Microsoft services face global outage affecting Outlook, Teams, and Copilot

Microsoft services including Outlook, Teams, and Copilot experienced a global technical outage starting the evening of Thursday, November 12, 2026. The disruption affected 74 countries and regions according to Downdetector. This incident marks the second outage of Microsoft 365 services recorded in 2026.

Impact on government and private sectors

The outage caused significant disruptions for various government agencies in Australia, Japan, and the United States. In New Zealand, government institutions and companies were forced to revert to manual work processes. According to Jo24.net, Immigration New Zealand temporarily suspended all visa processing during the disruption. The Japanese government reported disruptions to digital infrastructure email services, including the shared work system used by ministries.

Private sector entities also faced difficulties due to the service failure. Affected companies include OpenAI, Anthropic, IndiGo, and Akasa Air. In the United States, the impact on Outlook was significant, with 18,000 issue reports recorded at 11:30 PM EST on November 12, 2026. The outage lasted approximately 12 hours in the United States, reaching a peak of 130,000 Outlook issue reports.

Healthcare services also reported complications. Jo24.net reported that Unity Health Toronto declared a 'Code Gray' due to the failure of the email system. While the declaration occurred, officials stated that patient and resident care remained unaffected by the technical failure.

Technical response and official statements

Microsoft reported that attempts to restore infrastructure and servers individually did not yield the expected results. Despite these efforts, the company denied that the outage was caused by malicious cyber activity or a cyberattack.

Australian Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security Tony Burke addressed the situation regarding the nature of the failure. Tony Burke said that Microsoft does not believe they are dealing with a cyber incident, but rather a situation similar to the 2024 CrowdStrike update error.

Service reliability and history

This technical failure represents the second time Microsoft 365 services have experienced an outage in 2026. The scale of the disruption across 74 countries and regions highlights the widespread reliance on Microsoft digital infrastructure for both public and private operations. As services continue to stabilize, officials continue to monitor the impact of the outage on international digital communication and government administrative processes.

Glossary

• Microsoft 365 — Microsoft 365 is a suite of applications and services. It includes a work version designed for business and education users to enhance productivity.
• Immigration New Zealand — Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is the agency within the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment responsible for border control, issuing travel visas, and managing immigration to New Zealand.