Is Outlook Down Today? Microsoft Outlook Outage (November 12, 2026) Explained

By Meddy Digital

Yes, Microsoft Outlook is down today, Thursday, November 12, 2026. If your inbox won't load, emails aren't arriving, or Outlook keeps throwing connection errors, the problem isn't on your end. Microsoft has confirmed a major Exchange Online outage that started in the Americas and has since spread to other regions.

Here's what happened, why it's happening, and what you can do while Microsoft works on a fix.

What happened: Outlook outage timeline

The outage began around midday Eastern Time and peaked just after 1 p.m. ET, when nearly 130,000 users reported Outlook problems on Downdetector. Microsoft is tracking it as incident EX1550543 in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Time (ET)

What happened

Morning

A separate Microsoft Teams issue hit North America; Microsoft later said it was restored.

~12:17 p.m.

Microsoft's service health feed lists an Exchange Online mailbox connectivity problem.

~12:40 p.m.

Outlook problem reports start spiking on Downdetector.

Just after 1 p.m.

Reports peak at nearly 130,000 users.

~1:30 p.m.

Still more than 120,000 reports; Microsoft says it is investigating.

Afternoon

Microsoft says the issue may affect users in any region, not just the Americas, and starts restarting servers and rebalancing traffic.

Users mainly report being unable to send or receive email, inboxes that won't load, and sign-in failures.

Why is Outlook down today?

Microsoft says some of its servers went down unexpectedly, which overloaded the servers that were still running. That's why people couldn't reach their mailboxes.

At first, Microsoft blamed "elevated load" on part of its infrastructure. It later clarified that this load wasn't caused by a spike in traffic. Instead, it came from a number of servers being unexpectedly unavailable, which strained the rest of the system.

To fix it, Microsoft is:

  • Restarting the affected servers
  • Redistributing traffic to balance the load

Microsoft hasn't yet given a time for when service will be fully restored.

Which services are affected?

The root problem is Exchange Online, the cloud service that runs work and school Outlook mailboxes. Because many other Microsoft 365 apps depend on it, the trouble has spread.

Microsoft lists these as potentially affected:

  • Exchange Online (Outlook email and calendar)
  • Microsoft Teams
  • SharePoint Online
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot
  • Microsoft Defender XDR

Affected ways of connecting include Outlook on the web, the Outlook desktop app, and mobile mail apps that use Exchange ActiveSync.

What about personal Outlook.com accounts? Microsoft's confirmed incident covers Exchange Online (business and school mailboxes). Some personal users have reported problems too, but those haven't been officially confirmed.

What can you do while Outlook is down?

There's no full workaround for a server-side outage, but these steps can help:

  1. Check the official status first. Visit status.office.com or follow @MSFT365Status on X. If you're an IT admin, look up incident EX1550543 in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
  2. Don't keep resending emails. Messages sent during an outage are usually queued and delivered once service is back. Resending can leave people with duplicates.
  3. Try a different connection method. If the desktop app is stuck, try Outlook on the web or the mobile app (or the reverse).
  4. Restart Outlook once, then wait. Repeated sign-in attempts during an outage rarely help.
  5. Move urgent messages to another channel. Use a phone call, WhatsApp, or a personal email account for anything time-sensitive.
  6. Don't reset your password or reinstall Outlook. The problem is on Microsoft's servers, not your device or account.

Frequently asked questions

Is Outlook down right now? On November 12, 2026, yes. Microsoft has confirmed that users may be unable to connect to Exchange Online mailboxes. Check status.office.com for the latest.

Why is my Outlook not loading emails? Some Microsoft servers went offline unexpectedly, which overloaded the rest of the system. Your inbox should load again once Microsoft restores those servers.

Will I lose my emails? Unlikely. Emails sent to you during an outage are usually held and delivered once service returns, though they may arrive late.

Is Microsoft Teams down too? Teams had a separate problem in North America earlier in the day, which Microsoft says it fixed. Some users still reported Teams trouble during the Outlook outage.

When will Outlook be back? Microsoft hasn't given a time yet. It says it is restarting servers and will keep posting updates.


Sources