A global Microsoft outage that began on Thursday has left millions of people unable to access their Outlook emails, Teams messaging and other services, causing disruption for workers and several governments worldwide.
Microsoft said it was working to resolve the problem but acknowledged that initial efforts to fix the issues had largely been unsuccessful. Reports of problems with Microsoft Teams peaked in the UK at around 6.15pm on Thursday, according to monitoring website Downdetector.
No sign of cyber attack
Microsoft executive vice-president Charles Lamanna said the outages did not appear to be the result of a cyber attack. In a post on X, he said: "We regret that today’s outages caused disruptions for our customers, and we are working to address the issue. We will continue to share more information as soon as we have it, and for now I can confirm that there is no indication this is the result of malicious or cyber activity."
A range of Microsoft products and services have been impacted, from emails to artificial intelligence products.
Which Microsoft services are affected?
Microsoft 365 Services have been hit by "connectivity problems", including the messaging service Teams, Outlook emails, some aspects of its Cloud services and the AI software Copilot. Users have reported varying levels of access, with some unable to send emails and others unable to send messages via Teams.
The tech giant has provided updates on official Microsoft 365 accounts, but earlier it directed people to a page on its website for updates, which users complained did not load.
Impact on police and governments
Some UK police forces have not been able to receive reports made through their websites as a result of the outages. In a post on Facebook, South Wales Police said: "Due to a global Microsoft service issue, we are currently experiencing technical issues with receiving reports made via our website form." The force encouraged people to call 101 or 999 in an emergency.
Multiple governments around the world have reported Microsoft outages, including in India, Japan and Australia, where the country's spy and federal police agencies said they were left unable to send emails. Monitoring website Downdetector said 140,000 people from 74 countries reported problems with Outlook on Thursday evening. Over 430 million people use Microsoft 365 apps, according to the firm's website.
