Since Thursday evening, a Microsoft 365 outage has stopped millions of people from using Outlook email, parts of Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft services. This page follows it live in UK time, using Microsoft's own updates and major news outlets, and sets out what UK businesses can do while it lasts. We use Microsoft 365 ourselves, so we also share what our own systems saw.
Live status
Recovering
Last updated UK, Fri 13 Nov
- Microsoft's status
- Service degradationLatest update at UK, next due by UK
- What Microsoft says
We continue to observe sustained service recovery across the previously affected environments. Due to the severity of impact this incident caused, we're monitoring for an extended period to ensure no additional mitigative actions are required. In parallel, we're monitoring the backlog of email messages accrued during this event to ensure all process successfully before considering the issue resolved. We're addressing all impact scenarios for dependent and related Microsoft 365 products as listed in the "More info" section below, and believe the majority of those impacted scenarios have been addressed.
- Our own check
- Our booking system's calls to Microsoft: working again since 11:45 UK (last checked 22:50)
- Incident number
- EX1550543 in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, with advisory MO1550821
- Official updates
- Microsoft 365 status page. Microsoft also posts on its Microsoft 365 Status account (@MSFT365Status).
Timeline, in UK time
Newest first. Each Microsoft or press entry links to its source; entries marked Our data come from our own systems. This page checks Microsoft's status every 15 minutes and adds Microsoft's own updates as they come.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “We continue to observe sustained service recovery across the previously affected environments. Due to the severity of impact this incident caused, we're monitoring for an extended period to ensure no additional mitigative actions are required. In parallel, we're monitoring the backlog of email messages accrued during this event to ensure all process successfully before considering the issue resolved.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “As infrastructure stabilizes, we're still draining queued messages and rebalancing traffic, so customers may see improved sign-in/access while delivery and processing continue to catch up. We do not have an ETA for full recovery yet. Service access can recover before mail flow fully normalizes.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “We are deeply sorry for the disruption this incident has caused you and your business. We know the trust you place in our services and take that responsibility extremely seriously. We are seeing broad recovery and stability across our services. This was a technical issue not related to cyber or AI / agents.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “We remain focused on addressing residual impact and ensuring reliable service restoration. We continue to assess recovery across various connection methods and are closely monitoring service health to verify sustained stability. At this time, we have no evidence of malicious activity associated with this incident.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “We're observing sustained improvements in service availability as recovery progresses across affected Microsoft 365 services. While service functionality continues to improve, some users may still experience intermittent connectivity issues or delayed email delivery. Our efforts are increasingly focused on resolving the remaining issues and restoring consistent service for all affected users.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “We're continuing to see improvements in service availability, with email queues significantly reduced and approaching normal levels. Some users may still experience intermittent access issues or delayed email delivery as recovery continues. We've implemented additional mitigation measures and are restoring the remaining affected infrastructure while investigating residual service issues.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “We’re seeing encouraging recovery progress in Europe, with service availability and email delivery performance improving across a growing portion of affected Microsoft 365 infrastructure. Japan remains comparatively more stable, while North America is also improving; however, some users may still experience intermittent issues as recovery actions continue.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “We've made additional progress toward service recovery, with recovery actions completed across portions of the affected infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region. Traffic is being gradually restored, and we're seeing improvements in key customer scenarios, including mailbox access and delayed email processing. However, some users may continue to experience intermittent issues.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “Recovery actions are ongoing and have progressed in phases across affected Microsoft 365 infrastructure. Global telemetry and customer reports show incremental improvement in several workloads; however, service health remains variable and capacity has not yet fully returned to baseline. Network and traffic-management actions remain active.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
- Microsoft
Microsoft update: still disrupted. “Recovery efforts are ongoing across impacted infrastructure. We are seeing early signs of stabilization, but service capacity has not yet returned to normal levels and health remains variable as traffic is carefully reintroduced.Our primary mitigation path continues to focus on service stability and controlled recovery.” Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
UK government engineers working with Microsoft. Luke Pollard, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, told Times Radio that government engineers are working with Microsoft. He couldn't yet confirm whether any government systems were affected. Source: The Guardian.
- Microsoft
Microsoft: “positive results for server stability”. Microsoft says it's seeing positive results after applying a patch to “an upstream authentication/routing configuration component” on part of its infrastructure, and is working to expand it to more servers. Its status is still “Service degradation”. Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
“Marginal success” so far. Microsoft says it has seen “marginal success” and is adding capacity with extra virtual machines. Source: The Guardian.
- Our data
Our own check: every call now failing. From 06:25, every call our booking system makes to Microsoft fails with an error from Microsoft's side.
