Microsoft outage disrupts Outlook, Teams and public services worldwide

The Microsoft outage November 2026 disrupted Exchange Online and Outlook email, along with Exchange-dependent features in Teams and Microsoft Copilot, across at least 70 countries. Microsoft said recovery was under way on November 13, but some customers still faced access problems while the company drained delayed email and rebalanced network traffic.

The incident began around midday on the US East Coast on November 12 and spread internationally, according to CNN and the BBC. Microsoft said the problem stemmed from an earlier network-capacity upgrade that surfaced after a later network change. The company said it had addressed the underlying issue, but its explanation remains preliminary ahead of a planned technical report.

What caused the Microsoft 365 outage?

Microsoft attributed the disruption to a technical issue introduced during an earlier network-capacity upgrade, rather than a cyberattack or AI agents. The company said it restored services in stages because of demand and validated stability during the process. That is a company account of the incident, not a completed independent finding.

SiliconANGLE reported that Microsoft initially patched an upstream authentication and routing configuration component. The company later said its systems began regaining access in Asia-Pacific, followed by North America and Europe. The Guardian reported that the impact differed by region and customer, with certain functions returning before others.

Which services and organizations were affected?

The direct failure centered on Exchange Online, Microsoft’s hosted email and calendar service. Exchange Server installations run on customers’ own infrastructure were not affected, according to SiliconANGLE. However, Teams and Copilot 365 capabilities that draw on Exchange mailbox data also encountered problems. SiliconANGLE also reported technical issues with Intune, Microsoft’s device-management product.

The disruption reached organizations that use Microsoft 365 as workplace infrastructure. SiliconANGLE reported communications issues at Maersk and Euronext, delayed US court cases, and a warning from the UK’s National Pharmacy Association that prescription processing could slow. The BBC reported disruption to US court services and government offices, as well as to NHS England staff.

Those effects were not uniform across public services. The BBC said the UK cyber minister reported limited effects on frontline delivery and said 999 calls and frontline NHS 111 services were unaffected. The Guardian also documented issues affecting government bodies, schools and other organizations in several countries.

Had Microsoft fully restored Outlook and Teams?

Not at the time of the latest updates. Microsoft reported broad recovery and stability, according to the BBC, while warning that it was still clearing queued messages and shifting traffic. The company did not provide a time for complete restoration. CNN reported that Microsoft said email queues had been substantially reduced and were nearing normal levels.

Microsoft has said it plans to publish a detailed technical report after services are fully restored. That report may provide further detail on the failure sequence and restoration work. For operators, the immediate distinction is between broad service recovery and confirmation that every affected workload and queued message has returned to normal.

This story draws on original reporting from SiliconANGLE.