Microsoft outage disrupts services across 74 countries

A widespread Microsoft outage disrupted Outlook, Teams, and other workplace services globally Thursday, affecting businesses, banks, government agencies and courts across 74 countries and territories within an hour.

The disruption had immediate consequences across sectors. U.S. employees at some companies left work early due to inaccessible tools. Australian businesses struggled to print invoices and schools postponed online classes. The outage persisted as Europe entered Friday morning with no immediate resolution.

Microsoft initially reported progress in restoration efforts, stating it was "seeing positive results." However, the company later acknowledged it had not achieved "sustained recovery." Microsoft confirmed the outage was not caused by a cybersecurity breach. The scale of the disruption underscored the global dependence on Microsoft's cloud services and workplace infrastructure.