Microsoft Probes Microsoft 365 and Outlook Service Outage
Recent reports indicate that numerous Microsoft customers experienced significant difficulties accessing Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook and Teams. The issues began on Thursday afternoon, with many users turning to Downdetector, a website that monitors service outages, to report their struggles.
Details of the Outage
At approximately 3 p.m. EST, complaints surged, with around 16,000 individuals reporting problems. Microsoft publicly acknowledged the disruption, stating that “users may be seeing degraded service functionality or be unable to access multiple Microsoft 365 services.” By 4:14 p.m. EST, the company announced on X that it had “restored the affected infrastructure to a healthy state.” However, they later clarified that they were still “rebalancing traffic” across the impacted services.
Continued User Complaints
Despite Microsoft’s attempts to rectify the situation, some users continued to face access issues. Comments surfaced on social media, with one user expressing frustration: “We cannot even email. This is not fixed.” Others urged Microsoft to provide compensation for the outage, which had disrupted their work.
Comparison to Previous Outages
In a notable precedent, Verizon offered affected customers a $20 credit following a significant outage that hindered wireless device functionality. Microsoft has not commented on whether they plan to offer similar compensation for this latest service disruption.
Possible Causes
The cause of the recent outage remains unclear, as Microsoft has yet to issue a detailed explanation. The incident recalls a previous incident in 2024, where a problematic update of CrowdStrike antivirus software resulted in widespread outages for Microsoft 365 users. That event led to thousands of flight delays and cancellations, affecting hospitals, banks, and various businesses globally.
- Date of Outage: Thursday afternoon
- Complaints Peak: 3 p.m. EST
- Total Reports: 16,000 issues reported
- Restoration Announcement: 4:14 p.m. EST
Filmogaz.com will continue to monitor the situation as more information about the outage becomes available and will provide updates as they arise.
