Microsoft Outlook users around the world have been unable to reach their email since early Thursday afternoon, and Microsoft has yet to fully resolve the disruption. The outage affects access through both the web and Outlook apps, according to reports that began arriving just before 1PM ET. Microsoft acknowledged the problem shortly after through its Microsoft 365 Status account.
In that acknowledgment, Microsoft said it had determined that a portion of its infrastructure was experiencing elevated load across multiple regions, which it said was likely contributing to the connectivity errors. The company's official updates warned that customers could see problems across its suite of 365 business services. Some users also reported issues with Teams, though those reports were not as widespread as the Outlook problems.
Microsoft communications director Ben Hope said the company was aware of and investigating reports of users having trouble with Microsoft 365 services, primarily Exchange Online. He expressed appreciation for customers' patience while the company works to restore services as soon as possible.
Over the following hours, Microsoft issued several revised updates on the situation and its repair efforts, disclosing that it had run into trouble rebooting servers and monitoring their health. In a note posted at about 6PM ET, the company said it had started returning a portion of the affected servers to service and that those servers had remained stable so far. Microsoft also said it had moved traffic and connections to alternative pathways where possible and had seen limited recovery in some regions.
The company said it had streamlined its recovery process to speed the return of the remaining affected servers. It added that it was putting protective traffic management measures in place in a specific location to reduce load on the affected infrastructure, and that it would extend those measures to additional locations if results looked positive. According to Microsoft, users may see a gradual recovery as their clients reconnect to the service.
Microsoft has not provided an estimate for when full service will be restored. The company said it will continue to monitor the ongoing outage.
More software news from TechManNews.
