Outlook goes down as Microsoft 365 users report widespread issues

Over a hundred thousand frustrated users were left with broken inboxes and unable to get work done as Microsoft Outlook went down on Thursday, November 12.

Outlook users in the Americas began reporting they could not access their Exchange Online mailboxes, and the complaints were rolling in fast, with Downdetector reporting more than 125,000 complaints as of this writing.

If you attempted to refresh your inbox only to be greeted by infinite loading screens, you were not the only one. Users are reporting being completely locked out of their accounts across desktop apps, web browsers, and mobile clients. Microsoft's official 365 Status account confirmed the hiccup on X, blaming Exchange Online, the cloud backbone that powers your Outlook email, calendar, and contacts.

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.November 12, 2026

The company initially said the connection failures were limited to the Americas, but the company later confirmed that the connectivity bug could be hitting users in just about any region.

The problem is due to the way Outlook clients authenticate and connect to Exchange Online mailboxes using different connection methods.

Microsoft engineers are currently scrambling to resolve problems on the server end and mitigate the impact, but the company has not yet provided a concrete timeline for a full fix.

Apps in Microsoft 365 that rely on the same service connectivity may also be slow or throw error codes until the dust settles, though Exchange Online takes the biggest hit. For now, the best course of action is to keep an eye on the official Microsoft 365 status feed, enjoy a rare, guilt-free excuse to ignore your boss's emails, and wait for the servers to wake back up.