Microsoft has been facing a major global service disruption affecting millions of users after an outage knocked out access to several of its widely used products, including Outlook, Microsoft Teams and its artificial intelligence assistant, Copilot. The technology company said on Thursday that its initial attempts to resolve the problem were not producing the expected results, prompting engineers to explore alternative solutions to restore normal operations.
Microsoft attributed the disruption to unusually high demand on parts of its infrastructure, which affected connectivity across multiple regions and left individuals, businesses and government institutions unable to access essential communication services. In updates shared on its official X account, the company acknowledged that measures introduced to improve service availability had not worked as anticipated. Microsoft said it was exploring other technical approaches to increase system capacity and reduce the impact on affected users. However, it did not provide a definite timeline for the complete restoration of services.
Outage Spreads Across 74 Countries
The disruption quickly spread beyond its initial reported location, affecting Microsoft services in 74 countries and territories within an hour, according to outage monitoring platform Downdetector. A geographical map shared by Downdetector showed that users across the Americas, parts of Europe, Asia and Africa were experiencing difficulties accessing Microsoft’s platforms. New Zealand was among the affected countries, with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade informing users that the outage had disrupted its ability to receive emails.
The ministry noted that the problem also affected New Zealand’s embassies, consulates and representative offices operating in different parts of the world. Microsoft initially acknowledged reports of connectivity problems in the Americas before confirming that the disruption was affecting Microsoft 365 users across different regions.
Teams and Copilot Also Experience Disruptions
Apart from Outlook, Microsoft Teams and Copilot were also affected, with thousands of users reporting difficulties accessing the platforms, according to Downdetector. Microsoft 365, the company’s subscription-based cloud service, provides access to several productivity and communication applications, including Outlook and Teams.
The disruption therefore affected users who depend on the platforms for workplace communication, email correspondence and other daily operations. Microsoft explained that a section of its infrastructure was experiencing unusually high system loads across multiple regions, contributing to the connectivity problems. The company said its technical teams were pursuing several possible solutions to minimise the disruption and restore access.
Microsoft Reports Limited Recovery
As the outage continued for several hours, Microsoft issued multiple updates outlining its efforts to restore the affected services. In an update posted shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern Time (11 p.m. GMT), the company reported signs of limited recovery as it worked to redirect user traffic away from the affected servers. Microsoft cautioned that the restoration process could be gradual, explaining that users might regain access progressively as system capacity improved and applications reconnected to the available infrastructure.
Despite the reported progress, the company maintained that it was still working on alternative measures to address the underlying problem and restore normal service across its platforms. The incident highlighted the widespread dependence of businesses, government institutions and individuals on Microsoft’s cloud-based services for everyday communication and productivity.
