REDMOND, USA – Microsoft announced Monday that it is still working to resolve a significant outage affecting its popular Outlook and Teams services, which has disrupted many users across the United States and beyond.
While the company identified the root cause and began deploying a fix earlier in the day, the recovery process has faced unexpected delays.
We’re investigating an issue impacting users attempting to access Exchange Online or functionality within Microsoft Teams calendar. For more information, please refer to MO941162 in the admin center.
— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) November 25, 2024
The outage, which began in the morning, quickly gained attention as users turned to outage-tracking site
Downdetector, which reported more than 5,000 user-submitted complaints by noon ET. However, Microsoft noted that the full extent of the issue may not be reflected in such figures.
Progress Slower Than Expected
In a series of updates shared on the platform X (formerly Twitter), Microsoft said it had started deploying a fix and was manually restarting affected machines in “an unhealthy state.”
By midday, the company reported that the solution had reached “approximately 98% of the affected environments.”
Despite this progress, reports of issues on Downdetector continued to rise, and Microsoft acknowledged delays in recovery.
By 2 pm ET, the company had not provided a specific timeline for full restoration, stating that manual restarts were “progressing slower than anticipated for the majority of affected users.”
Mixed Reactions
While the outage caused disruptions for many office workers, some users took to social media to express relief at the unexpected pause ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
“Unexpected long weekend! Thanks, Microsoft!” one user quipped.
Others, however, expressed frustration over delays in accessing critical work tools, emphasising the importance of reliable service in professional environments.
Broader Context
Tech outages have become an increasingly common challenge for organisations and users worldwide.
While Microsoft’s incident caused inconvenience, it pales in comparison to larger outages this year, such as CrowdStrike’s software failure over the summer.
That outage, described as the largest IT disruption in history, halted air travel, impacted hospital operations, and cost Fortune 500 companies over $5 billion in direct losses.
Microsoft has yet to disclose the specific cause of the issue affecting Outlook and Teams or provide details on the geographic scope of the outage.
However, it reiterated its commitment to resolving the issue and restoring services as quickly as possible.
Ongoing Impact
As businesses rely heavily on cloud-based tools like Teams and Outlook for communication and productivity, the outage highlights the critical role of robust infrastructure in preventing disruptions.
The delays in recovery may also prompt broader discussions about contingency planning and service reliability in the tech industry.
For now, Microsoft users are left waiting for full resolution, with many hoping to see their systems restored before the holiday week intensifies.
