A large-scale outage affecting Microsoft services caused widespread disruptions on Saturday, preventing tens of thousands of users from accessing their emails, cloud-based applications, and authentication tools. The outage, which began in the afternoon, primarily affected Outlook, but as the issue escalated, users reported problems across multiple Microsoft 365 applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive. Additionally, authentication failures locked users out of their accounts, exacerbating frustrations for individuals and businesses reliant on Microsoft’s ecosystem for work and communication.
The first wave of reports emerged at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET, with users encountering difficulties logging into Outlook and sending emails. By 4:00 p.m., DownDetector, a platform that tracks real-time service disruptions, recorded more than 37,000 reports of issues. The surge in complaints pointed to a severe problem affecting Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure. As reports continued to flood social media, Microsoft acknowledged the incident at 5:01 p.m. ET through its official Microsoft 365 account on X (formerly Twitter), stating that it had “identified a potential cause of impact and have reverted the suspected code to alleviate impact.” Despite this, the company provided no immediate details regarding the underlying cause or an estimated timeframe for full recovery.
As the outage persisted, users discovered that the problem extended beyond Outlook. Those attempting to access other Microsoft 365 services, including Excel and PowerPoint, experienced loading failures and error messages preventing them from retrieving critical documents. Business users, who depend on Microsoft’s cloud storage and collaboration tools, found themselves unable to access shared files or participate in Teams meetings, disrupting workflow across multiple industries.
Compounding the issue, Microsoft’s authentication services were also affected, leaving users locked out of their accounts. The Microsoft Authenticator app, a security tool designed to provide two-factor authentication, failed to function properly, preventing users from verifying their identities. This not only disrupted email access but also locked out users from other Microsoft-related accounts and services, raising concerns about the reliability of the company’s security infrastructure.
The outage also affected Microsoft’s gaming division, with Xbox users reporting difficulties logging into their accounts and accessing online multiplayer services. Frustrated users turned to social media to share their grievances, with many questioning whether a recent system update had triggered the failure.
Despite the magnitude of the disruption, Microsoft has remained largely silent beyond its brief acknowledgment of the issue. The company has yet to provide a technical explanation for the outage, nor has it responded to media inquiries from outlets such as CNN. The lack of transparency has fueled frustration among users, many of whom rely on Microsoft services for both professional and personal needs.
This latest incident adds to a series of high-profile outages that have plagued Microsoft in recent years. Users have reported intermittent connectivity issues with Outlook in recent weeks, and in 2023 and 2024, Microsoft suffered multiple large-scale service failures that took hours—sometimes days—to resolve. One of the most severe incidents occurred on November 26, when Outlook and Microsoft Teams were rendered inaccessible for over 24 hours, significantly impacting businesses and remote workers.
As services gradually begin to recover, the incident underscores the vulnerability of cloud-dependent infrastructures. Microsoft’s failure to provide immediate clarity on the cause of the outage has left users uncertain about the stability of the platform, raising concerns about the potential for future disruptions.
