A global Microsoft 365 outage has hit millions – what happened and when will it be fixed?

The disruption affected businesses and public services worldwide, raising questions about the resilience of cloud-based software and the need for back-up systems

A Microsoft Outlook sign-in page is shown on a computer on November 12, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Picture: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Potentially millions of people were unable to access their emails, Teams chats or meetings on Thursday night and Friday morning after a Microsoft 365 outage disrupted services across the globe.

The incident affected businesses, government agencies and even Microsoft employees, who were unable to send emails during more than nine hours of disruption.