Global Microsoft outage disrupts services worldwide
On Thursday, November 12, 2026, Microsoft services experienced an extensive global outage, significantly impacting users in at least 74 countries. Affected platforms included Outlook, Microsoft 365, Teams, Copilot, OneDrive, and SharePoint. According to data from Downdetector, reports of issues with Outlook peaked at approximately 140,000, representing over 2,000 times the normal level of complaints. The failure caused operational chaos for businesses, financial institutions, and government services, with some Japanese firms reportedly resorting to fax machines to conduct transactions.
Microsoft attributed the disruption to a server malfunction that caused infrastructure overload rather than a cyberattack or increased user traffic. While the company implemented technical adjustments to stabilize its servers, these efforts did not immediately restore full functionality, and users experienced intermittent access issues extending into Friday, November 13. Engineers continue to monitor diagnostic data to address ongoing traffic management imbalances.
Despite the operational impact, many users reacted to the prolonged downtime with humor on social media, noting the coincidence of the outage occurring on Friday the 13th. The company remains focused on restoring service to all affected regions and investigating the root cause to prevent future recurrences of these infrastructure failures.