Thousands of Microsoft users across the Americas experienced difficulties accessing Outlook and other Microsoft 365 services and have reported that the service is down on Thursday, prompting the company to investigate the disruption.
Microsoft acknowledged the issue in a post on its official Microsoft 365 account on X, saying users were experiencing difficulties accessing Exchange Online mailboxes through multiple connection methods in the Americas.
The company did not initially provide details about the cause of the outage or the number of users affected.
In a subsequent update, Microsoft said its automated recovery systems had been activated and were working to restore services.
The company said its monitoring data indicated that the recovery measures were reducing the impact of the disruption.
Microsoft added that the issue could affect Microsoft 365 connectivity for users in any region, suggesting the potential impact was not necessarily limited to the Americas.
However, it did not provide a confirmed timeline for a full restoration.
Downdetector, a website that tracks reports of online service disruptions, recorded a sharp increase in complaints from around noon Eastern Time on Thursday.
The number of reports exceeded 22,000 by 12:55pm ET before rising to more than 120,000 later in the afternoon.
Users in several major US cities, including Chicago, Seattle and New York, reported problems.
Downdetector figures reflect reports submitted by users and do not necessarily represent the total number of people affected.
The latest incident came after a separate disruption affecting Microsoft Teams in North America.
Microsoft said that issue had been resolved at around midday, although it did not establish whether the Teams disruption was connected to the problems affecting Outlook and other Microsoft 365 services.
The company has not publicly confirmed the cause of the latest outage or disclosed how many customers experienced difficulties.
Microsoft said automated recovery measures were helping restore connectivity, but its updates did not confirm that all affected services had returned to normal.
Users experiencing problems may continue to encounter difficulties until the company completes its recovery work.
Customers can check the official Microsoft 365 service health status page for updates on service availability and any continuing disruptions.
