Microsoft services, including Outlook and Teams, began recovering on Friday after a global outage disrupted operations for nearly 24 hours. The outage affected users in scores of countries and territories, causing significant disruption to businesses, government agencies, and airlines. Microsoft confirmed the recovery and apologized for the widespread impact.
The outage began on Thursday and lasted for almost 24 hours before services started to stabilize. Users reported difficulties accessing email, collaboration tools, and AI features like Copilot. Microsoft stated it was "not" caused by malicious activity, though it promised a detailed investigation into the root cause. The company gradually restored services, with some organizations forced to revert to older communication methods such as fax.
This outage marks one of the largest disruptions in Microsoft's history, highlighting the critical role its platforms play in global business and communication. The company has not yet released the full findings of its investigation, but it has committed to providing more details in the coming days. The incident underscores the vulnerability of digital infrastructure to unforeseen technical failures.
