Microsoft 365 outage disrupts thousands of users

Company claims restoration of services is complete

Thousands of Microsoft 365 users experienced significant disruptions to services, including Outlook, on Saturday, prompting the company to investigate and subsequently resolve a widespread outage.

Reports flooded in from across the globe, with data from Downdetector indicating particularly heavy impact in London and Manchester in the UK.

The problems began in the afternoon, with outages affecting a broad range of Microsoft services, including Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Exchange and the Microsoft Store.

Users reported being unable to access Outlook email accounts, with many finding themselves logged out entirely.

Frustrated customers turned to social media, especially X, to share their experiences and seek answers.

"So I'm guessing Microsoft Outlook is having issues, everyone around me has just been logged out of their emails," one user posted.

Another questioned, "Microsoft how long will this Outlook outage last?"

While some users noted that Outlook's web interface and the Android app continued to function, others reported issues when trying to access Exchange Online through third-party mail clients such as Gmail.

Downdetector revealed a surge in outage reports, peaking around 4 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST). The site, which tracks online service disruptions, registered thousands of reports, primarily concerning Microsoft 365 and Outlook.

Microsoft responded, issuing a series of updates on X.

"We're investigating an issue in which users may be unable to access Outlook features and services," the company stated.

A follow-up post indicated, "We're reviewing available telemetry and customer-provided logs to understand the impact."

The company later identified a "potential cause of impact" and said it was taking action.

"We're monitoring telemetry to confirm recovery," Microsoft announced. Subsequent updates confirmed the effectiveness of the code reversion.

"Our telemetry indicates that a majority of impacted services are recovering following our change. We'll keep monitoring until impact has been resolved for all services," the company stated.

As the afternoon progressed, users began reporting restored access, and the number of outage reports on Downdetector subsided.

The company also confirmed full restoration.

"Following our reversion of the problematic code change, we've monitored service telemetry and worked with previously impacted users to confirm that service is restored."

The incident follows a previous outage in November that affected Microsoft's emails and Teams collaboration app.

Microsoft closes Skype

It comes as Microsoft announced last week that it will close Skype, the once-revolutionary video calling service that connected hundreds of millions of users around the world, in May.

Launched in 2003, Skype was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5 billion (£6.1 billion).

The closure announcement was made on X (formerly Twitter), where Skype confirmed that users will be able to sign in to Microsoft Teams using their existing Skype credentials, allowing them to retain access to their contacts and chats.

In addition, Microsoft published a blog post from Jeff Teper, the company's president of collaborative apps and platforms, outlining the company's rationale for ending Skype and shifting focus to Microsoft Teams.

"With Teams, users have access to many of the same core features they use in Skype, such as one-on-one calls and group calls, messaging, and file sharing," Teper wrote.

"Additionally, Teams offers enhanced features like hosting meetings, managing calendars, and building and joining communities for free."

Teper said the decision to retire Skype aligns with its broader goal to streamline its free communication services around Teams.

For Skype's paying customers, Microsoft confirmed they can continue using premium services until their next renewal period, after which subscriptions will be discontinued.

Users also have the option to export their Skype data, including chats, contacts and call history, before the service shutters permanently.