Microsoft is facing significant delays in restoring full service to its Outlook and Teams platforms after an outage disrupted millions of users on Monday.
The issue, which affected Microsoft's email and videoconferencing systems, began around 9 a.m. and continued throughout the day, leading to widespread difficulties for businesses relying on these tools for communication and collaboration.
The company acknowledged the outage in a post on X, attributing the disruption to a recent software update that impacted several of its servers. While Microsoft worked to implement a fix, the recovery process faced delays.
By Monday evening, most services had been restored, but the company noted that Outlook on the web was still affected for a small number of users, said CNN.
Microsoft stated that it had reached 98% recovery for most affected customers by noon. However, the company continued to experience delays in fully restoring service, with the situation progressing slower than anticipated.
According to The New York Times, Microsoft further stated, "We understand the significant impact of this event to your businesses and are working to provide relief as soon as possible."
Despite efforts to address the issue, the company did not provide an exact timeline for when all services would be fully functional again.
Microsoft Outlook, Teams Outage Highlights Fragility of Digital Infrastructure
The outage primarily affected Microsoft Outlook and Teams, two of the company's most widely used tools for business communication. The disruptions led to a backlog of emails and halted virtual meetings for employees around the globe, including in the United States, Germany, and other countries.
Although some users joked about enjoying a brief break before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the outage reminded many of the vulnerability of today's digital infrastructure.
This outage marks a rare occurrence for Microsoft, which typically maintains a stable service for its hundreds of millions of users. However, it highlights the fragility of modern computer systems and the reliance businesses have on these essential tools.
In contrast, earlier this year, another major tech outage from a software provider caused significant global disruptions, underscoring the growing risks of technical failures.