- Microsoft
Personal accounts hit too. Microsoft's status page for personal accounts lists Outlook.com, OneDrive, OneNote, Microsoft To Do, Teams and Microsoft 365 for the web as affected. Source: Microsoft 365 status page.
Machines “stuck in a bad state”. Microsoft says it's scaling up virtual machines to add capacity, but some machines are stuck in a bad state, which stops its changes from syncing. Source: The Guardian.
Microsoft: no sign of a cyber attack. Microsoft executive Charles Lamanna says there is “no indication this is the result of malicious or cyber activity”. Microsoft's status page said much the same at 04:11. Source: The Guardian, The Register.
The fix is “not taking as expected”. Microsoft says a change it applied to improve service “is not taking as expected” and that it's looking for other ways to add capacity. Source: BBC News, The Register.
- Our data
Our own check: most calls failing. From about 01:00, most calls our booking system made to Microsoft failed: 8 to 11 of the 12 each hour, against 1 to 4 an hour from 19:00 to 01:00.
Servers come back, then stall again. Microsoft says servers it brought back “initially remain healthy” but “can become unresponsive again once they begin receiving traffic”. Source: The Register.
“Not provided the anticipated relief”. Microsoft says its actions so far “have not provided the anticipated relief” and that “a core process on the affected servers is becoming overwhelmed”. Source: The Register.
Some servers return. Microsoft says it found a different way to check server health, which let “a subset of affected servers” return to service. Source: The Register.
Cause narrowed down. Microsoft: “the elevated load isn't driven by an increase in traffic, but by a number of servers being unexpectedly unavailable; straining the remaining infrastructure.” Source: Tom's Guide, BleepingComputer.
Any region can be affected. Microsoft confirms the issue may affect Microsoft 365 connectivity for users in any region, with details for IT admins under EX1550543 in the Microsoft 365 admin centre. Source: Tom's Guide.
Microsoft's official start time. Microsoft says the Microsoft 365 incident began at 1:26pm US Eastern time, which is 18:26 in the UK. Source: BleepingComputer.
Reports surge. Reports of Outlook problems on Downdetector peak at nearly 140,000, from 74 countries. Source: BBC News.
- Our data
Our first failed call. Our booking system gets its first error from Microsoft: a 504, meaning Microsoft's servers didn't answer in time.
What's affected and what still works
This is Microsoft's own list in plain English. Microsoft says the problem hits the parts of Microsoft 365 that rely on Exchange Online, its business email service, and that “elements of those services that do not depend on interaction with Exchange Online remain functional”.
- Outlook email for businessMailboxes may not open on the web, desktop or phone, and email may arrive late
- Affected
- Teams calls, meetings and chatsMicrosoft says most of these core features are not affected
- Working
- Teams calendar and invitesScheduling, invites and meeting changes can fail
- Affected
- Files stored in SharePointMicrosoft says opening them still works
- Working
- CopilotMay not load, or can't reach your email, calendar and files
- Affected
- Links in emails (Safe Links)Protected links may not open
- Affected
- Planner, To Do, Intune, admin centreAffected, some on and off
- Affected
- Personal accountsOutlook.com, OneDrive, OneNote, To Do and Teams affected
- Affected
- AzureNo Azure issues listed at 08:16 UK
- Working
What UK businesses can do right now
- Get updates from Microsoft, not rumours. Microsoft points people to its status page when the admin centre won't load. If you have IT admins, the incident number to watch is EX1550543.
- If something still works, stay signed in. For its Power Apps mobile apps, Microsoft advises not signing out, clearing app data or reinstalling while the issue is ongoing. We'd treat Outlook and Teams on your phone the same way: signing out now could lock you out until the service is back.
- Don't reset passwords in bulk. Microsoft says it isn't aware of any malicious activity behind this. Resetting everyone's password while Microsoft's services are unreliable can leave staff locked out for longer. Only change a password if you have a real reason to think it's been stolen.
- Expect scam “fix” messages. Big outages bring fake emails, texts and calls offering to restore your mailbox or fix your account. Don't click, don't share codes or passwords, and don't let anyone take control of your computer. Microsoft's own advice: if someone calls offering tech support out of the blue, hang up. Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.
- Tell customers another way. Put a short note on your website and your Google Business Profile, and use phone, text, WhatsApp or social media. Something like: “Our email is affected by the Microsoft outage. For anything urgent, please call us.”
- Move today's meetings off the calendar. Microsoft says Teams calls and meetings mostly work, but invites and calendars may not. Send meeting links by text or WhatsApp, or pick up the phone.
