AI-generated illustration; not a photograph of the reported event.
- calendar_today November 13, 2026
Widespread Microsoft Outage Enters Second Day
Microsoft users across the globe faced disruptions over two days as a major outage affected popular services such as Outlook, Teams, and Copilot AI. Beginning Thursday, the outage impacted Microsoft 365 offerings that interact with Exchange Online and email services, resulting in a significant interruption for users in 74 countries, according to the outage tracking website Downdetector.
Microsoft Announces Recovery Efforts
On Friday morning, Microsoft stated it was witnessing “encouraging recovery progress,” with improvements in email delivery. However, some users continued to experience intermittent issues as the company worked to stabilize services and repair affected infrastructure. Microsoft emphasized that their efforts included a “measured approach” and reassured users that, so far, there was no indication the outage was caused by malicious activity or a cyberattack. The company committed to addressing the issue “with urgency until full mitigation.”
Scope of the Service Disruption
The outage affected a wide range of Microsoft’s business and personal products used by individuals, students, and organizations. Microsoft 365 has over 430 million users, and the outage disrupted normal activities for many, including email communications and collaborative work. Reports of Microsoft issues spiked to over 130,000 at the height of the disruption but began decreasing by Friday.
Global Ripple Effects on Businesses and Government
Major organizations reported complications as a result of the outage. OpenAI and Anthropic cited problems connecting to Microsoft 365 tools, highlighting the interconnected nature of business software. U.S.-based Workhorse Group Inc. postponed its quarterly earnings call due to the disruption. In Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke compared the outage to the widespread CrowdStrike incident from July 2024, noting that Microsoft believed the problem resembled an update gone awry rather than a cyberattack.
International businesses also felt the impact. In Hong Kong, aluminum company owner Danny Lau warned that prolonged email issues could affect production. Airlines Air India and IndiGo implemented alternative measures for customer queries, ensuring flight operations remained unaffected. Various government entities, including Singapore's Government Technology Agency, the Philippines' Supreme Court, and Japan’s IT infrastructure, experienced operational hurdles and coordinated with Microsoft to resolve them.
Ongoing Infrastructure Recovery and Communication
Microsoft continued to update the public via its Microsoft 365 Status X account, detailing ongoing mitigation and infrastructure recovery. The company focused on reducing email queues and backlogs while verifying the consistency of service across affected regions. As of Friday, recovery signals were noted in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, but intermittent access issues persisted for some users.
Public Response and Outlook
The global technology outage prompted varied reactions, with some employees expressing frustration over delayed workflows and others posting lighthearted responses online about the break from email. Technology analysts indicated the incident would raise significant questions for Microsoft regarding infrastructure resilience and update management.
Source: cbsnews.com.
