On November 12 and 13, 2026, users reported experiencing disruptions with their email and productivity applications.On November 12 and 13, 2026, Outlook and Microsoft 365 are making progress on recovering from the reported widespread disruptions in email and productivity applications.
Access to business communications and cloud applications were interrupted, which initiated technical recovery activities. The Microsoft Outage Update focuses on restoring and the reported reasons for the disruption, as well as what users should look out for once services are restored.
Are Outlook and Microsoft 365 Services Working Again?
Microsoft announced significant improvements in Outlook and Microsoft 365 availability on Nov. 13 after almost 24 hours of disruption. Recovery continued to take place in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, according to Associated Press. But some users still had some connectivity issues and emails were delayed. There is no independent confirmation of complete restoration yet.
What Caused the Widespread Microsoft Outage?
Microsoft identified that some processes and infrastructure on the servers were overloaded, or otherwise failed, which led to issues with Exchange Online connectivity. Engineers were in charge of restarting affected systems, redistributing network traffic and reviewing configuration changes. Microsoft has said it has found no evidence of malicious cyber activity, BleepingComputer reports. The company had not determined the exact cause and said it will investigate further.
Which Microsoft Services Were Affected by the Disruption?
The outage impacted Outlook, Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, Copilot and various other linked Microsoft 365 capabilities. Customers experienced mailbox issues and slow email and disruption to business communication. The Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (NICERT) also recorded the rampant service interruption. Some applications were unable to function properly despite being able to use any Exchange functionality.
What Should Users Do as Microsoft Services Recover?
Important email dependent tasks should not be resumed until users have determined that they are able to send and receive messages normally in Outlook. Organisations should watch the Microsoft Service Health portal, and check for communications that are delayed. Administrators may see incident updates in the Microsoft 365 admin centre too. To minimize unnecessary resets and software installations, do not reset accounts or install unnecessary software.
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