{
  "id": 19715737,
  "title": "Outlook is down. Exhausted working Americans are begging Microsoft to take its time bringing it back",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/outlook-is-down-exhausted-working-americans-are-begging-microsoft-to",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-12T21:35:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91641546/outlook-email-outage-today-microsoft-take-your-time-workers-say"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Microsoft Outlook has been experiencing a significant outage across North America, impacting numerous businesses and causing much of corporate America to come to a halt. The platform, one of the leading email providers, started experiencing issues at around 12:16 p.m. ET on Thursday. Within minutes, social media platforms like X and Threads were flooded with jokes and memes about the outage, with users jokingly stating that the break provided a much-needed respite from constant connectivity. As Microsoft continues its efforts to restore service, some users are encouraging the tech giant to take its time, prioritizing the wellbeing of workers over immediate service restoration.",
  "summary": "Microsoft Outlook has been down for several hours today, which means everyday workers have moved to social media to joke about it. A massive North America outage of Outlook, one of the largest business email providers, has brought much of corporate America to a standstill, unable to receive or send out messages through the platform. Users began reporting outages beginning at 12:16 p.m. ET…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 9,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "Microsoft 365, Outlook down for thousands of US users, Downdetector shows",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/microsoft-365-outlook-down-for-thousands-of-us-users-downdetector",
        "published": "2026-11-12T18:32:48.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The National UAE",
        "title": "Outlook email outage affects users around the world",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/outlook-email-outage-affects-users-around-the-world",
        "published": "2026-11-12T18:34:11.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "Microsoft 365, Outlook hit by major outage; global impact possible",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/microsoft-365-outlook-hit-by-major-outage-global-impact-possible",
        "published": "2026-11-12T19:03:22.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CityNews",
        "title": "Widespread outage hits Outlook, other Microsoft apps",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/widespread-outage-hits-outlook-other-microsoft-apps",
        "published": "2026-11-12T19:21:01.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Guardian",
        "title": "Global Microsoft outage affecting Outlook and Teams users, with company ‘restarting’ servers",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/global-microsoft-outage-affecting-outlook-and-teams-users-with",
        "published": "2026-11-12T21:00:07.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News (US)",
        "title": "Outlook outage: Microsoft reports 'issues' with Teams and email",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/outlook-outage-microsoft-reports-issues-with-teams-and-email",
        "published": "2026-11-12T21:00:57.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Quartz",
        "title": "What is Exchange Online? The Microsoft service behind Outlook outages",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/what-is-exchange-online-the-microsoft-service-behind-outlook-outages",
        "published": "2026-11-12T21:13:05.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "RNZ Business",
        "title": "Global outage hits Microsoft's Outlook, 365 services",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/global-outage-hits-microsofts-outlook-365-services",
        "published": "2026-11-12T22:03:06.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}