service gradually recovered for Outlook and Microsoft 365 on 13 November 2026 after an outage of almost two days, with no ETA for full restoration.
The outage hindered Dutch municipalities, courts and provinces as the workday began on 13 November 2026, with analysts saying costs could reach billions of dollars worldwide.
The US House of Representatives and Australia's police forces were among millions of users left without email for more than 12 hours.
Immigration New Zealand paused all visa processing and Air New Zealand was hit during the outage on 12 November 2026.
Congressional offices lost Outlook email for much of 12 November 2026, putting legislative work on hold mid-negotiations during the lame-duck session.
A massive Microsoft 365 outage began at 1:26 p.m. ET on 12 November 2026, disrupting Outlook, Teams, Copilot, Exchange Online, SharePoint and Defender XDR worldwide.
Sources newest first
- Microsoft says services fully restored after global outage
Microsoft says all services restored after global outagewashingtonpost.com· 7h
The Washington Post's live-updates page follows the global Microsoft outage, which the company says has been fully restored, attributing it to a network upgrade rather than a cyberattack or AI, and which disrupted hospitals, schools, courts and Japanese traders forced onto fax. Other items cover California's record marine heat wave, a U.S. measles death toll of at least 10 in 2026, Jensen Huang's resignation over an alleged affair — drawing Elon Musk's support — Pope Leo XIV's Mass in Chiclayo, and Rear Adm. Brian Monahan's departure from Congress's physician office, plus tips on charging devices faster.
Microsoft says services fully restored after global outageA global Microsoft outage disrupted governments, courts, hospitals, airlines and banks worldwide, with UK hospital staff falling back on paper records, before Microsoft apologised and said on Saturday that all services were restored. The Guardian calls it one of the worst IT failures in years, and UK figures warned of over-reliance on US tech firms.
マイクロソフト障害が全面復旧 メールやAI、ほぼ丸1日経て - 日本経済新聞Nikkei reports that Microsoft's Microsoft 365 was fully recovered shortly after 2:30 p.m. Japan time on the 14th after an outage lasting nearly a day, in which email and the AI feature Copilot had been unavailable. Microsoft apologized, attributed the outage to a problem from an earlier network capacity increase, and says it will publish a detailed report soon.
Inside Microsoft’s Rush to Get Back Online After a Global OutageA New York Times article by Karen Weise recounts how hundreds of Microsoft engineers and executives worked overnight to restore Outlook, Teams, and Copilot after an outage that Microsoft's own systems caused and that hit hospitals, schools, businesses, and Congressional offices worldwide. Microsoft said it restored services gradually to keep them stable, while William Blair analysts wrote that the outage could prompt enterprises to reassess their dependence on Microsoft's infrastructure; online memes joked that Microsoft 365 should be rebranded as Microsoft 364.
Microsoft 'deeply sorry' for global outage after almost 24 hours of disruptionMicrosoft has apologised for a nearly 24-hour outage that hit Outlook, Teams and other services in more than 70 countries, disrupting hospitals, courts, governments and businesses before services broadly recovered by Friday afternoon. Microsoft blamed a technical issue during a network capacity upgrade, while experts said the outage shows how heavily organisations rely on a handful of big tech providers, and a full post-incident report is to follow its review.
Microsoft ‘deeply’ apologizes for global service outage, says no AI or hackers are to blamepcgamer.com· 25h
PC Gamer reports Microsoft's deep apology for the global outage that began November 12, 2026, disrupting Microsoft 365 for governments, hospitals, schools, and businesses, with the company quoting that it was "a technical issue not related to cyber or AI / agents" introduced during a network capacity upgrade. Writer Lincoln Carpenter notes speculation blamed vibe-coding, and muses whether laid-off employees might have prevented it, amid Microsoft's layoffs of thousands across 2023–2026.
Microsoft’s Global Outage and Fixes: What We KnowA New York Times article reports that a global outage took Microsoft services including Outlook, Teams, and Copilot offline on Thursday, disrupting schools, governments, and offices worldwide. Microsoft said the technical problem, traced to a network capacity upgrade, was not malicious, that services were improving, and it promised a full report on the root cause.
Microsoft scrambles to fix global outage affecting Teams and OutlookA global Microsoft outage knocked out Teams and Outlook for roughly 18 hours, disrupting UK healthcare, police forces and schools, US government offices, and businesses from India to Japan, while Microsoft shares dipped 1.1%. Microsoft apologised, blamed a server configuration problem rather than a cyber-attack, and gradually restored services; an academic advised businesses to keep cloud backups.
