Microsoft restores all services after global technical outage affects 74 countries

Microsoft fully restored all services on Saturday, November 14, 2026, following a global technical outage that began on Thursday, November 12, 2026. The disruption affected various sectors and countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. According to Downdetector, the outage impacted at least 74 countries and territories.

Causes of the technical disruption

The disruption was caused by a technical issue related to a recent network capacity expansion and high load on infrastructure. Microsoft confirmed the incident was not caused by a cyberattack or artificial intelligence. Charles Lamanna, the Executive Vice President of Copilot, Agents, and Platforms at Microsoft, stated that there were no signs of intentional intervention or a cyberattack.

Microsoft announced that the company has completed efforts to address the underlying issue and restored service to remaining impacted customers and regions. The outage specifically affected Microsoft 365 products, including Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Exchange Online, and the Copilot AI assistant. While the outage impacted the use of AI assistants, Microsoft clarified that the incident was not caused by artificial intelligence itself.

Global impact on government and industry

The outage caused significant operational difficulties for various international institutions and private companies. In the United Kingdom, the outage impacted hospital operations due to the impact on a five-year Microsoft 365 contract held by NHS England. In the United States, the House of Representatives reported a loss of one day of work because of the outage.

Government agencies in Australia experienced disruptions, though Mike Burgess, the Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), noted that ASIO systems operate on multiple levels. Burgess said that while systems were affected on one level, they were not affected completely. In Japan, government email services were unavailable, and companies such as Sagawa Express and Taisho reported operational difficulties.

The aviation and financial sectors also reported significant issues. In India, airlines IndiGo and Akasa Air reported disruptions to their email support services. In Taiwan, various security firms, life insurers, and investment trust companies reported disruptions to fund management services.

Security warnings and user scale

As services returned to normal, Microsoft warned users of active phishing campaigns that are using fake notifications regarding the outage to target customers. This warning comes as the company manages a massive user base, as Microsoft 365 has more than 450 million professional paying users, excluding individual users.

The scale of the disruption mirrors a previous major IT failure in July 2024, which was caused by a faulty update and paralyzed airports and hospitals worldwide. This recent incident, which lasted for three days, highlights the interconnected nature of global digital infrastructure and the potential impact of network capacity management on international operations.

Glossary

• Microsoft 365 — Microsoft 365 is a service that includes various applications and services. It is used by professional, business, and education users.
• Exchange Online — Exchange Online is a cloud service hosted by Microsoft that delivers Exchange Server. It offers services similar to on-premises Exchange Server or third-party providers.
• Copilot — Copilot is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Microsoft AI. It utilizes the Microsoft Prometheus large language model and features a conversational interface.