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Outlook outage disrupts email as Microsoft investigates widespread problems

Microsoft says the disruption could affect users in any region as crews work to restore service

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Microsoft Outlook users across the United States reported trouble accessing email Thursday as Microsoft investigated a widespread disruption affecting its online services.

Microsoft initially reported problems accessing Exchange Online mailboxes across the Americas, then warned that Microsoft 365 connectivity could be affected in any region, according to ABC News.

Thousands report Outlook problems

Outage-tracking website Downdetector recorded more than 97,000 reports of Outlook problems at 2:07 p.m. Eastern, Reuters reported.

The tracker also recorded more than 38,000 reports involving Microsoft 365 and about 4,500 involving Teams. Those figures represent reports submitted to the tracking service, rather than a confirmed count of affected customers.

What Microsoft is doing

Microsoft said unexpectedly unavailable servers were putting additional strain on its remaining infrastructure, ABC News reported.

The company said it had paused deployments, shifted traffic away from affected infrastructure and was restarting servers to restore service.

Microsoft had earlier announced that a separate Teams disruption in North America was resolved, though additional connectivity problems were subsequently reported.

Where to check for updates

Customers can follow updates through Microsoft’s service status page and its Microsoft 365 Status account on X.

Microsoft has directed administrators seeking details about the mailbox disruption to incident EX1550543 in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Brody Wooddell

Brody Wooddell, WFTV.com

Brody Wooddell is a digital journalist and media leader with more than a decade of experience in content strategy, audience growth, and digital storytelling across television and online news platforms.

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