Microsoft outage 'stark reminder' of how much we rely on techA BBC article by technology reporter Laura Cress reports a Microsoft outage lasting more than 22 hours that disrupted Microsoft 365 services such as Outlook across more than 70 countries, knocking out email for the US House of Representatives and Australian intelligence agencies and disrupting courts in Singapore and airline support desks in India, with recovery taking nearly a full day after routine automated checks overloaded remaining servers. Microsoft apologised and said the failure was technical rather than a cyber-attack, while Flora Hamilton called it a "stark reminder" of firms' reliance on digital systems, Gergely Orosz faulted the slow recovery and suggested splitting services per region, and Walter Pasquarelli warned AI integration could make such failures spread further.
Microsoft 365 Outage Enters Second Day, Disrupts GovernmentsGizmodo's Bruce Gil reports that a Microsoft 365 outage stretched into its second day on November 13, 2026, disrupting governments, hospitals, and businesses worldwide. Microsoft said servers stopped responding when a process establishing secure connections became overwhelmed; it rolled out a stability patch but has not established the underlying cause and found no evidence of malicious activity. Some NHS procedures were rescheduled, Japanese ministries posted paper notices, and PVH Corp.'s workforce-cut conversations were delayed.
The Microsoft Outage Is a Warning for the WorldA WIRED article argues that a Microsoft 365 outage dragging into a second day, disrupting schools, courts, governments, and businesses worldwide, shows how crucial systems depend on a few tech giants. Microsoft said there was no sign of a cyberattack and hinted at cascading server failures, while observers noted its recent layoffs and officials called for relying less on big tech firms.
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De Nederlandse afhankelijkheid van Microsoft is enorm, blijkt tijdens een grote storingnrc.nl· 29h
An NRC news article reports that a major outage in Microsoft's office software crippled countless Dutch organizations, with Exchange Online down and SharePoint and Copilot impaired, leaving users unable to email, work in shared files, or schedule video calls. NRC judges the Friday's events showed how dependent the Netherlands is on Microsoft.
Big tech is here to let us down - What's up with James?jsweeting.me· 30h
James's blog post reports a Microsoft outage that took Outlook, Teams, and Copilot down across two days, hitting businesses, schools, universities, and courts, while many workers celebrated an unplanned "snow day for adults." He blames the company's layoffs of tens of thousands of engineers for making such failures likelier, calls the prolonged outage pathetic, and notes many European state institutions are already moving to open source alternatives.
Microsoft’s global outage may be worse than Amazon's or CrowdStrike's, expert saysArs Technica reports on a global Microsoft 365 outage that began midday Thursday and hit email, cloud, and AI services, disrupting businesses, hospitals, police, schools, Japan's government IT, and the Philippine Supreme Court. Former UK cyber security head Ciaran Martin called it possibly "one of the biggest outages of all time," while Microsoft said servers failing health checks under elevated load caused the problem and promised a full root-cause report.
Microsoft's latest email outage turned into a full blown global cloud crisis | TechCrunchTechCrunch reports Microsoft is slowly recovering from a day-long outage in which a cascading software issue took down Outlook, Teams, Copilot, Defender, and other cloud services worldwide, with recovery starting Friday morning. Microsoft says there is no evidence of malicious activity, has not named a cause, and TechCrunch expects questions over its slow recovery.
Japanese workers return to fax machines during ongoing Microsoft 365 outage — 'We're going full analog' say workers forced to ditch PDFsTom's Hardware reports that an ongoing Microsoft 365 outage, nearly 24 hours long, left businesses without Outlook, Teams, and Copilot, and that Japanese workers, per the Japan Times, turned to fax machines and other analog measures, saying "We're going full analog." Workers posting on X described being told to stay home and cleaning the coffee machine.
Microsoft outage hits hospitals, GPs, schools and police across UKA global Microsoft outage affecting 365 services including Outlook disrupted hospitals, police, schools, courts and regulators across the UK, forcing NHS staff onto paper records and police to take crime reports by phone, with Microsoft reporting early signs of stabilisation and saying it appeared not to be a cyber-attack. Critics including Tim Clement-Jones, Dame Chi Onwurah and the Liberal Democrats called it an "I-told-you-so moment" exposing Britain's dependence on a few US tech providers, while ministers said it showed the need for greater resilience.
Microsoft’s massive Outlook outage continuesA Verge article reports that service is gradually recovering for Outlook and Microsoft 365 after a nearly two-day outage affecting millions worldwide, with SharePoint, Teams, and Copilot still degraded and no ETA for full restoration. Tom Warren reports the outage is linked to Azure VNet config changes; Microsoft says there is no evidence of malicious activity.
