Global Outage: Microsoft Works to Restore Email Services
A two-day disruption affecting over 450 million commercial subscriptions has halted court trials, police reports, and corporate communications across three continents.
By Alyssa Parker ·
Businesses and government agencies around the world continued to struggle with email access on Friday as Microsoft worked to fix a global outage. The disruption, which began on Thursday, has prevented users from sending messages, attending video calls, and using artificial intelligence tools built into Microsoft 365. While some users reported that their inboxes began working again by late Friday, the company warned that delays could persist for many others.
The issue first appeared on Thursday, 18 hours before Microsoft’s initial public update. The company said it was using a measured approach to identify the cause and repair the affected infrastructure. Engineers posted a series of 20 updates on X, noting that some changes were not taking effect as expected. By Friday morning, the team reported early stabilization and capacity improvements in key areas. Microsoft stated it had no indication that malicious activity caused the problem. The company is treating the incident with urgency until full resolution is achieved.
The outage has reached into daily life in several countries. In Britain, Judge Maurice Greene dismissed jurors in a Manchester trial due to technology delays. British police forces told the public to call emergency responders rather than submit online crime reports. The National Pharmacy Association warned that prescription delays could occur because the state-run National Health Service relies on the affected email systems. Norway’s government said several ministries lost email access and had not received a timeline for a fix.
Asian and Australian officials also reported disruptions. Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Microsoft likened the current situation to the 2024 CrowdStrike outage, which resulted from a faulty Windows update. Burke noted that Microsoft believes an update has gone awry rather than a cyberattack being the cause. In Hong Kong, Danny Lau, who runs an aluminum firm, said his company could not receive updates from U.S. customers. He warned that a longer outage could impact production timelines. Some local banks also saw partial operational disruptions.
The aviation industry in India managed the issue with minor adjustments. Air India said its flight operations were unaffected, but it temporarily rerouted email services to keep customer queries moving. IndiGo reported similar disruptions to its email support channels, though other support lines remained open. Singapore’s Government Technology Agency confirmed that government emails were down. In Japan, officials secured alternative communication tools like telephones to maintain operations.
Microsoft’s next steps involve prioritizing the reduction of email queues and backlogs in the remaining affected environments. The company said it was focusing on recovery for these specific areas. It reported broader improvements in North America and Europe, with encouraging signals in the Asia-Pacific region. The company has more than 450 million paid Microsoft 365 commercial subscriptions, though the total number of affected individuals is not clear.
The outage also impacted technology partners. OpenAI and Anthropic reported problems connecting with Microsoft 365 tools. Workhorse Group Inc. delayed its quarterly earnings conference call due to the disruption. Microsoft continues to monitor the infrastructure as it works to bring all services back online.
