Microsoft restores services after global outage

Microsoft declared on Saturday that its global services had been fully restored following a widespread outage that had persisted for several hours. The company announced on X that it had addressed the underlying issue and brought back service to the remaining affected customers and regions. Users experienced disruptions in Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams, and the AI assistant Copilot.

Downdetector, an online monitoring service, reported outage complaints from over 70 countries and territories, affecting governments, courts, healthcare facilities, businesses, airlines, and banks. Notable governments impacted included those of Japan, Singapore, and Australia, which reported that the extended episode had disrupted some of their operations.

Microsoft revealed that over 430 million people utilize its Microsoft 365 applications. The problems began surfacing around midday on Thursday in the United States. The Redmond, Washington-based company apologized for the disruptions on Friday, stating that the outage was not due to cyber attacks or artificial intelligence agents.

Instead, it was caused by an issue during an earlier network capacity upgrade that manifested following a recent network change. The incident highlights the potential for widespread disruptions when multiple communication and technology platforms rely on a single provider. The episode serves as a recent example of the cascading problems that can arise due to excessive dependence on American tech.

Jeremy Singer, a professor at the University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science, noted that with no emails coming or going, many office workers felt like they were on a virtual snow day.