Xbox Live, Microsoft 365, Teams And Copilot Are All Still Spectacularly Broken, Fixes 'Not Taking As Expected'kotaku.com· 34h
Kotaku's Lewis Parker reports a Microsoft outage beginning the night of November 12, 2026 has taken down Xbox Live, Teams, Copilot, Office, and Outlook, with Microsoft blaming "elevated load across multiple regions" and saying its fixes are "not taking as expected." Microsoft denies an external attack, while the BBC reports the outage is hitting British hospitals and airports, and Parker calls it a terrifying reminder of how dependent public services are on Microsoft's servers.
Microsoft struggles to restore services as outage hits global usersaljazeera.com· 34h
Al Jazeera's live-updates page tracks a Microsoft outage that began around 16:00 GMT Thursday, knocking out Outlook and disrupting Teams and other Microsoft 365 services across 74 countries. It reports fallout including Norwegian ministries and police, the Danish parliament, Deutsche Bahn, Euronext, and NHS England using paper records, while Microsoft blames elevated server load and says there is no sign of a cyberattack; analyst Rupert Goodwins says such failures often stem from faulty updates.
Microsoft outage extends into 2nd day worldwide, with company scrambling for fix | CBC Newscbc.ca· 34h
An Associated Press article carried by CBC News reports a Microsoft outage stretching into a second day, disrupting Outlook, Teams and Copilot for tens of thousands of users and affecting hospitals, banks, courts and governments from Toronto to Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Australia. Microsoft says it sees early stabilization, has no indication of malicious activity, and is taking a "measured approach" to repair affected infrastructure.
Microsoft-Cloud-Ausfall: E-Mail-Zugriff läuft wieder anheise.de· 35h
heise.de berichtet über einen weltweiten Microsoft-365-Ausfall, der seit Donnerstagabend andauert und den Kunden den E-Mail-Zugang in Exchange Online zunächst stark einschränkte, bevor ab in der Nacht überhaupt keine Anmeldung mehr möglich war. Laut heise läuft der Zugang zu Outlook im Web und Exchange Online seit etwa 12:30 Uhr MESZ wieder an, während Microsoft an einer Behebung arbeitet, keine Hinweise auf böswillige Aktivitäten sieht und den CDU-Abgeordneten Henri Schmidt zu mehr digitaler Souveränität zitiert.
Microsoft outage continues into second day, hitting services around the worldDhruti Shah reports for The Washington Post that Microsoft says it is urgently fixing a major outage that left Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams and Copilot, down worldwide. Downdetector says nearly 130,000 U.S. Outlook problems were reported just after 1 p.m. Thursday, with reports reaching 74 countries in about an hour.
Ook in Nederland veel problemen door wereldwijde storing Microsoft, 'geen hack'NOS reports that a worldwide hours-long Microsoft outage is causing widespread problems in the Netherlands as the workday begins, hindering Microsoft 365 services like Outlook and Teams as well as Dutch municipalities, courts, and provinces. Microsoft says the outage is not a hack but stems from overloaded and unavailable servers, and analysts expect it could cost companies worldwide billions of dollars.
Microsoft hit by global outages: What happened and why?Al Jazeera explains a global Microsoft outage that knocked out Outlook and disrupted Teams and Copilot for users in 74 countries from 12 November 2026, dragging into the next day while Microsoft rolled back a network change and ruled out a cyberattack. Experts attribute the failures to technical faults and say the outage may push Europe's drive for alternatives to US tech providers.
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Lezersoproep: hoe raakt de Microsoft-storing u? Laat het ons weten
Live updates: Microsoft scrambles to fix major outage affecting millions across the worldnbcnews.com· 37h
NBC News' live blog tracks a major global outage of Microsoft services, including Outlook and Teams, that stretched into the morning of 13 November 2026 and hit companies, governments, and tens of millions of users worldwide. Microsoft said it saw early stabilization after applying a configuration patch, saw no indication of malicious activity, and promised a Post-Incident Report, while Japan reported communications disruptions and Australia's minister said it resembled the 2024 CrowdStrike outage.
Microsoft no logra recuperar la normalidad de sus servicios tras una caída global de más de 12 horaselpais.com· 38h
An El País article reports that Microsoft was still working to restore normal operations on the morning of Friday 13 November 2026, unable to fully recover from a global outage lasting more than 12 hours. Microsoft executive vice president of Copilot Charles Lamanna ruled out a cyberattack as the cause.
