Microsoft issues global apology after major outage affects Outlook and Teams

Microsoft issued a global apology following a major service outage that disrupted Outlook, Teams, and the Copilot AI assistant beginning Thursday, November 13, 2026. The technical failure impacted essential workplace applications and affected businesses, schools, healthcare providers, and government offices worldwide.

Causes and scope of disruption

The disruption was caused by technical issues during a previous network capacity upgrade. Microsoft stated the incident was not related to cyberattacks or AI agents. The outage resulted in reported difficulties lasting up to 20 hours for some users.

The scale of the outage was significant across multiple continents. Downdetector reported service issues in at least 70 countries. One report specified that issues occurred in 74 countries and territories across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Another source monitored 1458 sources to track the disruption.

The outage affected several high-profile institutions and government agencies. Government agencies in Australia, Japan, and the United States experienced disruptions. The NHS England healthcare system also faced issues. Philippine Times reported that London office workers left their workplaces due to email issues and noted that South African winemaker Peter Pentz was among those affected.

Impact on global industries

The disruption impacted various sectors including aviation, shipping, insurance, and financial services. In the aviation sector, airlines IndiGo, Akasa Air, and Air India reported disruptions to email-based customer support services. The shipping industry also felt the impact, as Maersk reported delays in email communications and information updates.

Financial and securities institutions faced significant operational challenges. Euronext reported email issues within its securities listing divisions. The insurance company Aviva prepared backup options for financial result telephone conferences because of the outage. Several companies had to adjust their reporting schedules due to the technical failures.

Workhorse Group postponed its financial results publication from Thursday, November 13, to Monday, November 16, 2026. The company Richemont experienced a brief delay in publishing its first-half results on Friday, November 14, 2026. Additionally, OpenAI and Anthropic reported issues regarding Microsoft connectors during the period of instability.

Microsoft response and accountability

Microsoft expressed deep regret for the difficulties caused to clients and partners. The company emphasized their responsibility regarding the service failure. The company stated the incident was not related to cyberattacks or AI agents.

The outage affected essential workplace applications used for daily operations. The disruption to Outlook, Teams, and Copilot prevented users from accessing critical communication and productivity tools. This widespread failure highlighted the dependency of modern global infrastructure on these specific software services.

Glossary

• Teams — Teams is an essential workplace application used for daily operations. It is a communication and productivity tool that was impacted by a service outage.
• NHS England — NHS England is a healthcare system. It has committed to offering lung cancer screening to all current and former smokers by 2030.
• Euronext — Euronext N.V. is a European bourse that provides trading and post-trade services for various financial instruments. It operates major stock exchanges in eight different countries.
• Maersk — A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S is a Danish shipping and logistics company. Its business activities include ocean shipping, port operation, supply chain management, warehousing, and air freight.