Microsoft outage reported and fixed a service outage that impacted access to numerous Microsoft 365 features. The event resulted in login and access problems for Outlook, Teams, Defender, and Purview for many users and tenants, with the firm blaming the problem on a third-party network/routing issue and working with suppliers to restore connection. Administrators received incident notifications with the IDs MO1221364 and MO1220495.
Microsoft outage: Services experiencing access and performance issues
What’s Affected:
- Sign-in and access: Many customers reported failed sign-ins or inability to access web and desktop apps for Exchange/Outlook, Teams, Microsoft Defender, and Purview. Tenant admin interfaces displayed incident warnings for some companies.
- Message flow and app responsiveness: Reports included email delays, Teams connection failures, and portal pages that failed to load. These flaws were obvious on crowdsourced trackers while the incident was ongoing.
READ MORE: OpenAI for Countries: The Big Push That Could Reshape Public AI in 2026
What’s Unaffected or partly functioning:
- Core Microsoft service backends: Microsoft stated that its managed service environment was healthy, and internal service telemetry revealed no signs of service deterioration. This implies that some customers continued to have sporadic or partial access, depending on their ISP and routing.
- Local client functionality: Many users continued to utilize features that did not need cloud sign-in, such as local file editing and cached material.
- Note that public outage trackers (Downdetector and forums) gave volume indicators but did not validate overall user counts. Several sites, as well as Microsoft service health entries, characterized this interruption as a Microsoft 365 outage.
Microsoft outage: How admins and users should respond
If you are the administrator:
- To examine any tenant-level incidents, log in to the Microsoft 365 admin portal (admin.microsoft.com) and select Health > Service health (look for MO1221364 / MO1220495).
- Notify internal users with a concise status message that includes the issue ID and planned next-step monitoring; avoid making large configuration changes until Microsoft offers mitigating procedures.
- If important services remain unreachable, submit a support ticket through the admin center so that Microsoft can correlate tenant telemetry.
READ MORE: IT hardware stocks downgrade: Crucial warning for CIOs, investors, and your next laptop
If you are the end user:
- To rule out ISP routing difficulties, connect to an alternative network (mobile data or other Wi-Fi).
- If sign-in fails, use web.office.com or mobile applications instead of desktop clients.
- Only restart the client or remove cached credentials if requested; do not uninstall or roll back updates unless specifically instructed by your IT personnel. If you are unclear whether your business is affected, contact IT support before making any substantial configuration changes.
Microsoft outage: Recovery status and official guidance
Microsoft released updates indicating that engineers had checked with third-party network providers and confirmed recovery for the majority of customers within the same reporting window. Microsoft encouraged administrators to watch the Service health dashboard for final issue closure and any post-event assistance. There were no further timetables or client repair actions disclosed, only progress updates and confirmation that the fundamental reason was an external routing configuration.