What we know about the global Microsoft outageA BBC news article reports on a global Microsoft outage that has disrupted Microsoft 365 services including Outlook, Teams, and Copilot, with Downdetector logging nearly 140,000 reports of Outlook problems across 74 countries. Microsoft blames "elevated load" on its servers rather than a cyber-attack, but says fixes are so far largely unsuccessful, while governments, UK GP practices, and firms including OpenAI and Anthropic report disruption.
Microsoft's massive M365 outage stretches past 12 hours as its fixes keep failingtheregister.com· 39h
The Register reports that a Microsoft 365 outage that began around 18:00 UTC on 12 November 2026 had stretched past 12 hours, leaving users without email, Teams meetings, cloud PCs, Copilot, and some 15 other hosted services while Microsoft's fixes kept failing to bring sustained recovery. Microsoft has not ruled out a cyberattack, though it said it found no indication of malicious activity, and the outage is being called the "Microsoft long weekend" in Australia.
Outlook outage expected to cost Australian businesses billions of dollars
abc.net.au· 40h
A Microsoft outage that began about 3:15 am AEDT on a Friday and knocked out Outlook and other Microsoft services for more than 12 hours is expected to cost Australian businesses billions of dollars, with experts saying small businesses will be hit hardest and the financial impact lasting weeks. Among those affected, Queensland's Regal Shower Screens put the lost day at at least $30,000, while industry figures say the episode shows businesses need backup and contingency plans.
Disruption as Microsoft battles to fix global outagerte.ie· 40h
Microsoft is battling a global outage that disrupted Teams, Outlook, Copilot and some cloud services, with users from companies to governments unable to communicate. Downdetector logged reports in 74 countries, and Microsoft, which said it saw no malicious activity, worked overnight as servers crashed repeatedly. Conor Flynn expects significant recovery soon given Microsoft's resources.
マイクロソフト障害、市場ではFAX活用 投信で基準価格公表に遅れも - 日本経済新聞Nikkei's Market α column reports that a large Microsoft 365 outage disrupted financial markets: with email down, traders confirmed deals by fax, and an investment trust manager's trading department says a securities firm told it to stop placing orders. Base price announcements by investment trust companies may be delayed.
Microsoft says attempts to fix global outage not going 'as expected'A live BBC News page tracks Microsoft's struggle to fix a global outage of services including Teams, Outlook and Copilot, which the company says is not a cyber-attack but servers under heavy strain and fix attempts not going as expected. Downdetector reports the disruption spans 74 countries with Outlook complaints peaking near 140,000, while Australian hospitals and government services turned to workarounds like paper scripts and online transactions.
A negative Outlook: Microsoft scrambles to fix email outageNPR reports on a Microsoft Outlook outage that left millions of users — including the NPR newsroom, the U.S. House, and Australia's police — without email for over 12 hours, with Teams and Copilot also affected. Microsoft attributed the outage to "elevated load", said it saw no malicious activity, and reported "marginal success" in fixing it.
- Is Outlook down? Widespread outage hits Microsoft email and other apps
An Associated Press article published by NPR reports a widespread Microsoft outage on November 12, 2026, that left nearly 130,000 users unable to access Outlook, with thousands also reporting problems with Teams, Copilot, and Microsoft 365 services. Microsoft said it was investigating, attributed the failures to servers that failed automated health checks, and said it was testing a fix.
Microsoft outage live: Outlook and Teams failures impact government agencies, schools and businessesGuardian Australia's live blog tracks a Microsoft outage that disrupted Outlook and Teams for Australian government agencies, schools and businesses, with the federal police and ASIO among those affected. Microsoft says a recovery is under way and home affairs minister Tony Burke says it does not believe the outage is a cyber event but something like the CrowdStrike incident, while Down Detector logged nearly 130,000 reports peaking at 9.22am.
Outlook still down? Microsoft outage hits users of 365 service, Teams globally
rnz.co.nz· 45h
An RNZ article reports a global Microsoft Outlook outage on 13 November 2026 that also hit Teams and Copilot, with Microsoft blaming elevated load on its infrastructure and updates through the evening showing limited recovery. Paul Spain estimated the economic impact in the billions, while Don Christie said the outage showed New Zealand's reliance on a few global suppliers and urged open-source software as the government default.
Live: Microsoft turns servers off and on again to try to fix major outage causing email havoc
Stuff's live blog tracks a global Microsoft outage that knocked out Outlook, Microsoft 365, Teams, OneDrive and Copilot, drawing hundreds of thousands of reports worldwide and hitting New Zealand users, councils, Air New Zealand and Immigration New Zealand, which paused all visa processing. Microsoft has been restarting affected servers and capping traffic to bring them back, with no fix time estimate more than seven hours in, while the Law Society's Kristine King advises disrupted property-settlement practitioners on workarounds like Gmail and WhatsApp.
