Outlook Down: Email Fails on Web and Apps Across Regions

Outlook email is not loading for many users around the world, on both the web version and the apps, according to The Verge. Microsoft confirmed a problem through its Microsoft 365 Status account, and reports of trouble began climbing just before 1PM ET. Access has not been fully restored.

Microsoft has so far pointed to strain on part of its infrastructure as a likely contributor.

What is broken and who is affected

People in several parts of the world say they cannot reach their Outlook mailboxes, whether they use a browser or an app. The Verge reported that the complaints first arrived roughly an hour before it published its story and had not entirely stopped by then.

Some users also reported trouble with Teams. Most of those reporting problems said Teams was working again by the time The Verge wrote its update. Microsoft has not said that Teams is part of the incident.

The Verge cited DownDetector, the outage-tracking site, as showing a spike in Outlook problem reports just before 1PM ET. Those reports had not completely disappeared at the time of writing.

What Microsoft has said so far

In its first acknowledgment, Microsoft 365 Status said a portion of its infrastructure was experiencing “elevated load across multiple regions.” The company said that was likely contributing to the connectivity errors users were seeing.

A later update described the steps taken. Microsoft said it had finished redistributing connection traffic across its worldwide infrastructure and was moving additional traffic off the affected infrastructure to cut the load further. It was also restarting affected servers to bring them back into service.

Alongside that work, the company said it was investigating whether the heavy traffic reflects a real increase in requests or a change in how traffic is being routed across its infrastructure. Microsoft has not given a cause for the problem, and no restoration time has been announced.

What this means for Outlook users

Email sent or opened through Outlook on the web and in the apps may fail to load until Microsoft finishes its work. The Verge said it is unclear how long recovery will take, and it is also unclear whether the steps Microsoft has taken will clear up every problem people are seeing.

Checking progress is itself difficult. The Verge said it struggled to load Microsoft’s own status pages while following the incident. The Microsoft 365 Status account is where the company posted its acknowledgment and its updates. A guide to what to do when Outlook is not working covers checking Microsoft service health first.

Where things stand

Service has not been confirmed as restored. Microsoft is still shifting traffic away from the affected infrastructure and restarting servers, and the company has said it is looking into why load rose in the first place. The Verge said it would add details to its report as they come in.

The incident affects Outlook on the web and in its apps across multiple regions. Microsoft has not announced which regions are hit hardest, and it has not named any specific number of affected users.

Source: The Verge