Microsoft outage disrupts Outlook, Teams, and Copilot worldwide; services recovering

Microsoft is reporting widespread recovery after a global outage on Thursday disrupted its popular products, including Outlook, Teams, and Copilot, affecting millions of users across more than 70 countries and territories. The company confirmed the issue was not a cyberattack. The outage, which began around midday Thursday US time, impacted schools, government agencies, and offices worldwide, including the US House of Representatives, Britain's National Health Service, and Australian intelligence forces. Microsoft attributed the problem to a technical issue introduced during a network capacity upgrade and has promised a full report on the root cause. Services are gradually being restored, with Microsoft saying it is seeing "encouraging recovery progress" and validating stability at each stage. While many organizations, such as the city of Killeen, Texas, and the Louisiana attorney-general's office, have reported restored email functionality, some users expressed mixed feelings about returning to normal operations.