Thousands of Microsoft users have reported problems with their Outlook 365 email systems. According to tracking site DownDetector.com, just under 16,000 users were reporting issues as of 3.30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Microsoft acknowledged the issue on X, stating: “We're investigating a potential issue impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Purview. Further information can be found in the admin center under MO1221364.” The company identified that part of its service infrastructure in North America “is not processing traffic as expected,” though it did not specify the location.
“We're working to restore the infrastructure to a healthy state to achieve recovery,” Microsoft added. An update around 4 p.m. ET said: “We're continuing to review what actions are required to restore the affected infrastructure to a healthy state and rebalance the service traffic to achieve recovery.” At that time, reports of issues had dropped to around 13,000.
Users expressed mixed reactions. One wrote: “Email is the backbone of communication in corporate America, this is a very bad look.” Another commented: “Just another day with Microsoft... Everything seems to be in the red on the admin and email delivery side.” However, some were less concerned, with one user saying: “Oh no. Outlook is down and I can’t receive any emails at work,” and another adding: “Looks like I get the day off.”
The Independent has contacted Microsoft for further details regarding the outage.
