what is wrong with outlook email today

Microsoft Outlook is currently experiencing a major, widespread outage tied to server disruptions in Exchange Online. Tens of thousands of users across the Americas and other regions have reported being unable to log in, send, or receive emails throughout Thursday, November 12, 2026.

What Happened

• Server failures. Microsoft reported that an issue caused multiple Exchange Online servers to fail automated health checks and go offline unexpectedly.
• Infrastructure strain. With those servers unavailable, the remaining network infrastructure experienced elevated loads, leading to widespread connection errors across multiple connection methods.
• Other affected services. Alongside Outlook, users reported disruptions across other Microsoft 365 services, including Microsoft Teams, Copilot, SharePoint Online, Defender, To Do, and Purview.

Current Status & Recovery

• Gradual restoration. After outage reports peaked at roughly 130,000 on Downdetector around 1:00 p.m. ET, Microsoft validated an alternative health check method and began bringing affected servers back online.
• Ongoing mitigation. Microsoft has paused all deployments, redistributed connection traffic across its global infrastructure, and deployed automated recovery systems to continually detect and restart unresponsive servers.
• Official updates. You can monitor live recovery progress on the Microsoft 365 Service Health Status page or the official Microsoft 365 Status X account.