Microsoft restores service to Outlook and Teams after global outage

Microsoft announced on Saturday that its services, including Teams and Outlook, had fully recovered following a global outage that lasted over 24 hours. The company stated that it had completed efforts to address the underlying issue and restored service to impacted customers and regions. Outlook and Teams, two widely used workplace applications with hundreds of millions of users, were severely affected.

The outage prevented users from performing essential functions like sending emails, managing calendars, and hosting virtual meetings. Government agencies from various countries, including Australia, Japan, and the United States, experienced delays and disruptions due to the outage. The incident also impacted businesses, causing delays in publishing earnings and hindering communication, particularly for airlines warning customers of communication lags.

Organizations hosting Microsoft services on their own servers were less affected. The outage, which began around 5:25 PM GMT on Thursday, was one of Microsoft's longest in history and the second disruption to its services in 2024. It highlighted the global reliance on major tech companies and Microsoft's workplace software. Microsoft shares remained flat at $523.88 on Friday.

Analysts noted concerns about the reliability of such incidents, with potential financial losses estimated between $300 million and $500 million. The UK government, the NHS, and various airlines, including Indian airlines IndiGo and Akasa Air, reported disruptions, while European exchange operator Euronext and financial companies faced email issues.