Microsoft 365 Outage Improves Into Friday—Governments, Airlines Report Disruptions
A global Microsoft 365 outage lasting over 24 hours disrupted governments, airlines, schools and businesses before services began recovering Friday, with Microsoft blaming failed server health checks rather than a cyberattack.
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The brief
Microsoft 365 services including Outlook and Teams suffered a global outage that began Thursday and stretched past 24 hours, affecting governments, airlines, schools and businesses across the United States and beyond. The Register reported the outage stretched past 15 hours as Microsoft's fixes kept failing, while The Washington Post noted email outages persisted into a second day as the company scrambled for a fix. Microsoft said it was continuing to restore services including Outlook and Teams, but noted users "may still experience intermittent access issues," according to the BBC's Nadine Yousif.
The disruption grounded flights and stranded passengers at airports nationwide. The US transportation secretary said the outage is going to take time to unwind with many passengers still stranded, while the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) described "safety and communication issues" impacting passengers throughout the country. US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there should be 'no fear' and that 'everyone is safe' when discussing the nationwide air traffic outage. US officials said the disruption was caused by old equipment overloading and not a cyber-attack or a Microsoft outage.
Microsoft attributed the outage to failed server health checks, not hackers. Ars Technica reported Microsoft blames failed server health checks—not hackers—for the global outage, and USA Today noted the company says cyberattack not suspected. Experts said the event is a "stark reminder" of how heavily the world relies on a small group of big tech providers, according to the BBC. The New York Times published a summary titled "Microsoft's Global Outage and Fixes: What We Know," while The Guardian reported the outage shakes up companies, schools and local governments across the US. WIRED said Microsoft 365 crawls back to life after a 24-hour outage, and Forbes confirmed the outage improves into Friday with governments and airlines reporting disruptions.
Synthesized by PULSE from the headlines below under a strict no-invention contract. ✓ fact-checked: all claims supported by sources Updated 15h ago.
Quick answers
What caused the Microsoft 365 outage?
Microsoft blamed failed server health checks for the global outage, not a cyberattack. Ars Technica reported Microsoft blames failed server health checks—not hackers—for the global outage, and USA Today noted the company says cyberattack not suspected.
How long did the outage last and which services were affected?
The outage lasted over 24 hours, beginning Thursday and stretching into Friday. Services affected included Outlook and Teams, with Microsoft noting users "may still experience intermittent access issues" during recovery, according to the BBC.
What was the impact on air travel and government operations?
The outage grounded flights and stranded passengers at airports nationwide. The US transportation secretary said the outage will take time to unwind with many passengers still stranded, while the FAA described "safety and communication issues." The Guardian reported the outage shakes up companies, schools and local governments across the US.
Coverage (11)
- Microsoft says services fully restored after hourslong global outage AP News · 16h ago
- Microsoft restores service to Outlook and Teams after global outage The Times of Israel · 16h ago
- Microsoft 365 Crawls Back to Life After a 24-Hour Outage WIRED · 1d ago
- Was Microsoft hacked? Company says cyberattack not suspected USA Today · 1d ago
- Microsoft’s Global Outage and Fixes: What We Know The New York Times · 1d ago
- Microsoft outage shakes up companies, schools and local governments across US The Guardian · 1d ago
- Microsoft outage 'stark reminder' of how much we rely on tech BBC · 1d ago
- Microsoft email outages persist into second day as company scrambles for a fix The Washington Post · 1d ago
- Microsoft blames failed server health checks—not hackers—for global outage Ars Technica · 1d ago
- Microsoft's massive M365 outage stretches past 15 hours as its fixes keep failing The Register · 1d ago
- Microsoft 365 Outage Improves Into Friday—Governments, Airlines Report Disruptions Forbes · 1d ago
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