# Microsoft outage cuts off millions from Outlook

> Microsoft's Outlook email service went down across 74 countries Thursday, disrupting businesses, governments and public services for more than half a day.
- Title: Microsoft outage cuts off millions from Outlook · RFI
- Summary: Microsoft's Outlook email service went down across 74 countries Thursday, disrupting businesses, governments and public services for more than half a day.
- Keywords: microsoft, outlook, outage, email, teams, copilot, infrastructure, public services, rail operators, national health service, RFI
- Source: RFI — https://rfi.fr/en/science-and-technology/20261113-global-microsoft-outage-knocks-out-outlook-and-other-services
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: microsoft, outlook, outage, email, teams, copilot, infrastructure, public services, rail operators, national health service, news, world
## Outlook goes down worldwide
Microsoft's Outlook email service went down Thursday evening, cutting off millions of users across 74 countries and territories from their email.
## Other services also affected
Teams and Copilot were also hit by the outage as Microsoft struggled to fix server problems affecting its infrastructure.
## Microsoft rules out attack
Microsoft said the outage was caused by heavy load on its infrastructure rather than by malicious activity.
## Gradual recovery begins
On Friday, Microsoft said it had made additional progress restoring services, with traffic gradually returning across parts of affected infrastructure.

> We're seeing improvements in key scenarios, including mailbox access and delayed email processing, though some intermittent issues may continue.
## Rail operators hit
Rail operators in Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom warned passengers that train tickets sent by email might be temporarily inaccessible.
## NHS emergency calls disrupted
In the UK, National Health Service staff handling emergency calls were unable to refer patient details normally, creating a massive backlog.

> are unable to refer patient details in the normal way, which is creating a massive backlog and has the potential for chaos
## Stock market and local government affected
Euronext advised listed companies to use telephone to communicate corporate information. In France, Aulnay-sous-Bois town hall reported its email system was down.
## AI platforms also disrupted
In the United States, OpenAI and Anthropic both reported problems connecting to Microsoft 365 tools, showing how outages spread through interconnected systems.
## Fragility of interconnected world
Christophe Aulnette, former president of Microsoft France, said the outage highlights how central points of vulnerability in an interconnected world can affect the entire planet.

> An interconnected world creates points of vulnerability in central locations that can affect the entire planet.
## Potential for sophisticated attacks
Aulnette said the outage potentially shows that with artificial intelligence, new sophisticated attacks can be developed, though he had no information about a cyberattack on Outlook.
## Key takeaway

A global Microsoft outage knocked Outlook offline for millions across 74 countries Thursday, affecting rail operators, hospitals, stock markets and government agencies before the company blamed heavy infrastructure load.