Congressional offices paralyzed by Microsoft outagePolitico reports that a global Microsoft outage left congressional offices without email for much of November 12, 2026, hitting Outlook accounts as Microsoft blamed unexpectedly unavailable servers. Staffers told Politico that work was put on hold mid-negotiations during the lame-duck session, with one estimating the loss of a day's legislative work.
Microsoft struggling to fix massive cloud outage that's taken down email and IntuneThe Register reports that Microsoft is struggling to fix a cloud outage that began around 18:00 UTC on 12 November 2026, taking down Exchange Online, Teams, Copilot 365, and Intune and leaving email not flowing for many customers. Microsoft says a core process on affected servers is becoming overwhelmed, and that its early fixes have not provided the anticipated relief, with no timeline offered for full restoration.
Microsoft outage: Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, Copilot all impactedmashable.com· 47h
Mashable reports on a Microsoft outage on Thursday, Nov. 12 that disrupted Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, and Copilot for business and enterprise users across multiple regions, with Microsoft's status page itself down for part of the day. Through evening updates, Microsoft said it was deploying fixes and bringing servers back online, telling users to expect a "gradual recovery."
Outlook, Teams and More Microsoft Programs Disrupted by OutageThe New York Times reports that a Microsoft outage disrupted Outlook, Teams, Microsoft 365, Copilot and the Microsoft Store early Thursday afternoon, with Downdetector logging more than 130,000 Outlook problem reports between 12:15 and 1 p.m. Microsoft said unexpectedly unavailable servers strained its infrastructure, and reports fell by more than half by 5 p.m.
Microsoft service health status
cloud.microsoft
Microsoft's service health status page reports a degradation on Microsoft 365 (Business or Enterprise), saying users may be unable to connect to multiple services and that the page carries the details because administrators may be unable to reach the admin center. Power Platform Admin Center is also listed, and Azure health details are at Azure Service Health.
Microsoft service health status
Microsoft's service health status page reports a service degradation on Microsoft 365 for Business or Enterprise, with users possibly unable to connect to multiple services, and says the status page carries the information because administrators may be unable to reach the admin center's Service health section. It also points Azure readers to Azure Service Health and lists the Power Platform Admin Center.
Microsoft-365-Störung: Serverausfälle legen Teams, Exchange und Copilot lahmA far-reaching Microsoft 365 outage is impairing numerous cloud services worldwide, with Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, Copilot, and others potentially affected. Microsoft says an unexpectedly large number of servers failed on 12 November 2026, likely overloading the rest, and it is restarting servers, rerouting traffic, and testing changes while the situation gradually eases.
Microsoft apologizes for massive outage that took down Outlook and other 365 servicescnbc.com· 2d
CNBC reports that Microsoft apologized for a nearly 24-hour outage that began Thursday afternoon and largely shut down Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and other Microsoft 365 services across Asia, Europe, and the U.S. The company traced the disruption to a network capacity upgrade and said no malicious activity was detected, while governments, hospitals, and companies from the NHS to Air India and Workhorse Group reported disruption, and Rep. Josh Gottheimer questioned whether something nefarious had occurred.
Global Microsoft outage affecting tens of thousands of usersBBC News reports that Microsoft is struggling to fix a global outage hitting tens of thousands of users, affecting services including Teams, Outlook and Copilot worldwide, from the US to Japan and Singapore, and disrupting firms including Anthropic and OpenAI. Microsoft says servers were "unexpectedly unavailable" and warns restored services could become unresponsive again, with no indication of a cyber-attack.
Massive Microsoft 365 outage disrupts Outlook, Teams, Copilot worldwideBleepingComputer reports a massive Microsoft 365 outage that began at 1:26 PM ET on November 12, 2026, disrupting Outlook, Teams, Copilot, Exchange Online, SharePoint, and Defender XDR worldwide, which Microsoft traced to servers unexpectedly becoming unavailable rather than a traffic surge. An earlier Teams incident that morning, tracked as TM1550488, has been fully resolved, and Microsoft's ongoing recovery has brought limited progress, though it has not said when service will be fully restored.
Major Microsoft Outlook Outage Leaves People With Email Jobs Unable to EmailWired reports a major Microsoft 365 outage on 12 November 2026 that blocked users from Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, and other services, with Microsoft rebooting failed servers and redistributing traffic while the cause stayed unclear and no cyberattack was indicated. The page also rounds up other Wired stories, from Ring's AI drone camera to Nvidia's PR firm.
