Microsoft outage blocks email access for tens of thousands worldwide
A major Microsoft Outlook outage on Thursday left tens of thousands of users worldwide unable to access their emails, disrupting communications across 74 countries and territories. Microsoft confirmed the issue could affect Microsoft 365 connections globally, impacting services like Outlook and Teams. Downdetector reported problems across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa, with about 130,000 users in the US reporting issues. The company said it was working "relentlessly" and pausing deployments to restore service. The outage also disrupted AI assistants like Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT that rely on Microsoft accounts. Public services were affected, including the University of Iowa hospital network, which asked patients to use its online portal. Microsoft reported "limited recovery" by evening, redirecting users to unaffected servers.