{
  "id": 19808095,
  "title": "Microsoft struggles to restore email and other services in a global outage",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/microsoft-struggles-to-restore-email-and-other-services-in-a-global",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-13T12:58:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Global News",
    "slug": "global-news",
    "url": "https://globalnews.ca/news/12149346/microsoft-365-outage-update/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Microsoft is grappling with a global outage affecting a vast array of its services, disrupting email and collaboration tools used by individuals, companies, and government agencies worldwide. The issue has been ongoing for hours, with the technology giant struggling to pinpoint the root cause and restore normal operations.\n\nAffected services include Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and the AI-powered assistant, Copilot. These platforms are integral to Microsoft 365, which boasts over 450 million paid commercial subscriptions. Microsoft stated that recovery efforts were progressing, noting early stabilization and capacity improvements, but the problem appeared to persist despite these efforts.\n\nThe British government, among others, has been impacted. The National Pharmacy Association warned of potential delays in prescription processing due to the email service disruption. Workhorse Group Inc., an industrial technology company based in the U.S., delayed a quarterly earnings conference call due to the outage. In Australia, government emails were down, and hospitals urged patients to keep their appointments as usual.\n\nMicrosoft has not indicated that the outage was caused by malicious activity, stating it is treating the incident with urgency and priority. The company has likened the situation to a faulty software update incident that occurred with CrowdStrike, which disrupted flights, hospitals, banks, and retailers. Microsoft's engineers are working \"measuredly\" to identify and repair the affected infrastructure.\n\nBanks in Hong Kong and other financial institutions reported partial disruptions, while airlines in the region experienced temporary impacts on email support services. The Singapore Government Technology Agency and the Philippines Supreme Court also reported email service outages. Japanese authorities acknowledged the impact on their IT infrastructure, taking steps to secure alternative communication methods.\n\nOther companies, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, reported difficulties connecting with Microsoft 365 tools, highlighting the broader implications of this outage. Microsoft has not indicated that it believes it is dealing with a cyberattack, instead treating the situation as a problem with an update gone awry.",
  "summary": "Microsoft’s outage involving services like Outlook and Teams has dragged on for hours and impacted users, companies and some government operations.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Adom Online",
        "title": "Microsoft struggling to restore service as global outage affects Outlook and Teams",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/microsoft-struggling-to-restore-service-as-global-outage-affects-19787358",
        "published": "2026-11-13T09:35:50.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Winnipeg Free Press",
        "title": "The Microsoft outage means no incessant email chimes or message pings, but still we stayed online",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/the-microsoft-outage-means-no-incessant-email-chimes-or-message-pings",
        "published": "2026-11-13T11:43:17.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "People Daily Kenya",
        "title": "Equity Bank issues advisory after Microsoft Outlook services disruption affects email communication",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/equity-bank-issues-advisory-after-microsoft-outlook-services",
        "published": "2026-11-13T11:54:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "The Microsoft outage means no incessant email chimes or message pings, but still we stayed online",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/the-microsoft-outage-means-no-incessant-email-chimes-or-message-pings-19804761",
        "published": "2026-11-13T12:32:03.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CBC News",
        "title": "Global Microsoft outage stretches into 2nd day",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/global-microsoft-outage-stretches-into-2nd-day",
        "published": "2026-11-13T12:44:25.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}