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Microsoft reports progress in restoring service after global outage

Microsoft has said it is “deeply sorry” for a widespread outage that caused disruption to millions of users, organisations and businesses across the globe – and that it has “addressed the underlying issue”.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 6 sources•1 min read•Updated November 13, 2026, 9:14 PM UTC
Key points
  • “We are deeply sorry for the disruption this incident has caused you and your business,” the Redford, WA-based software company late Friday morning as email and […].
  • Microsoft feel really bad about the Outlook outage and 365 services crash that brought many business communications and personal email around the globe to a screeching halt this week.
  • Microsoft reported progress, but not a full recovery, following an outage Thursday that affected Outlook, Teams, and Copilot across more than 70 countries.

Microsoft is struggling to fix a global outage, with services including Teams, Outlook and AI software Copilot affected by "connectivity problems".

Western Australia, along with jurisdictions around the world, is being impacted by a global Microsoft outage.

Additional details
  • The consequences have been wide-reaching: Several police departments in the UK said Friday that the public shouldn’t report crimes via online submission forms, and should call them in instead.
  • Microsoft ruled out a cyberattack, a relief given the recent wave of AI-powered hacks.
  • It’s the kind of issue that reminds the world how much of our digital infrastructure is reliant on just a few companies, each a potential single point of failure.
  • Experts say the event is a "stark reminder" of how heavily the world relies on a small group of big tech providers.
  • The other silver lining for the company: Jensen Huang has been taking up all the oxygen in the tech world.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Every article behind this summary — 7 articles from 6 outlets

BBC WorldNovember 13, 2026, 9:14 PM UTC → The Guardian BusinessNovember 13, 2026, 8:37 PM UTC → DeadlineNovember 13, 2026, 7:49 PM UTC → The Guardian WorldNovember 13, 2026, 5:41 PM UTC → SemaforNovember 13, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC → BBC TechnologyNovember 13, 2026, 7:18 AM UTC → BBC TechnologyNovember 13, 2026, 2:38 AM UTC →

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