Microsoft is dealing with a major global outage affecting Outlook, Teams, Copilot, and several other Microsoft 365 services. The disruption began on November 12, 2026, preventing users across multiple countries from accessing emails and essential workplace applications.
The Microsoft 365 outage also affected connectors used by artificial intelligence platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. These integrations allow AI assistants to access business information, including emails, calendars, and documents stored within Microsoft 365.
Microsoft has started restoring affected services after encountering problems with its initial recovery efforts. The company has reported early signs of improvement, but some users continue experiencing connectivity issues.
Microsoft 365 Outage Affects Users Worldwide
The Microsoft 365 outage disrupted services across 74 countries and territories, according to Downdetector reports. Outlook faced some of the biggest disruptions, with nearly 130,000 users reporting problems across the United States.
Affected users experienced difficulties accessing Outlook inboxes, sending emails, and receiving incoming messages. Several customers also reported connectivity issues with Microsoft Teams, Copilot, and other Microsoft workplace applications.
Microsoft initially confirmed that the outage affected Exchange Online, its cloud-based email service. The company attributed the connectivity problems to increased infrastructure loads across multiple regions.
Outlook and Microsoft Teams Face Email and Connectivity Problems
Outlook was one of the hardest-hit services during the Microsoft 365 outage. Users reported difficulties accessing their email accounts through desktop apps, mobile devices, and web browsers.
Microsoft also warned that email delivery delays could occur while engineers investigated the disruption. Some customers experienced problems sending and receiving messages through Exchange Online.
Microsoft Teams also faced issues with features connected to Exchange Online. These problems affected calendar access, meeting scheduling, and certain chat creation functions.
However, Microsoft confirmed that core Teams messaging and online meetings remained largely available. Users could also continue accessing files stored directly in SharePoint Online. The Microsoft 365 outage also affected several other workplace applications and services, including:
- Microsoft 365 Copilot
- SharePoint Online
- Microsoft Planner
- Microsoft To Do
- Microsoft Defender XDR
- Microsoft Purview
- Microsoft Graph
- Power BI
Microsoft’s service advisory also reported intermittent failures across Power Platform applications, workflows, and connectors. These issues affected users relying on connected tools and automated business processes.
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ChatGPT and Claude Microsoft 365 Connectors Also Affected
The outage also affected connections between Microsoft 365 and external artificial intelligence platforms, including services from OpenAI and Anthropic. OpenAI reported an issue with its Microsoft connectors, while Anthropic identified problems affecting its Microsoft 365 connector.
Both companies said the disruption affected integrations that rely on Microsoft services and prevented some tools from working properly. These connectors allow AI assistants to access workplace information, including emails, calendars, and other Microsoft 365 data.
Users can retrieve business information through these integrations without switching between different applications. The disruption highlighted how problems with shared cloud infrastructure can affect multiple technology platforms simultaneously. Even independently operated AI tools may experience service interruptions when their external integrations become unavailable.
Microsoft Investigates the Cause of the Global Outage
Microsoft initially blamed increased infrastructure loads across multiple regions for the widespread Microsoft 365 service disruption. However, the company later identified unexpected server outages as a major cause of the incident.
The affected servers increased pressure on Microsoft’s remaining infrastructure and disrupted normal service operations. This made it difficult for the company to process user requests and maintain reliable connections.
To address the problem, Microsoft paused deployments and redirected traffic through alternative routes. Engineers also began restarting affected servers and restoring infrastructure capacity across impacted regions.
However, these initial recovery measures failed to deliver the expected results. Microsoft reported that some servers stopped responding again after engineers restored them to service.
The company then explored alternative recovery methods to improve server performance and maintain stable connections. Engineers continued monitoring infrastructure conditions as additional servers gradually returned to normal operations.
Microsoft also confirmed that it had found no evidence of malicious activity or cyberattacks. The company continued investigating the outage while focusing on restoring affected Microsoft 365 services.
Businesses and Government Services Face Disruptions
The global Microsoft 365 outage disrupted businesses and government organisations across several countries. Several organisations reported interruptions to email communication and other essential workplace operations.
In Singapore, government email services experienced disruptions during the incident. The Philippines’ Supreme Court also reported operational difficulties and delays in email responses. Japanese authorities separately reported problems affecting government IT infrastructure.
The outage also affected businesses across Hong Kong, including banking services and corporate communications. Some organisations experienced difficulties maintaining normal operations while Microsoft investigated the service disruption.
Indian airlines also reported problems with their email support systems. IndiGo said the outage affected its ability to receive customer queries from passengers. Air India temporarily redirected its email services to manage the disruption.
However, both airlines confirmed that their flight operations continued without any reported impact. IndiGo also stated that its other customer support channels remained available to passengers.
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Microsoft Begins Restoring Affected Services
Microsoft has begun restoring affected servers and increasing infrastructure capacity to bring its Microsoft 365 services back online. The company reported early signs of improvement as recovery efforts continued on November 13.
However, the restoration process remained gradual, with some users continuing to report connectivity problems. Microsoft had not provided a confirmed timeline for fully restoring all affected services.
The global Microsoft 365 outage has raised concerns about the reliability of cloud-based workplace applications. Microsoft 365 serves more than 430 million users worldwide, making service disruptions particularly challenging for businesses and organisations.
The incident also highlights how artificial intelligence platforms increasingly depend on external workplace software integrations. As companies connect AI assistants to business applications, cloud service failures can disrupt multiple platforms simultaneously.
