Science & Tech · Big Tech & Internet · 37 mins ago
Microsoft Outlook outage blocks users from accessing inboxes
Microsoft’s Outlook email service is experiencing an outage, leaving users unable to access their inboxes.
The problem was first reported in the United States and the Americas, then described as affecting any region.
Microsoft has not given a specific cause, but said some infrastructure was under elevated load.
It is redistributing connection traffic worldwide to help balance that load.
Microsoft said it was posting updates in its admin center, but that center was not reachable at the time; the impact on other services is unclear.
The company has not said when access will be restored or provided a specific cause.
Microsoft’s Outlook outage prevented users from accessing their inboxes on November 12, 2026.
Microsoft said infrastructure experiencing elevated load was contributing to connectivity errors.
The issue was first reported in the U.S. and the Americas, then expanded to any region.
Other Microsoft 365 services, including Teams and Exchange Online, were also potentially affected.
Microsoft said it was restarting and repairing infrastructure and redistributing connection traffic.
- Who
- Microsoft users, including Outlook users; other Microsoft 365 service users were also potentially affected.
- What
- An outage blocked access to Outlook inboxes and affected or potentially affected other Microsoft 365 services.
- When
- November 12, 2026.
- Where
- The issue was first reported in the U.S. and the Americas, then expanded to any region.
- Why
- Microsoft cited elevated load across infrastructure in multiple regions as likely contributing to connectivity errors. It said it was reviewing an increase in a specific type of service traffic.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Users reported being unable to access Outlook email.
The issue was initially flagged in the U.S. and the Americas, then expanded to any region.
Microsoft said elevated infrastructure load was likely contributing to connectivity errors and described efforts to restore service.
- Reported date
- November 12, 2026
- Affected service
- Outlook
- Potentially affected services
- Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Copilot 365 and Microsoft Defender XDR
- Reported scope
- Initially the U.S. and the Americas; later any region
- Microsoft’s stated issue
- Elevated load across infrastructure in multiple regions
3 sources
What people are saying
We're investigating an issue impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services and we've determined the affected infrastructure is experiencing elevated load across multiple regions, which is likely contributing to the connectivity errors.
redistributing connection traffic across our broader worldwide infrastructure to help balance the load
Posts on X
We're investigating reports of users experiencing issues accessing Exchange Online mailboxes through multiple connection methods in the Americas. More details can be found in the Microsoft 365 admin center under EX1550543.
While we're working to mitigate impact, we've confirmed the issue may affect Microsoft 365 service connectivity for users in any region, more information will be provided in the Microsoft 365 admin center under EX1550543.