Microsoft works on fixes after global software outage disrupts services

UPDATE - follow-up to Microsoft Outage LIVE: Microsoft apologises as global service outage eases: Microsoft is actively testing fixes, rerouting traffic and boosting server capacity following a massive global service outage that began on Thursday, November 12, 2026. The widespread disruption crippled online communications for businesses, trading firms, airlines and government agencies across countries including the United States, Australia and Japan.

Cause and Scale

The company confirmed the incident was caused by an issue linked to an earlier network capacity upgrade that surfaced after a recent network change. Microsoft Executive Vice President Charles Lamanna stated that recovery was progressing with service availability improving across the affected infrastructure, which included Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft 365 services. According to Ookla data cited in reports, Downdetector logged more than 7.4 million reports worldwide at a peak of nearly 20,000 a minute. Microsoft shares closed flat at $523.88 on Friday, and experts noted the incident exposed the risks of relying heavily on a single cloud provider.

Context

Cloud computing providers underpin a vast share of modern corporate and government infrastructure, meaning localized server changes can ripple across the globe within minutes. Such incidents typically prompt intense scrutiny regarding digital resilience and backup communication channels for critical public services.