マイクロソフト、「365」世界で大規模障害 メール送れずビジネスに影響 - 日本経済新聞A Nikkei news article reports that Microsoft 365 suffered a major worldwide outage beginning early on the 13th Japan time, leaving users unable to connect to email and disrupting business across services including Outlook, Teams, and Copilot. Microsoft said multiple servers unexpectedly went down and it had no timetable for full recovery; DownDetector logged over 300 Outlook reports in Japan and 130,000 at the US peak.
- Is Outlook down? Widespread outage hits Microsoft apps
An Associated Press article on NBC News reports that a widespread outage hit Microsoft platforms including Outlook on Nov. 12, 2026, leaving many users unable to send or receive email and causing errors across Microsoft's app suite. More than 120,000 users reported Outlook problems on Downdetector by around 1:30 p.m. ET, thousands flagged issues with Teams, Copilot, and Microsoft 365, and Microsoft said it was investigating, citing elevated load on part of its infrastructure and planning to redistribute traffic.
Multiple Microsoft 365 services are experiencing an outage - Engadgetengadget.com· 2d
Engadget reports that multiple Microsoft 365 services went down on 12 November 2026, with early complaints centered on Outlook email and Microsoft flagging Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, Copilot 365 and Defender XDR as potentially affected for Business and Enterprise tiers. In a quoted statement, Microsoft said elevated load across multiple regions was likely causing connectivity errors and that it was restarting affected infrastructure, reviewing a traffic spike, and weighing rerouting options.
Microsoft Outlook is still downThe Verge reports that Microsoft Outlook has been down worldwide since around 1PM ET on 12 November 2026, cutting off email access for people, businesses, and public services. Microsoft says elevated load across multiple regions is likely behind the connectivity errors affecting Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, and Copilot, and that there is still no ETA for full restoration.
Microsoft's Outlook email hit by new outage | TechCrunchTechCrunch's Zack Whittaker reports that Microsoft says an outage is preventing Outlook users from accessing their inboxes, a problem it initially flagged in the United States and the Americas before expanding to "any region," with no cause given. Microsoft says it is posting updates in its admin center, which was unreachable, and told X users it is redistributing traffic across its infrastructure.
Microsoft 365 Experiencing Mass Outages With Cloud-Based Serviceshuffpost.com· 5d
HuffPost's live blog covers a Microsoft 365 outage across the Americas on 12 November 2026 and the FAA's nationwide ground stop the next day, lifted shortly after 8 p.m. EST after delaying nearly 10,000 flights and cancelling 5,000. Officials blamed overloaded legacy communications equipment rather than a cyberattack, Sean Duffy largely faulted Congress for outdated gear, Pete Buttigieg demanded answers and transparency, and HuffPost calls Trump's attempt to rename artificial intelligence absurd.
Microsoft Apologizes As Global Outage Stretches Into Day TwoHuffPost's live-updates article covers Microsoft's apology as a global outage of Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 products stretched into its second day, and the FAA's roughly four-hour nationwide ground stop, which delayed nearly 10,000 flights and cancelled 5,000 others. Officials blamed overloaded legacy communications equipment, not a cyberattack, while Trump's first remarks came via Fox News — and he posted about a bipartisan entertainment bill instead of the stoppage.
Background newest first
Outlook went down, then air traffic systems. It’s been a bad week of outages.
What to know about flights after the U.S. nationwide ground stopAn Associated Press article on PBS explains what passengers should know after a nationwide U.S. ground stop on Friday, 13 November 2026, left 12,000 scheduled flights grounded when officials could not quickly find the cause of a system overload, and says the stoppage ended around 8:15 p.m. ET. Officials, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, attributed the overload to contractor work replacing copper wire with fiber and said it was not a cyberattack; passengers are owed rebooking or refunds, and up to 5,000 of Saturday's 41,000 flights could be canceled before a full recovery expected Sunday.
‘No answer’: Messaging failures worsened the air traffic freeze and sowed distrust in government | CNN Businesscnn.com· 3h
CNN Business reports that muddled messaging from officials and airlines after the FAA's November 13, 2026 national ground stop stranded travelers, fueled conspiracy theories about AI or hacks, and deepened distrust of the Trump administration, even as Sean Duffy blamed a faulty router or contractor error and Bryan Bedford saw no evidence of anything nefarious. CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem says leaders in a crisis must offer "facts and hope," and says the response lacked both.
