Update, November 12, 2026: Microsoft is experiencing a widespread Microsoft 365 service outage affecting users across the United States. Microsoft has acknowledged the issue and is actively working to restore service. We are monitoring the situation and will update this page as more information becomes available.
If Outlook won't load, email is stuck in your outbox, or Teams keeps disconnecting, you are not alone, and the problem is almost certainly not on your end.
What Is Affected
Reports so far point to problems with:
- Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Online
- Microsoft 365 email services
- Microsoft Teams
- Other Microsoft 365 cloud services
Users are reporting trouble sending and receiving email, opening mailboxes, and connecting to Microsoft services. On Downdetector, the large majority of problem reports are tied to Exchange, which is the email engine behind Outlook.
How Widespread Is It?
The Downdetector report map below shows user reports concentrated across most of the continental United States, from the West Coast through the Midwest and down to the Gulf and East Coast, including Ohio. The chart shows reports spiking sharply to roughly 144,000 at the peak, up from a normal baseline of nearly zero.
Source: Downdetector user reports, November 12, 2026.
This Is a Microsoft Problem, Not Your Problem
This is a Microsoft-wide service disruption. It is not caused by your computer, your internet connection, or your company network. Restarting your PC, resetting your router, or reinstalling Outlook will not fix it, and doing so can waste valuable time or create new problems.
What Your Business Should Do Right Now
- Do not troubleshoot your own equipment. If other people in your office or other businesses are seeing the same issue, it is the outage.
- Check the official source. Microsoft publishes status updates on its Microsoft 365 Status page and the Service Health dashboard in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Use a backup channel for urgent messages. For time-sensitive customer or vendor communication, use the phone or a text message until email is back.
- Be careful with email you receive. Outages are a favorite cover for scammers. Messages claiming to be from Microsoft asking you to "verify your account" or "restore access" during an outage should be treated as suspicious. Do not click links in them.
- Expect delays, not lost email. In most cases, messages sent during an outage are queued and delivered once service returns. Some may arrive late or out of order, so double-check anything critical.
- Hold off on major changes. Avoid resetting passwords or changing mail settings until Microsoft confirms service is restored, unless you suspect an actual security issue.
Why Outages Like This Matter for Your Business
A cloud outage is a reminder that even the biggest providers go down occasionally. You cannot prevent a Microsoft outage, but you can make sure your business is ready for one:
- Have a communication fallback plan. Know how your team will reach customers and each other when email is down.
- Keep critical contacts available offline, such as a phone list of key clients, vendors, and staff.
- Make sure your backups are independent. Microsoft 365 data should be backed up by a separate system, not just trusted to Microsoft alone.
- Have a local partner you can call. When something breaks, it helps to have a real person who can tell you quickly whether the problem is yours or the provider's.
Need Help With Microsoft 365?
At Prosen Consulting, we support businesses throughout Northeast Ohio, including Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, and Cuyahoga counties, with Microsoft 365 management, email security, backup, and day-to-day IT support. If you are not sure whether your issue is the outage or something on your network, we can help you find out quickly.
Call us at 216-867-0692 or visit prosenconsulting.com/consultation.
We will continue to monitor this situation and update this page as more information becomes available.