Microsoft said early Friday that it is making progress in restoring services after a widespread outage on Thursday disrupted Outlook, Teams, and other tools, affecting users across the globe.
In a statement posted on social media, the company said it is “seeing encouraging recovery progress,” though it cautioned that “some users may still experience intermittent issues as recovery actions continue.” Microsoft noted that its immediate focus is on restoring remaining affected environments and reducing email backlogs.
The outage began at approximately 11:17 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, according to Microsoft, with user reports of email access problems spiking around 12:21 p.m., based on data from Downdetector. The company has not disclosed a root cause but has stated that the disruption was not the result of a cybersecurity incident.
The impact extended well beyond individual users, hitting government offices and businesses across the United States. The City of Austin, Texas, said Thursday evening that its employees could not send or receive email and advised residents to use phone lines for non-emergency contact, including calling 911 if necessary.
In Colorado, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office reported that the Outlook failure affected its online bond payment system for detainees. The office said in a Facebook post that until Outlook is restored, anyone needing to post bond for immediate release must do so in person at the jail.
The disruption also crossed international borders, with Downdetector recording impacts in 74 countries within an hour. In the United Kingdom, the National Pharmacy Association said Friday that Microsoft email problems were hampering pharmacies’ ability to communicate with doctors. The association urged patience, noting that pharmacy teams may face longer waits and delays in prescriptions.
Microsoft has not provided a timeline for full restoration, but the company’s statement suggests that recovery is underway. The incident underscores the reliance of government and critical services on a handful of tech platforms, a concern that has grown as cloud-based tools become ubiquitous.
As the company continues to resolve the issue, users are advised to monitor Microsoft’s status page for updates. The outage has also reignited discussions about the resilience of digital infrastructure, a topic that has been central to recent policy debates.
