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A major outage affecting Microsoft’s Outlook and Teams services disrupted communications for businesses and government organisations worldwide on Friday, leaving millions of users unable to access essential workplace tools.
The disruption lasted more than 12 hours and also affected Microsoft’s Copilot artificial intelligence assistant. Some organisations were forced to return to traditional communication methods, including fax machines, while at least one bond repurchase transaction in Europe was halted.
Microsoft attributed the incident to server-related problems and said a broader rollout of software fixes was helping stabilise its systems. The company added that it had found no evidence of malicious activity or a cyberattack.
Outlook and Teams are among the world’s most widely used workplace applications, serving hundreds of millions of users. The outage disrupted essential functions, including sending emails, managing calendars and conducting virtual meetings.
Government departments and businesses in Australia, Japan, the United States and several European countries reported problems. The disruption also delayed financial transactions, affected corporate earnings announcements and prompted airlines to warn customers about communication delays.
Organisations operating Microsoft services on their own servers rather than relying on cloud-based systems were relatively less affected.
Another Major Disruption for Microsoft
The incident ranks among the longest service disruptions in Microsoft’s history and marks another major setback for its productivity platform this year.
Microsoft said the problem primarily affected features connected to Exchange Online, its cloud-based email and scheduling service. Applications and systems not connected to the affected services continued operating.
The outage has renewed concerns about the growing dependence of businesses and governments on a small number of major technology companies for essential digital infrastructure.
Microsoft shares fell 1.7% before the market opened, underperforming the broader market. However, the company’s stock had gained approximately 8% so far this year.
Josh Gilbert, a market analyst at trading platform eToro, said repeated disruptions could raise concerns among corporate customers about relying heavily on a single technology provider.
He noted that the latest incident was not Microsoft’s first Microsoft 365 outage this year.
However, analysts believe the high costs and technical challenges involved in switching software providers could make it difficult for customers to move to competing platforms.
Microsoft previously experienced disruptions to its 365 services in January this year and October last year. Its Azure cloud platform also suffered an outage last month, affecting productivity software and businesses across multiple industries.
Governments and Businesses Turn to Alternative Systems
The impact extended to government departments and essential public services.
A spokesperson for the UK government said officials were working with Microsoft to resolve the disruption, which affected organisations including the National Health Service (NHS) and London’s Metropolitan Police.
The Metropolitan Police reported that problems accessing emails and other services affected its ability to receive some crime reports online. However, its emergency response capabilities remained operational.
The NHS said local services were using alternative arrangements, including other IT systems and paper-based records.
Several major businesses also reported operational difficulties.
European exchange operator Euronext experienced email disruptions, while British insurer Aviva activated backup arrangements for its earnings calls. Danish shipping company Maersk warned customers about delays in receiving updates.
OpenAI and Anthropic also experienced problems with Microsoft connectors, while Indian airlines IndiGo, Akasa Air and Air India reported disruptions to their email-based customer support services.
Financial Institutions Forced to Use Fax Machines
The outage created additional difficulties for financial institutions, particularly in Taiwan, where securities firms, life insurers and investment trust companies faced disruptions to fund management operations.
One company cancelled a bond repurchase transaction, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Another Taiwanese financial institution reportedly resorted to using fax machines to confirm trades after losing access to its regular communication systems.
In the United States, electric truck manufacturer Workhorse Group rescheduled its financial results announcement to November 16.
Swiss luxury goods group Richemont also briefly delayed the announcement of its first-half financial results on Friday.
In Australia, government agencies, including the national spy agency and federal police, were among those affected.
Cyber Security Minister Tony Burke said Microsoft did not suspect a cyberattack, adding that the disruption was primarily affecting email systems.
The incident has highlighted the vulnerability of modern businesses and public institutions when critical digital services provided by a single technology company become unavailable.
