Microsoft 365 outage hits 74 countries and pushes a Japanese broker back to fax

What happened

A Microsoft 365 outage disrupted email and workplace tools in 74 countries and territories, with recovery still partial on Friday 13 November. The disruption began on Thursday and hit Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Copilot, according to The Cryptonomist FR.

Microsoft first investigated connection problems with Exchange Online in the Americas, then confirmed that users in any region could be affected. Downdetector data showed 74 countries and territories affected within about sixty minutes, the publication reported. In the United States, Downdetector recorded up to 130,000 reports for Outlook at the peak, according to BeInCrypto France.

Servers and a backlog of mail

Microsoft linked the pressure on its infrastructure to servers that became unexpectedly unavailable, The Cryptonomist FR wrote. To restore services, the company redirected traffic and restarted servers.

On 13 November Microsoft said some users were still encountering intermittent problems, while it was restoring capacity and clearing a backlog of email. The company has not said, in the reports available, when full service is expected to return.

Fax machines at a Japanese broker

The outage reached the Japanese financial market. Nikkei reported that a broker asked a trading desk at a local asset manager to stop sending orders, according to a source at the desk cited by BeInCrypto France. That broker relies on Microsoft's messaging system.

Market participants turned to fax to confirm transaction details after Outlook went down, BeInCrypto France reported. The publication of the net asset value of some investment funds was also delayed.

Other users

Embassies, healthcare institutions and companies changed the way they communicate during the disruption, The Cryptonomist FR reported. Neither publication gave a count of affected organisations or an estimate of the financial cost.

Updated 13 November 2026

Microsoft shares fell about 2% in premarket trading on Friday 13 November and were on track for their lowest close since 2 November and their worst week since the week ending 24 July, according to Blockonomi. Microsoft said malicious activity was not to blame for the outage, Blockonomi reported.