Microsoft Outage Reasons: Why Outlook, Teams and Copilot Went Down (November 2026)
Last updated: Friday 13 November 2026, India time. Written by Parikshit Khanna, corporate AI trainer and founder of Digital Training Jet. This page uses reports available up to about 8:45 am IST. For live status, use the Microsoft service health page.
In short: why is Microsoft down?
Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams and Copilot, went down for many users from Thursday 12 November 2026. Microsoft says a number of its servers became unexpectedly unavailable after failing automated health checks, and that this put heavy load on the servers that were left. It has not named a final root cause. It says there is no sign of a cyberattack.
What happened, and when?
All India times below are converted from the times given in each report.
Time (IST) | What happened | Source |
Thu 12 Nov, about 11:24 pm | Microsoft says it is looking into problems reaching Exchange Online mailboxes in the Americas. | |
Thu 12 Nov, late night | User reports rise sharply. Close to 130,000 Downdetector reports are about Outlook. | |
Fri 13 Nov, early hours | Microsoft says the heavy load is not from extra traffic. A number of servers have gone unexpectedly unavailable. | |
Fri 13 Nov, about 2:32 am | Microsoft says it has built and tested another way to run server health checks. | |
Fri 13 Nov, about 4:35 am | Some servers return to service and stay stable at first. | |
Fri 13 Nov, about 7:30 am | Restarting servers shows improvement. Both incidents are still open. | |
Fri 13 Nov, about 8:40 am | Recovery is partial. Some returned servers fail again under traffic. Microsoft gives no time for full repair. |
Microsoft is tracking the outage under two incident numbers in the Microsoft 365 admin centre: EX1550543 for Exchange Online and MO1550821 for Microsoft 365.
Which Microsoft services are affected?
Microsoft's list of services that may be affected includes:
Exchange Online and Outlook email
Microsoft Teams
SharePoint Online
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft Defender XDR and Defender for Office 365
Microsoft Intune, Planner, To Do and several Purview services
Parts of the Microsoft 365 admin centre
Microsoft says features that depend on Exchange Online and email are the ones hit. Parts of the same apps that do not depend on Exchange Online keep working, according to SecurityWeek. Microsoft also said the connection problem could affect Microsoft 365 in any region, not only North America.
What has Microsoft said about the cause?
Microsoft's explanation has changed through the day as its engineers learned more. In order:
It first said part of its infrastructure was under heavy load in several regions.
It then said the load was not from more traffic. A number of servers had gone unexpectedly unavailable, and the rest were under strain.
It said servers were being taken out after failing automated health checks, and that the failed checks may come from one part of the server that handles those checks.
It said it found no recent change that lined up with the start of the outage.
It later said a process on the affected servers that sets up secure connections gets overwhelmed and stops handling requests.
It is also rolling back a network configuration change made around the same time, and is looking at high processor use on servers that fail again after a restart.
Is the Microsoft outage a cyberattack?
Microsoft says there is no indication of one. A Microsoft spokesperson told reporters the outage is not believed to be due to malicious activity. Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said, after a briefing, that officials do not believe it is a cyber event. This can change if Microsoft finds new evidence, so treat it as the position so far.
What are the possible reasons, and which are confirmed?
Possible reason | Status so far | Who said it |
Servers pulled out by failed automated health checks | Stated by Microsoft | |
Secure connection process on servers getting overwhelmed | Stated by Microsoft | |
Load piling up on the remaining servers | Stated by Microsoft | |
A network configuration change made around the same time | Being rolled back and reviewed. Not confirmed as the cause | |
A wrong network setting, such as routing, during recent updates | Expert view only. Mark Gregory, RMIT University | |
Microsoft's own automated checks removing servers from service | Expert view only. Walayat Hussain, Australian Catholic University | |
Cyberattack | No indication, says Microsoft |
The honest answer today is that the first trigger is not yet known. Microsoft has not yet published a final account of the cause.
Is the Microsoft outage fixed?
Not fully, as of the last reports checked for this page. Microsoft has restarted servers and moved traffic to other routes, and some users have service back. Other users can receive mail but cannot open it, and some still have no access. Microsoft has not given a time for full repair. Check the Microsoft service health page before you act on this page.
What should teams in India do during a Microsoft 365 outage?
Check the Microsoft status page or your admin centre first. Do not reinstall Outlook or reset passwords. The fault is on Microsoft's side.
Open Outlook on a laptop where it was already set up. Mail that was downloaded earlier may still be readable.
Use files that OneDrive has already synced to your computer. Save new work on the device until service returns.
Move urgent meetings to a phone bridge or another approved meeting tool.
Tell customers by phone or SMS if a reply will be late.
Be careful with emails or calls that offer to fix your mailbox. Scammers have used past outages this way.
Do not paste company data into personal AI tools because Copilot is down. Wait, or use a tool your company has approved.
Which Microsoft Copilot courses and books does Parikshit Khanna offer?
Parikshit Khanna, corporate AI trainer and founder of Digital Training Jet, runs Microsoft 365 Copilot training for company teams and sells two short Copilot guides on Topmate. Training does not prevent a Microsoft outage. It helps a team know which Microsoft services Copilot depends on, and how to keep work moving when one of them is down.
Microsoft 365 Copilot training in India: the corporate programme for teams using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.
Microsoft Copilot Studio training in India: for teams that want to build their own Copilot agents.
How to use Copilot in Outlook: 20 prompts: a free guide on this site.
For one person, the 1:1 AI Coaching session on Topmate covers ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot in 90 minutes for ₹7,500, as listed on Topmate on Friday 13 November 2026.
Microsoft Copilot at Work: 50 Prompts
Fifty prompts for daily work in Microsoft Copilot. PDF, ₹99 on Topmate.
Microsoft 365 Copilot for Corporates
A guide to using Microsoft 365 Copilot inside a company. PDF, ₹99 on Topmate.
To plan a Copilot session for your team, message Parikshit Khanna on WhatsApp or by email with your team size, your Microsoft 365 plan and your city.
FAQs
Is Microsoft down right now?
Recovery was partial at the time of the last reports used for this page. The Microsoft service health page shows the live position.
What caused the Microsoft outage on 12 November 2026?
Microsoft has not given a final root cause. It has said servers became unavailable after failing automated health checks, and that a process which sets up secure connections on those servers gets overwhelmed.
Was the Microsoft outage a cyberattack?
Microsoft says there is no indication of a cyberattack.
Is Microsoft Copilot affected by the outage?
Yes. Microsoft 365 Copilot is on Microsoft's list of services that may be affected.
What are the incident numbers for this outage?
EX1550543 for Exchange Online and MO1550821 for Microsoft 365, in the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
Why do Microsoft outages keep happening?
See the companion guide: Why do Microsoft 365 outages happen? Common reasons and a team checklist.
Sources
Photos from Parikshit Khanna's training sessions
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