- Keep a list for afterwards. Note missed emails, orders and meetings. Microsoft says email delivery may be delayed, so when service returns, check for late messages and ask anyone who sent something urgent to confirm it arrived.
Keep working through the next one
We now offer standby email for UK businesses: a second inbox on separate mail servers, so your team keeps reading and replying when Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or any other email provider is down. See how standby email works.
What our own systems saw
Our website has a booking page for free consultations. Every five minutes, a small job copies new bookings into our Outlook calendar and reads back the times we're busy. It does that through Microsoft Graph, the connection Microsoft offers to apps, so it doubles as our own Microsoft check.
- 17:45 on Thursday: our first error, around the time reports began to surge. Every call failed until 18:20.
- Through the evening: most calls worked again, with 1 to 4 failures an hour from 19:00.
- From about 01:00 on Friday: most calls failed, and from 06:25 every call failed.
Our errors, mostly 502s from Microsoft's side, fit Microsoft's own warning that requests to Microsoft Graph for mail, calendar and contacts “may time out”.
What it meant for our customers: nothing they could see
Our booking page doesn't need Microsoft to take a booking. It keeps each booking on our own server and emails us through a separate mail service, so people could still book a call and we'd still hear about it. The calendar copy simply waits: the job tries again every five minutes and catches up as soon as Microsoft answers. On Friday morning, while every call to Microsoft was failing, our booking page still answered in about a tenth of a second.
Overnight we changed two things. Each check now tries up to three times before it counts as a failure. And our alerts, which had sent us ten messages about the same problem by Friday morning, now send one message that names the cause, a Microsoft outage with nothing to fix on our side, and one more after three good checks in a row.
Lessons: build so one supplier can't stop your business
Every business depends on suppliers, and on most days Microsoft is a very good one. The question is what happens on the day it isn't. A few habits make the difference:
- Take the order first, sync later. If a booking, order or enquiry has to reach a supplier before you can accept it, that supplier can close your shop. Save it on your own system first, then pass it on.
- Retry calmly. When a service is struggling, keep trying at a steady pace instead of hammering it, and keep the work queued until it goes through.
- Keep a second way to reach customers. A phone number that works, a website you control, and important email that doesn't all depend on one provider. Our standby email service covers the email part.
- Monitor whose fault it is. Compare your own checks with your supplier's status page, so your team doesn't spend the morning fixing something that isn't broken on your side.
- Write plan B before you need it. Who tells customers, what the website says, which numbers to use. Ten minutes now saves a morning of confusion later.
None of this needs a big budget. It mostly needs someone to look at where a single supplier sits in your daily work. If this outage stopped part of your business, we can look at where one supplier could stop you and what a simple fallback would take.
Questions people are asking
Is the Microsoft outage a cyber attack?
Microsoft says it isn't aware of one. Its status page says “As of now, we are not aware of any malicious activity that is causing this incident”, and Microsoft executive Charles Lamanna said there was “no indication this is the result of malicious or cyber activity”.
When will Microsoft 365 be working again?
Microsoft hasn't given a time for full recovery. At 07:29 UK on Friday it reported “positive results for server stability” after patching part of its infrastructure, and said it is working to expand the fix. The live status box at the top of this page shows its latest update.
What caused it?
Microsoft says a number of servers became unexpectedly unavailable, which strained the rest, and that a core process on the affected servers was becoming overwhelmed. It has promised the full root cause in a Post-Incident Report once the problem is fixed.
Is my data safe? Will I lose emails?
Microsoft describes this as people being unable to connect to its services, and says it isn't aware of any malicious activity. It says email delivery “may be delayed”. When service returns, check for late messages, and ask anyone who sent you something urgent to confirm it arrived.
What is the incident number for IT admins?
EX1550543 in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, with the related advisory MO1550821. If the admin centre won't load, Microsoft's public status page at status.cloud.microsoft is the place to look.
Sources
- Microsoft 365 status page, Microsoft, read 13 November 2026
- Microsoft outage live, The Guardian, 13 November 2026
- What we know about the global Microsoft outage, BBC News, 13 November 2026
- Microsoft struggling to fix massive cloud outage, The Register, 12 November 2026
- Microsoft's massive M365 outage stretches past 12 hours, The Register, 13 November 2026
- Outlook, Microsoft 365, Teams and more down: live updates, Tom's Guide, 12 November 2026
- Massive Microsoft 365 outage disrupts Outlook, Teams, Copilot worldwide, BleepingComputer, 12 November 2026
- Protect yourself from online scams and attacks, Microsoft Support
- Report suspicious emails, websites and phishing, GOV.UK