Major Global Technical Outage Hits Microsoft Online Services
Microsoft’s Outlook, Teams and Copilot services were disrupted for eight hours across 74 countries, leaving users facing difficulties.
NEW YORK, (Pakistan Point News - 13th Nov, 2026) Thousands of users faced challenges accessing email, online meetings, and artificial intelligence services due to a significant technical outage affecting Microsoft’s core online services globally.
According to reports, Microsoft’s Outlook, Teams, and Copilot services experienced disruptions in 74 countries on Nov. 12, with the issue persisting for more than eight hours. Downdetector, a service that monitors web applications, recorded approximately 140,000 complaints regarding Outlook. A separate report indicated a total of around 200,000 complaints about various Microsoft services.
Microsoft stated that the unforeseen impact on server availability heightened the pressure on its infrastructure in various regions. The company initially did not attribute the outage to a cyberattack and began investigations to identify the technical issues and restore services.
The outage led to communication, online meeting, and digital work disruptions for businesses, educational institutions, and individual users. This incident once again underscored the world’s growing reliance on the digital systems of a select few major technology companies; even brief disruptions can significantly impact global business and daily activities.