Microsoft services almost restored after 24 hours of outage

Microsoft services experienced a prolonged outage lasting nearly 24 hours earlier this week, impacting a wide range of applications including Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams, and Copilot. The disruption affected users across at least 70 countries and was traced back to a previous network capacity upgrade, rather than a cyberattack or AI agents, according to Microsoft.

The outage commenced on Thursday afternoon in the Americas and persisted through subsequent days in Asia and Europe. It left millions of users without access to essential tools such as email, messaging, and AI features. Businesses, governments, schools, and even court systems were among those severely disrupted. In the UK, NHS staff faced difficulties, while in Japan, some companies resorted to using fax machines as a workaround.

Microsoft acknowledged the incident and apologized for the global disruption. They reassured users that services were restored gradually, with stability being validated at each stage to ensure a robust recovery. Emails that were held during the outage will now be queued for up to 48 hours, instead of bouncing back, to guarantee successful delivery.

The outage has reignited discussions about the risks associated with relying heavily on a single technology provider. In Latin America, particularly in Mexico and other countries, numerous companies that utilize Microsoft 365 faced interruptions in internal communications and administrative processes, with limited immediate alternatives available.

Microsoft has stated that they will publish a comprehensive post-incident report once their internal review is complete. They also emphasized their ongoing efforts to restore service to the remaining customers and regions, while closely monitoring stability.