Global outage affects Microsoft services: Outlook, Teams and more impacted

Microsoft initially spoke of high utilization, later admitting to server failures. The problems persist and are impacting access to central cloud services.

According to the outage platform Downdetector.com, thousands of users in various regions reported issues. In addition to the email service Outlook, other components of the Microsoft 365 package are also affected. Users report difficulties with meeting scheduling and calendar integration in Teams.

The AI assistant Copilot, the administrator portal, and interfaces to third parties such as OpenAI and Anthropic were also temporarily affected.

Microsoft confirmed to CNBC that it is investigating reports of difficulties with Microsoft 365 services, particularly with Exchange Online. Information has been published via the Microsoft 365 status account on X.

The company initially struggled without decisive success against the outages. First, there were problems with Exchange mailboxes in the United States, followed by a warning of worldwide connection problems. There was briefly the impression of a breakthrough when some servers went back online, but these servers threatened to fail again as soon as traffic arrived. An isolated restart only brought partial success.

Microsoft emphasized that there is no evidence of a cyberattack. The timing of when all Microsoft 365 services will fully function again is currently unclear.