A major Microsoft outage has disrupted email, workplace communication and cloud services across the globe, leaving businesses and government organisations struggling to access essential systems.
The widespread Microsoft outage began on Thursday, 12 November 2026, and continued into Friday morning, affecting services including Microsoft Outlook, Teams and other Microsoft 365 applications.
According to reports from Reuters, the disruption lasted approximately 10 hours, with thousands of users experiencing difficulties accessing emails and workplace platforms.
The incident has raised concerns about the increasing dependence of businesses and government departments on cloud-based technology.
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Microsoft Outlook and Teams Among Affected Services
Microsoft confirmed that several of its services were experiencing technical difficulties, with Exchange Online playing a central role in the disruption.
Exchange Online supports business email, calendars and other communication functions within Microsoft 365.
Users reported various problems, including:
- Being unable to send or receive emails through Outlook.
- Difficulty accessing Microsoft Teams and workplace communication tools.
- Problems connecting to Microsoft 365 services.
- Interruptions to business systems that rely on Microsoft email infrastructure.
Outage-monitoring platform Downdetector recorded more than 130,000 reports of Outlook problems in the United States during the peak of the disruption.
Reports also emerged from Australia, India, Japan and other countries.
What Caused the Microsoft Outage?
Microsoft Outage Not Believed to Be a Cyberattack
Microsoft has indicated that there is currently no evidence suggesting the widespread outage was caused by a cyberattack.
Instead, the company identified server availability and infrastructure problems that disrupted access to its cloud-based services.
While this incident is not believed to be cyber-related, it highlights broader concerns about the reliability, security and resilience of modern technology systems.
Related reading: OpenAI Scraps GPT-6.1 Astra Release Over AI Safety Concerns — a separate look at the safety challenges facing increasingly powerful AI technology.
Microsoft indicated that unexpected server availability problems and infrastructure capacity issues were contributing to the disruption.
Attempts to restore affected servers proved challenging, with some systems becoming unresponsive again when traffic returned.
The company began redirecting traffic and working on alternative recovery measures to restore services.
Australian Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Tony Burke indicated that Microsoft did not believe the incident was caused by a cyberattack.
Although technical recovery efforts were underway, the full cause and scope of the disruption had not been conclusively established in the early reports.
Businesses and Governments Affected Worldwide
The Microsoft outage extended beyond individual email users.
Government agencies and businesses that depend on Microsoft 365 experienced interruptions to communication and daily operations.
Australia’s federal police and intelligence agency were among the organisations affected, while the United States House of Representatives also reported service disruptions.
Technology companies offering Microsoft-connected services experienced difficulties as well.
The incident highlights how a failure involving a major technology provider can quickly affect organisations around the world.
Could the Microsoft Outage Affect South African Businesses?
South African companies, government departments, schools and other organisations frequently rely on Microsoft Outlook, Teams and Microsoft 365 for everyday operations.
Although the extent of any South African disruption has not yet been independently established, local organisations using affected cloud services could experience similar connectivity problems.
For businesses, losing access to email and collaboration tools can delay customer support, internal communication, approvals and other critical activities.
Organisations experiencing problems are encouraged to check Microsoft’s official service-health updates before making changes to their own IT systems.
Microsoft Outlook Issues Also Experienced in South Africa
HappeningNews can confirm a first-hand report of Microsoft Outlook email difficulties in Cape Town, South Africa, on Friday morning, 13 November 2026.
Outlook remains accessible, but outgoing emails cannot be sent. Microsoft Teams, however, continues to function normally.
This suggests that the disruption may affect individual Microsoft 365 services differently, rather than causing a complete loss of access to all Microsoft applications.
While the timing coincides with the reported global Microsoft outage, it has not yet been confirmed whether the local issue is directly connected to the international disruption.
South African businesses experiencing similar difficulties are encouraged to check Microsoft’s official service-health updates.
Is Microsoft Outlook and Teams Working Again?
Microsoft has reported gradual improvements as affected servers return to service and traffic is redirected.
However, recovery may differ between users, organisations and geographical regions.
Customers experiencing continued difficulties should monitor the official Microsoft service-health dashboard for information relevant to their subscriptions.
The disruption serves as another reminder of the importance of business continuity planning and having alternative communication channels available when essential online systems become unavailable.
HappeningNews will continue monitoring developments surrounding the Microsoft outage as more information becomes available.
Sources: Reuters, TimesLive and Microsoft Service Health. Information reflects reports available on the morning of 13 November 2026.