What are your rights when your flight is canceled?A Washington Post live-updates page explains air passenger rights after a nationwide ground stop halted U.S. flight traffic for over four hours: no federal rule requires compensation for cancellations or delays, airlines voluntarily compensate only for disruptions within their control, and a refund is required if a passenger chooses not to fly. The page also follows Mark Carney's trade talks with Trump, Judge Ana C. Reyes's ethics inquiry into administration lawyers, a Microsoft outage that disrupted services worldwide, and Life Hax advice on a dog-unfriendly family visit.
Judge in golf course case says inquiry into DOJ lawyers will proceedThe Washington Post's developing-stories page reports that U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes said an inquiry into Justice Department lawyers' conduct in the East Potomac Golf Links case would proceed despite the department's objections, with a ruling expected Saturday on preservation groups' request to stop the course's closure. It also covers Microsoft's restoration of a global outage that hit hospitals and schools, two more measles deaths bringing the 2026 toll to at least 10, California's record marine heat wave, Elon Musk's call for Jensen Huang's reinstatement at Nvidia, and phone charging advice.
'Rolling waves of chaos' predicted as analyst drops chilling flight grounding warningrawstory.com· 7h
A Raw Story article reports The Atlantic's Josh Tyrangiel warning that Friday's nationwide FAA flight grounding may be a preview, with his sources expecting "rolling waves of chaos" as fast-improving AI and rickety software put state-grade capability in the hands of people with nothing to lose. The ground stop followed a Microsoft Outlook outage, and Sean Duffy blamed a communications issue, which Air Space Intelligence denies was its SMART system's fault.
Live updates: FAA grounds flights nationwide because of communication issueA live-updates report on the FAA's nationwide halt of departing flights on 13 November 2026 over a communications outage affecting air route traffic control centers, with officials saying there are no initial signs of a cyberattack and no timeline for restarting flights. A few Pacific-bound flights were cleared from San Francisco, SpaceX launched a Starship rocket during the stop, sports teams and passengers were left stranded, and the outage came soon after the FAA rolled out its AI-assisted SMART air traffic system, which officials and its vendor say was not the cause.
Live updates: No timeline for resolving nationwide ground stop as flight cancellations climb | CNNCNN's live updates track the FAA's nationwide ground stop, which has grounded all US flights over a telecommunications outage still unclear in cause, with thousands of delays and cancellations piling up. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says it was no threat and not tied to the Microsoft outage and warns the fix will take time, while law enforcement sources say it was not a cyberattack and a stranded student pilot lands solo.
Pluralistic: I told you so (13 Nov 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
Cory Doctorow's "I told you so" post argues that Microsoft's two-day outage, which grounded governments and businesses unable to meet without Office 365 and Teams, proves his earlier warning that the world's dependence on Microsoft cloud services is a digital sovereignty risk. He ties the outage to Microsoft's convicted-monopoly history, $30 billion in buybacks and 60,000 layoffs, judges the company too big to live, and proposes bright-line antitrust tests for breaking up monopolists and unwinding mergers.
Microsoft faces Washington scrutiny after global outage
Politico reports Microsoft faces congressional scrutiny after a nearly 24-hour outage left millions of Outlook, Teams, and Copilot users offline and brought work on Capitol Hill to a standstill. Microsoft apologized, calling it a technical issue not a cyberattack, while Rep. Andrew Garbarino seeks more information and warns of concentration risk.
Australia must develop digital resilience, experts warn, but it will cost
An ABC News article reports calls for Australia to build digital resilience after global Microsoft outages, with University of Melbourne researcher Andrew Cullen saying the country depends heavily on US tech and could follow France, Germany and Austria toward sovereign digital infrastructure. Experts including Toby Murray and Toby Walsh warn that shifting away from US providers would require significant investment, expect more outages and hacks, and urge organisations to plan contingencies for losing services like email.
Microsoft outage renews European calls to detox from US techpolitico.eu· 28h
A Politico Europe article reports from Dublin that Friday's Microsoft outage, which hit Outlook and Teams for nearly 24 hours across 74 countries, renewed European calls to control its own digital infrastructure. Lawmakers and executives — including Mistral's Arthur Mensch, who said only 20% of European digital services run on European infrastructure — urged reinvestment and digital sovereignty, and Emmanuel Macron posted on X, "Our independence cannot be outsourced."
CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks Climb 3% as Microsoft Outage Disrupts Outlook and Teams247wallst.com· 31h
247wallst.com reports that a Microsoft outage disrupting Outlook and Teams lifted cybersecurity stocks, with CrowdStrike up 3% to $237.30 and Palo Alto Networks up 3% to $333 while Microsoft slipped 0.8%. David Moadel writes that outages spotlight security and vendor independence, forecasting enterprises may reconsider separate platforms, and recommends caution until Palo Alto's November 18 earnings.
Claude Status - Incident History
claude.com
Claude's status page lists incidents from September to November 2026: elevated errors on claude.ai, Claude Code, and platform.claude.com, an authentication issue under investigation, Microsoft 365 connector failures attributed to a Microsoft service incident, and resolved outages affecting connectors, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Google Play subscriptions, and multiple models.
Claude Status
Anthropic's Claude status page tracks an unresolved Microsoft 365 connector incident: as of 22:23 UTC on 12 November 2026, its mail, calendar and search tools fail for most requests, Claude for Outlook is affected, and Anthropic traces the cause to a Microsoft 365 service incident. Claude Code, the API and Console are operational, while claude.ai, Claude Cowork and Claude for Government show degraded performance.
Top national security advisor warned of Microsoft risks months ago
ABC News reports that Home Affairs national security head Hamish Hansford warned months before a Microsoft outage that Australia's reliance on the company risked a "disproportionate impact", calling finding alternatives to major US tech providers unrealistic and urging closer ties with Microsoft instead. The article details the government's dependence: more than $1 billion in contracts the year of the outage, deals including $720 million with Defence, and Tony Burke's activation of a provision requiring Microsoft to prioritise Australia's recovery.
Single Point of Everything; 4 Important Questions - CERIAS - Purdue Universitypurdue.edu· 45h
In a CERIAS blog post, Prof. Spafford uses the Microsoft 365 outage that began 12 November 2026 — spreading from Outlook to Teams, SharePoint, Copilot, and security tooling, disrupting hospitals and governments worldwide — to argue that enterprises warned against single points of failure built a single point of everything instead. He asks leaders four questions, recommends listing what stops when one supplier stops, exercising manual fallbacks, and naming who improvises when AI agents and their vendors are offline.
Live updates: FAA grounds flights nationwide due to communications problemsapnews.com· 45h
The Associated Press is running live updates on the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide ground stop of Friday, 13 November 2026, imposed over communications problems at regional air traffic control centers, the first such halt since January 2023; more than 600 flights were diverted, cargo operations were affected, and sports teams and travelers were stranded. Officials including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of an attack, while United and American Airlines said airborne flights would continue.
Nasdaq falls on Friday as Nvidia sells off, but index notches best week since August: Live updatesCNBC's live markets blog tracks a Friday session in which the Nasdaq fell 0.91% as Nvidia shares slid following CEO Jensen Huang's resignation — capping the index's best week since August — while analysts weighed whether his exit could trigger a 20% stock correction. It also covers a global Microsoft Outlook outage, bitcoin dropping below $70,000, and a reported Samsung–Modine deal.
Microsoft Outlook went down and I only ate one neighbor | Opinionusatoday.com· 2d
Rex Huppke's satirical USA TODAY column uses a widespread Microsoft Outlook outage on Nov. 12 to mock workplace dependence on Microsoft 365, imagining that cut off from email he is thrust into "the real world," discovers grass and a cat, and, presuming the apocalypse, eats only one neighbor — the slow one, Frank. He rates the outdoors zero stars and says the real lesson is that society needs a backup layer of electronic distraction so neighbors like Frank stay safe.
Outlook down as thousands of users report issuesthenational.scot· 2d
Is Microsoft Outlook Still Down?HuffPost's live blog tracks the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide ground stop of 13 November 2026, which officials blamed on overloaded legacy communications systems and which delayed nearly 10,000 flights, cancelled 5,000, and was lifted roughly four hours after it was issued. Sean Duffy largely blames Congress for outdated equipment, Pete Buttigieg calls for answers and transparency, Markwayne Mullin says the public was never in danger, and the blog also follows SpaceX's failed Starship double catch and Trump's preferred term "SI".
Amid Nationwide Ground Stop, Trump Rants About Overhauling Entertainment IndustryHuffPost's rolling news page covers a nationwide FAA ground stop on Friday, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blaming a communication issue at air route traffic control centers and more than 6,500 flights delayed, while President Trump posts instead about a bipartisan entertainment industry overhaul bill. Other updates include a tanker striking the American Heritage paddleboat in New Orleans, SpaceX's flopped Starship booster catch, a second day of Microsoft 365 outages, and Sen. Chris Van Hollen's bid for Senate majority leader.
