Global Microsoft outage: What happened and how serious is it?

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Global Microsoft outage

Why Microsoft's servers couldn't handle the load

The problems began on Thursday, November 12, and were not limited to the U.S. According to Downdetector, outage reports came from more than 70 countries. The service recorded approximately 200,000 reports in total, with complaints about Outlook problems in the U.S. alone exceeding 130,000 at their peak.

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The disruption affected a wide range of Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and the Copilot AI assistant. Services connected to Exchange Online, Microsoft's cloud platform that powers corporate email, calendars and other tools, were particularly affected. However, some features that did not depend on Exchange Online remained operational.

Microsoft explained that some servers unexpectedly stopped responding to requests, causing a sharp increase in the load on the remaining infrastructure. Attempts to restore the affected servers provided only temporary relief. As soon as the recovered servers began receiving new user requests, they became unresponsive again.

Microsoft attempted to redistribute traffic, restart servers and increase computing capacity using virtual machines. After deploying a software patch, the company reported early signs of stabilization, but full access to its services had not yet been restored. Microsoft also said it had found no evidence of a cyberattack.

From delayed earnings reports to disrupted government services

U.S. companies were among the first to experience the consequences of the outage. Electric truck manufacturer Workhorse Group was forced to postpone the release of its quarterly earnings from November 12 to November 16. Swiss luxury goods group Richemont also delayed the publication of its financial results. In Australia, businesses were unable to issue invoices, while some distribution centers experienced disruptions in deliveries to supermarkets.

Serious problems also emerged in Japan. Government agencies lost access to corporate email, forcing officials to use text messages and even paper notices to share information. Logistics company Sagawa Express temporarily stopped accepting online bookings for its luggage transportation service at airports and train stations, while pharmaceutical company Taisho switched to taking orders by phone.

In the UK, several police forces stopped accepting crime reports through online forms, asking people to contact them by phone instead. Schools in London also asked parents to report student absences by phone rather than email. The British government announced contingency plans to maintain public services.

The disruption also affected Indian airlines IndiGo and Akasa Air, which experienced problems with email-based customer support. Air India had to temporarily reroute its email communications, although flight operations continued as normal. In New Zealand, immigration authorities suspended the processing of visa applications.

The impact was particularly noticeable in Australia. The disruption affected the federal police, intelligence agencies and government departments. Ashwin Pal, an expert at consulting firm RSM Australia, estimated that the potential economic damage from a prolonged outage could run into billions of dollars.

How the technical outage affected financial markets

Problems with corporate email disrupted not only the daily operations of businesses and government agencies but also financial transactions. In Singapore, traders struggled to access trading platforms that required email verification for login. Market participants were also unable to receive timely trade execution confirmations or communicate efficiently with clients. Brokerages in India experienced similar difficulties.

Eugene Koh, a sales trader at CMC Markets in Singapore, told Bloomberg that traders had to return to phone calls and WhatsApp conversations. Tasks that normally took seconds now required several minutes.

More serious consequences were reported in Taiwan. The disruption affected asset management companies, investment funds and insurers. According to Reuters, one financial institution even canceled a scheduled bond repurchase agreement transaction. Such transactions are used to obtain short-term funding backed by securities.

Why dependence on technology is becoming dangerous

The latest incident brought back memories of the global outage in July 2024, when a faulty software update from CrowdStrike disrupted operations at banks, airports, airlines and hospitals. This was not the first major outage for Microsoft either. Users had already experienced widespread Microsoft 365 problems in January 2026, while disruptions to the Azure cloud platform in October 2025 affected companies across multiple industries.

The main danger of such outages lies in the dependence of countless organizations on a handful of technology providers. Even when banking and exchange systems remain operational, problems with email, authentication and data transmission can delay financial transactions and lead to losses. And as more companies move their operations to cloud services, the consequences of another technical failure could become increasingly severe.

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